It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, June 01, 2021
Boy Who Sold His Pokémon Collection To Save Dog Sent Rare Cards In Appreciation
A young boy who sold his Pokémon collection to save his dog’s life has been rewarded with a package of rare trading cards.
Bryson Kliemann, of Lebanon, Virginia, made headlines earlier this month for the selfless act of selling his Pokémon card collection to save his puppy, Bruce, who had caught a highly contagious canine virus known as Parvo.
Bryson’s mother, Kimberly Woodruff, rushed the dog to Southwest Virginia Veterinary Services, but treatment was set to cost nearly $700.
Recalling the situation to Local 12 News, the eight-year-old boy said: ‘It made me kind of sad because usually my brother and sister play together and I don’t have anybody to play with. So, I usually play with (Bruce).’
Bryson’s decision to sell his Pokémon cards took Kimberly by surprise, so she shared a picture of his roadside setup online to help get the word out. The mother also made a GoFundMe page with a goal of $800, but as word about Bryson’s generosity began to spread, the donations soon exceeded $5,000.
The young boy commented: ‘I was so happy because I really wanted to get him back.’
GoFundMe
Following a week of treatment, Bruce was reunited with his adoring owners, with Kimberly explaining that the dog has more vaccine appointments lined up, but he’s ‘doing great, like amazing.’
The good news didn’t stop there, however, as when Pokémon employees based in Bellevue, Washington, caught wind of Bryson’s actions they decided to show the young boy just how much of an impact he’d had in selling his collection.
Staff decided to send the eight-year-old a package of rare Pokémon cards that are hard to find in stores, along with a letter reading: ‘Hey Bryson, we were so inspired by your story about selling your cards for your dog’s recovery, these are some cards to help you replace the ones you had to sell.’
Bryson was overjoyed with the news, according to WSLS, and said he was ‘proud’ of himself for the part he’d played in Bruce’s recovery.
He added: ‘Now my brother and sister are playing with him too, and now I’m really playing with him pretty often.’
With the GoFundMe having exceeded its goal and Bruce now back with his family, Kimberly has said the additional money will help pay for medical expenses for other sick pets in Southwest Virginia.
Hopefully Bryson will be able to build his Pokémon collection up again, but although it might take some time at least he always has Bruce by his side.
China reports first human case of H10N3 strain of bird flu
China downplays case as 'sporadic transmission' from poultry to human
China has reported the first case of human infection with the H10N3 strain of bird flu from the country's eastern Jiangsu province, China's National Health Commission said on Tuesday.
The patient, a 41-year-old man from Zhenjiang city, is currently in a stable condition and meets discharge standards, the state-run CGTN TV reported.
Health authorities played down the outbreak, saying the case was a sporadic virus transmission from poultry to humans, and the risk of causing a pandemic was extremely low.
The patient was diagnosed as having the H10N3 avian influenza virus on May 28, National Health Commission said in a statement without elaborating on how the man had got infected with the virus.
No other cases of human infection with H10N3 have previously been reported globally, it said.
H10N3 is a low pathogenic or relatively less severe strain of the virus in poultry and the risk of it spreading on a large scale is very low.
There are many different strains of avian influenza in China and some sporadically infect people, generally those working with poultry.
H5N8 is a subtype of the Influenza A virus (also known as the bird flu virus). While H5N8 only presents a low risk to humans, it is highly lethal to wild birds and poultry.
In April, a highly pathogenic H5N6 avian flu was found in wild birds in northeast China's Shenyang city.
Between 24 February and 14 May 2021, 1,672 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus detections were reported in 24 EU/EEA countries and the UK in poultry (n=580), and in wild (n=1,051) and captive birds (n=41). The majority of the detections in poultry were reported by Poland that accounted for 297 outbreaks occurring in a densely populated poultry area over a short period of time, followed by Germany with 168 outbreaks. Most of the outbreaks in poultry appeared to be related to between-farm spread, and to national and intra-community trade of live HPAI infected poultry. Germany accounted for 603 detections in wild birds, followed by Denmark and Poland with 167 and 56 detections, respectively. A second peak of HPAI-associated wild bird mortality was observed from February to April 2021 in north-west Europe. The observed longer persistence of HPAI in wild birds compared to previous years may result in a continuation of the risk for juveniles of wild birds and mammals, as well as for virus entry into poultry farms. Therefore, enhanced awareness among farmers to continue applying stringent biosecurity measures and to monitor and report increases in daily mortality and drops in production parameters, are recommended. Sixteen different genotypes were identified to date in Europe and Russia, suggesting a high propensity of these viruses to reassort. The viruses characterized to date retain a preference for avian-type receptors; however, transmission events to mammals and the identification of sporadic mutations of mammal adaptation, indicate ongoing evolution processes and possible increased ability of viruses within this clade to further adapt and transmit to mammals including humans. Since the last report, two human infections due to A(H5N6) HPAI were reported from China and Laos and 10 human cases due to A(H9N2) low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus identified in China and Cambodia. The risk of infection for the general population in the EU/EEA is assessed as very low and for occupationally exposed people low. People exposed during avian influenza outbreaks should adhere to protection measures, strictly wear personal protective equipment and get tested immediately when developing respiratory symptoms or conjunctivitis within 10 days after exposure.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO Mount Nyiragongo’s volcano: why it’s unique and treacherous
May 31, 2021
Still standing: a structure surrounded by lava following a volcanic eruption on 23 May 2021 in Goma, a city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Moses Sawasawa via GettyImages
Seismologists in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were still reporting earthquakes around the Mount Nyiragongo volcano a week after it erupted. The original eruption killed at least 32 people and tens of thousands had to flee the area. The Conversation Africa’s Moina Spooner asked earth scientist Paolo Papale to explain the particular conditions in the Virunga volcanic chain, and what makes it particularly dangerous.
What makes this volcano particularly dangerous?
Mount Nyiragongo is part of the Virunga volcanic chain, and owes its existence to the activity of the African Great Rift. The rift is constantly extending and opening. In a few tens of million years it will have led to the creation of a new ocean separating the bulk of the African continent from its present eastern portion.
We can see what the future would look like by observing present-day Madagascar, which was once attached to continental Africa.
The peculiar location of Mount Nyiragongo on a highly active segment of the African rift favours quick ascent of magma (molten material) from about 100 km beneath the Earth’s surface, and extreme fluidity of lava. That is one major reason of concern, as the lava flowing on the upper volcano flanks can be extremely fast and impossible to escape.
About 16km of fractures formed from the summit towards Goma and lava poured out from several locations along it, including from the outskirts of Goma. The Nyiragongo lava flowing from vents at lower altitude tends to be more viscous and slower. It gives people time to escape, but its stickiness is also more destructive to buildings in its path.
This time the fractures and vents weren’t at such a low altitude. The lava hasn’t reached the city yet.
Other dangers associated with rifting, and volcano activity in the region, are: the earthquakes accompanying rifting episodes, which can themselves cause significant damage.
explosions when the hot lava reaches Lake Kivu waters causing its sudden boiling;
the release of carbon-rich gases, particularly methane, during rifting and eruption, leading to explosions;
the potential for carbon-rich gas accumulation at the bottom of lake Kivu, which may cause surface water to sink, releasing lethal gases threatening Goma. How well did the government cope? Was it better than 2002?
Before and during the 2002 eruption the Goma Volcano Observatory did an excellent job with few resources, in terms of instruments and funds. In spite of having only three very old seismometers recording on paper, they were able to raise the alarm that the volcano was about to re-awaken days before the eruption occurred on January 17.
Unfortunately, the political situation at the time wasn’t favourable. Rwandan military forces were occupying the area and a local government was in place that had a complex relationship with the national government in Kinshasa. The alarms by the volcanologists remained unheard. The result was that hundreds of thousands of people fled across the Congo-Rwanda border and nearly as many found themselves homeless after the volcano erupted.
The crisis was then managed by the United Nations. Days after the eruption it sent the first group of international scientists to the site. It then maintained a year-long programme of international cooperation involving Congolese volcanologists.
The eruption in 2002 triggered substantial international support and many scientific papers. Some warned about the danger of rebuilding the city along the 2002 eastern lava flow originating close to the Munigi village. They suggested measures to protect the city against future lava flows.
As far as I am aware, this advice wasn’t followed. The city was rebuilt above the 2002 lava flows and expanded to four times.
During the last few years the management of the Goma Observatory has been largely organised from Belgium by the Royal Museum for Central Africa, the European Center for Geodynamics and Seismology and the National Museum of Natural History of Luxembourg. Earlier this year the World Bank suspended funding to the observatory, which was then forced to stop several monitoring activities. In spite of that, the observatory communicated to the authorities about 10 days in advance that the level of seismicity was raising and a new eruption might be possible.
Once again, as far as I know, that warning remained unheard. What must be done to protect communities?
The social and political conditions in Eastern Congo are extremely difficult.
Still, the communities in and around Goma must be protected from the volcano; the humanitarian disruption from hundreds of thousands of homeless people must be prevented; and the political instabilities following massive and uncontrolled country border crossing must be avoided.
The rifting process and the eruption of magma can’t be controlled. Under such conditions, one should either relocate the town, which would be extremely difficult for a town the size of Goma (which also has a strategic location and political relevance), or at least reduce the risk to controlled levels.
Following the 2002 eruption we at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Pisa, Italy, started a programme of hazard evaluation and risk mitigation from lava flow invasion in Goma. We used numerical simulations of lava flow invasion to identify and characterise the most efficient and effective artificial barriers that would maximise shielding and protection in town.
It is clear, however, that the local and national governments need to be more aware of the risks from tectonic rifting and from the volcano. And the Goma Volcano Observatory should receive the resources and independence to fully operate as the sole authoritative reference for the local authorities and international partners.
Director of Research , Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) Disclosure statement
Paolo Papale receives funding from the European Commission. He also managed funds from the Italian Civil Protection Department during his time as the Head of the National Program on Volcanic Hazards. He was part of a group of scientists sent to the DRC by the UN after the eruption in 2002 to support the Goma Volcano Observatory.
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CANADAARM
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ROBOTIC ARM STRUCK BY SPACE DEBRIS
THERESA CROSS
MAY 31ST, 2021
During a routine inspection, it was discovered that the space station’s robotic arm, called Canadarm2, was struck by a piece of space debris. Credit: NASA/CSA
During a routine inspection of the International Space Station on May 12, damage was discovered on the Canadarm2, a nearly 60-foot-long robotic arm on the station.
A 2013 computer generated image representation of orbital space debris. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
According to a post from the Canadian Space Agency on May 28, the arm is believed to have taken a hit from a small piece of space debris, one too small to track. The debris impacted and left its mark, a hole in part of the arm and the white thermal blanket that wraps around it.
Tracking of orbital debris only occurs for objects that are softball size and larger. Smaller objects such as rock, or dust particles and flecks of paint from satellites, are not tracked due to the significant difficulty in locating and maintaining constant awareness of the objects location.
NASA takes the threat of space collisions very seriously as the safety of the astronauts on board the orbiting science laboratory is among the agency’s top priorities.
NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, CSA, worked together to analyze and assess the damage to the areas of concern, taking detailed images of the impact to the arm and working with engineers to determine the severity.
Experts for both agencies have determined that the damage is limited and the arm’s performance is unaffected. The agencies plan to continue all planned near-term robotic operations onboard the station.
WHO mission scientists cast doubt on ‘political’ revival of Covid lab leak theory
Commuters in Beijing today. The United States has revived accusations that the coronavirus leaked from a Chinese laboratory
SCIENTISTS who took part in February’s World Health Organisation (WHO) mission to Wuhan hit back at the US’s renewal of “lab leak” conspiracy theories over the long weekend.
They spoke out after British spies backed the US claims in comments given to the Sunday Times.
Widely ridiculed when raised by the Donald Trump administration – with a leaked briefing from German intelligence noting it was a “calculated attempt to distract” from the US’s own failure to contain the coronavirus pandemic – the suggestion that Covid-19 leaked from a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology has now been resurrected by US President Joe Biden.
An international team of experts who visited China earlier this year concluded that it was “extremely unlikely” the virus could have escaped from a laboratory, with team chair Peter Ben Embarek pointing out that “there had been no publication or research of this virus or one close to this virus, anywhere in the world.” It found that transmission from bats to humans was the most likely origin.
But Mr Biden dramatically revived the lab leak theory last week, ordering US intelligence to investigate it and report back to him, and for Washington to work with “like-minded partners” to establish its accuracy. The Sunday Times has now reported that British intelligence also views a lab origin as “feasible.”
Dominic Dwyer, an Australian member of the original WHO team, told ABC News at the weekend that “there was no evidence to back up the lab escape theory.”
Responding to US claims that China did not fully co-operate with the WHO probe, he added that the questions asked and evidence seen by the team “are really what I would expect if I was doing the same investigation in Australia or New Zealand.”
British team member Peter Daszak, who is based in New York, said that the new accusations were “political, not scientific” and told the Daily Telegraph that China had “fallen victim to conspiracy theories.”
Mr Daszak complained last August that the United States was trying to politicise the search for the virus’s origin, cutting funding for his EcoHealth Alliance which has conducted research in China for 15 years, collecting faeces and other samples from bats and blood samples from people at risk of infection from bat-origin viruses.
The US then tried to tie renewed funding to “absurd” requirements such as EcoHealth getting US federal officials access to inspect Chinese scientific research facilities.
A World Food Prize Winner Wants You To Reconsider Anchovies – Here’s How Nutritious They Are
By Andy Corbley -May 31, 2021
Olya Kobruseva
Anchovies and sardines are, as it turns out straight superfoods—especially for kids.
Dr. Shakuntala Thilsted was recently awarded the 2021 World Food Prize—described as the Nobel Prize for food and agriculture—for her work integrating small fish into developing nations diets: primarily she focused on this because of the incredible nutrient density of small fish, and the imperative role it plays in brain development in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, as well as in pregnant and nursing mothers.
Anchovies, sardines, and in fact many small fish species are rich in the unsaturated fats omega 3 and 6 also known as EPA and DHA, which are critical for brain health. Since sardines only eat plankton, they also contain only very low levels of mercury.
There’s also evidence they help prevent aging, and can reduce inflammation in a variety of organs. They also contain vitamin B12, a nutrient found most often in meat and particularly seafood, but that’s almost absent in all other food groups.
B12 deficiency is common in children in the developing world, a challenge that Thilsted sought to tackle with increasing access to smaller fish, which involved a little bit of stigma-breaking, since most consumers would prefer to eat larger fish like tuna, salmon, or carp species.
Her work started in Bangladesh, and spans Sierra Leone, Malawi, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Zambia, and Nepal. One of the principal ways she’s increasing access to small fish is by utilizing a cultural feature of Bangladesh—the backyard “homestead pond.”
In an interview with NPR, Thilsted explains that since Bangladesh is such a low-lying country, many people choose to build their houses on raised earth. The hole the homeowners dig to acquire the dirt to lift up their property becomes a pond, which they normally stock with larger fish species.
There are four million of these homestead ponds in Bangladesh alone according to Thilsted, but she’s also found them in India, Zambia, and Malawi. Small fish are faster growing, and produce more food weight than larger fish traditionally raised in ponds, since their bones, which contain plenty of nutritional value, are thin enough to chew right through.
Thilsted developed programs to expand awareness of dietary uses of small fish in the kitchen, helping families find more ways to get vital nutrients to their kids. One method is by drying the fish and pulverizing it into a sort of supplement that can then be added to rice or porridge to supercharge the nutrient values therein.
“Dr. Thilsted’s work on nutrition, fish, and aquatic foods challenges us to think very critically about the scope of agricultural research and the urgent call to action to transform global food systems towards healthy and sustainable diets for all,” said WorldFish Director Gareth Johnstone. Thilsted has worked for WorldFish for 10 years.
Taking inspiration from his new home country of Italy, this reporter dissolves one or two dried anchovies in olive oil, adds herbs and spices, and stores it for use as a deep flavoring agent.
How a plant based diet could prevent the next Covid 19 Pandemic
AND SAVE THE PLANET TOO
"Not a single pandemic in human history has been traced to plants." Photo / Getty Images
Viruses like Covid-19, SARS, bovine spongiform, swine flu and avian flu all have something in common: They all come from animals, described by scientists as zoonotic diseases.
Yet, these diseases do not really "come from animals". After all, it is not like animals conspire against humans, throwing Covid-19 over the backyard fence. When we say this pandemic "comes from animals", it means that these diseases come from the way society raises, harvests and eats animals.
A well-rounded policy strategy for avoiding the next pandemic should include reducing the demand for animal products. Fortunately, an effective approach need not imply the government telling people what they should or should not eat.
Many people are already aware of the benefits of a plant-based diet. Doing a better job at supporting those already trying to make a dietary change could be an effective approach for government policy
Zoonosis and food production
The fact that a growing list of pandemics originate exclusively within the animal and agricultural sectors is nothing new to a small but growing group of independent scientists. The United Nations recently voiced a similar concern.
Some of the policy options include expanding scientific inquiry into the environmental dimensions of zoonotic diseases and developing and implementing stronger biosecurity measures. It calls for policies that strengthen animal health (including wildlife health services) and increased capacity in monitoring and regulating food production.
Policies that strengthen animal health and increase monitoring and regulation in food production may reduce the risk of zoonotic diseases. Photo / Getty Images
The report also recommends that states find ways to reduce demand for animal protein. Reducing the demand for meat is not something we often hear as a possible policy option — partly because people may not link our current pandemic to the western diet or agricultural sector.
Many earlier viruses have originated in the animal husbandry industrial production chain.
<p>In the 1980s the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45906585">United Kingdom's cattle production began to see outbreaks of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy</a> (mad cow disease), and <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2118418-many-more-people-could-still-die-from-mad-cow-disease-in-the-uk/">its human equivalent variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20051129155319/http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/Timeline_28_10a.pdf">1997, the bird flu (H5N1) was traced to chicken factories in China</a>. </p>
<p>In 2009, <a href="https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-422X-6-207">the swine flu (H1N1) originated in pig farms in Mexico </a> and <a href="https://www.wired.com/2009/05/swineflufarm/">North Carolina in the United States</a>. </p>
<p>More recently, a possible <a href="https://www.who.int/csr/don/06-november-2020-mink-associated-sars-cov2-denmark/en/">new strain of Covid-19 has been found in farms in Denmark</a>, where mink are raised for fur coats.</p>
It is clear that the origins of these pandemics are not restricted to certain countries or certain practices, such as "wet-markets." For some researchers, including Swedish chief physician and infectious diseases professor Björn Olsen, stemming rising demand for meat and dairy is a necessary part of reducing our risk for pandemics.
Olsen, who is well known for being an early critic of his government's Covid-19 response, is now becoming known for another early warning — one he has been making in books and articles for nearly 10 years now. In a recent interview in Swedish, Olsen notes that pandemic viruses have all arisen where animals and humans meet, and raising billions of animals as food will have effects.
Consider all this in reverse: not a single pandemic in human history has been traced to plants.
While strengthening regulatory and monitoring capacity is an important part of an effective policy strategy, when societies replace animal sources of food with plant-based foods, they also reduce the risk of future pandemics. Olsen worries the link between the rising demand for animal protein and pandemics is not getting enough attention from politicians.
Plant-based diet as policy
A reason why politicians might not see a move towards a plant-based diet as a viable policy option could be because it relies on changing peoples' behaviour, and some would argue that governments should not be in the business of trying to impose dietary choices. Yet there is good reason to think that people are already open to transitioning to a plant-based diet.
According to a recent UN survey, 30 per cent of the world supports a plant-based diet as a climate policy. In fact, nearly 10 per cent of Canada's total population is already vegan or vegetarian, according to a 2018 study led by Sylvain Charlebois, a professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University. The number of people attempting to eat plant-based diets is growing fast. In an interview, Charlebois noted:
With these changes in dietary preferences already occurring, governments need look no further than removing barriers for people to continue to make up their own minds. To support their transition and reduce the demand in animal products, the government should do its best to reduce what many could perceive as the inconvenience of a plant-based diet.
This could begin by reviewing food procurement and nutrition standards to ensure that public facilities such as schools, hospitals, prisons and care homes offer a plant-based meal as standard on menus every day.
Food guide focus
Government should also look to put its own food guide in practice and make plant-based foods more accessible, including for low-income, rural and northern residents. When the Canadian government revised Canada's food guide in 2019, it consulted extensively with nutritionists and scientists. The result was an increased focus on plants as sources of protein, and a reduction of emphasis on meat and dairy.
We know that dietary habits have environmental impact as well as health impact. Given that there is also a clear link between the consumption of animal products and zoonotic diseases, there is further reason for policy makers to support people who want to shift to a plant-based diet.
Millions of trees to be planted as part of new climate forest
Inter-connected woodlands will be created across the city of Glasgow and surrounding local authority areas.
Woodland Trust via PA MediaNew urban forest to be planted in and around Glasgow. By PA Media A new urban forest to be planted in and around Glasgow will include 18 million trees to be planted over the next decade.
The Clyde Climate Forest will have 10 trees per resident as part of the city region’s commitment to reaching Net Zero while raising woodland cover in the area from 17% to 20%.
Inter-connected woodlands will be created across the city of Glasgow – ahead of COP26 – as well as East and West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, and North and South Lanarkshire council areas.
Launching the initiative, Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken said: “This year we have an opportunity to shine a spotlight on Glasgow City Region and showcase how we are planning to adapt to and mitigate climate change while allowing nature to thrive and grow.
“New community woodlands, trees and forests will bring multiple benefits to our local communities as well as wildlife.
“The pandemic has brought into focus like never before the value of local spaces as places to exercise, de-stress and engage with nature and this project can help to deliver the Green Recovery.
“The economic, ecological and social benefits will be extensive.”
Around 29,000 hectares of broadleaved woodland in the region are fragmented due to urban development, with the planting aiming to reconnect the areas.
Community groups and land managers are being asked to help identify places to plant new trees, or replace those lost in the past.
The project secured £400,000 from the Woodland Trust’s Emergency Tree Fund as well as £150,000 from Scottish Forestry over the next two years to recruit a project team and kick-start the development of new planting schemes.
Dave Signorini, Scottish Forestry chief executive, said: “The Clyde Climate Forest will deliver social and economic benefit to the population of the City Region.
“It will also provide a place for nature to connect, recover and thrive.
“Planting trees can help us reduce our carbon footprint and strengthen communities.
“Scottish Forestry is always ready to advise on the range of forestry grants that are on offer so that we can collectively get more trees in the ground.”
Patrick Harvie, Scottish Greens co-leader and MSP for Glasgow, said: “The ambition to grow the Glasgow and Clyde’s tree cover by a fifth is welcome in the year of the Cop 26 conference, and comes after Glasgow became the first city in Scotland to declare an ecological emergency in 2019, thanks to Scottish Green councillors.
“The project’s ambition must be realised quickly, and with a significant proportion of the trees being native woodland, so that it can play a major part on nature recovery.
“We are in nature and climate emergencies, so we need all partners and contributors committed to the scale required.”
P4G summit ends with Seoul redoubling climate role
\ President Moon Jae-in speaks during the Leaders' Dialogue session of the P4G climate summit held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)
A global climate summit wrapped up its two-day run Monday, with host nation South Korea pledging stronger environmental action and a green recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, as the country seeks a bigger role in the global fight against climate change.
The Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030, or P4G, summit brought world leaders together to discuss public-private partnerships toward carbon neutrality and sustainable growth.
Due to the coronavirus situation, the meeting was mostly online, with a mix of recorded and live addresses at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul.
After hosting its first multilateral international session on the environment, South Korea identified its stronger green pledges and expanded role in environmental issues as major achievements of the summit.
“Through the summit, South Korea pledged to the international society to support developing countries’ green recovery and strengthened climate actions to achieve carbon neutrality,” said Environment Minister Han Jeoung-ae on Tuesday during a briefing on the outcome of the summit.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong stressed that Seoul would actively participate in strengthened climate action in partnership with leading nations such as the US. He also underlined South Korea’s role as a bridging nation that can encourage both developing and advanced countries to pursue green initiatives, reiterating President Moon Jae-in’s message during his opening address.
A concrete action plan was mentioned at the summit. Moon pledged that the country would raise its greenhouse gas emissions goals and unveil the updated goals at the upcoming 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in November. Previously, Seoul had pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 24.4 percent from 2017 levels by 2030 as part of its blueprint to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
The president also expressed South Korea’s intent to host the COP28, which is slated for 2023.
Moon reiterated promises he made at the earlier US-led climate summit in April, including South Korea’s commitment to end public financing for overseas coal projects.
As part of Seoul’s efforts to assist developing countries to implement green growth policies, Seoul promised to significantly increase the amount of official development assistance that goes to climate-related projects by 2025. It will also launch a $5 million “Green New Deal” fund within the Seoul-based Global Green Growth Institute to help emerging countries transition to renewable energy, and a further $4 million grant for the operation of P4G.
The summit culminated with top officials from 38 countries adopting the Seoul Declaration, highlighting sustainable and green efforts to fight climate change and hasten the COVID-19 recovery.
“We recognize the climate crisis as an urgent global threat whose impacts reach beyond the environmental agenda to include economic, social, security and human rights-related challenges,” the declaration said. “We reaffirm the fight against COVID-19 leaves important lessons for the global response to the climate crisis and believe that the pandemic should be overcome through green recovery as a progressive strategy.”
The 14-point statement includes vows to limit the temperature rise to 1.5 Celsius degrees in line with the Paris Agreement, phase out coal-powered energy plants and better respond to marine plastic issues.
But there was a mishap at the summit too. A video introducing the summit venue during the opening ceremony mistakenly featured a satellite image of Pyongyang instead of Seoul.
In response to sharp criticism, Chung expressed deep regrets during the briefing and said there would be a detailed examination of the matter.
Seoul sees the P4G session as paving the way for the major summit COP26, where the 195 countries that signed the Paris Agreement will review and report back on their progress on the commitments made under the accord.
Adopted in 2015, the Paris Agreement set out an ambitious goal of limiting the global temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels or 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
More than 60 world leaders and heads of international organizations took part in the two-day session, some through prerecorded video speeches. They included British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria.
P4G is a global initiative that seeks solutions for climate action and green economic growth through public-private partnerships and aims to deliver on the UN sustainable development goals and the Paris Agreement. The forum involves 12 countries, including South Korea, Denmark, South Africa, Indonesia and Mexico, as well as international organizations and private firms. The inaugural summit was held in Denmark in 2018.
Oil terminal in UK blocked in ‘greenwash’ protest by Extinction Rebellion activists The protest is one of several being held by the group ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall, England.
Activists locking down BP’s Southampton oil terminal. Picture: William Templeton/XR TUE, 01 JUN, 2021 - 15:38 BEN MITCHELL, PA
A BP oil terminal which supplies petrol stations across the south of England is being blockaded by Extinction Rebellion activists highlighting UK Government and fossil fuel industry “greenwash” policies
Four protesters locked to oil barrels are lying across the entrance to the facility in Hamble, Hampshire, preventing tanker lorries from accessing the site.
Other demonstrators have dressed up as cleaning ladies to remove layers of green paint on the drums which have slogans on them saying: “Broken promises / Burning Planet” and “Govt MER Strategy / Maximises emissions”.
The protest is one of several being held by the group ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall, England.
James Hill, Extinction Rebellion south east spokesman, said: “The Government continues to announce paper targets to reduce emissions but it is still business as usual for fossil fuel companies.
“There is new exploration, new 20-year production licences and new investment in fossil fuel infrastructure locking us into future greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the fossil fuel phase out should already be under way.
“The UK Government’s policy is for Maximum Economic Recovery (MER) of oil and gas; this is incompatible with the urgent need for rapid transition away from fossil fuels to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees.
“We call on the Government to stop the greenwash, to scrap their MER strategy, end the subsidies to the fossil fuel industry and accelerate the transition to renewables.”
Activists locking down BP’s Southampton oil terminal (William Templeton/XR)
A BP spokesman said: “Road tanker traffic in and out of the Hamble terminal, operated by BP, is currently blocked by a demonstration.
“The terminal supplies fuel to service stations in the south of England that are operated by a wide variety of companies.
“Our priority is ensuring the safety of people and operations. BP supports the goals of Paris Agreement and our ambition is to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner.
“To achieve this, our strategy will see us increase our spending on renewable energy ten-fold over this decade, to around five billion dollars a year, and also reduce our oil and gas production by 40%.
“As examples of progress in this strategy, in the past six months we have entered offshore wind in both the US and the UK.
“And just this morning we announced a new agreement to buy a major pipeline of nine gigawatts of solar developments in the US.
“We already operate the UK’s most-used electric vehicle charging network, BP pulse, and plan to more than double our chargers in the country over the next decade, including at our retail sites.”
A Hampshire police spokesman said: “We are aware of a protest on Hamble Lane that is taking place today.
“Officers are on scene to facilitate the protesters’ right to peaceful protest, to ensure the health and safety of those involved and to minimise the impact on the local community and businesses.
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