BC SCI FI TECH

Nuclear fusion could power homes by 2030
ROFLMAO

Instead of using lasers like the California scientists, a Vancouver company is compressing the hydrogen plasma with high-powered pistons until the mixture reaches 180 million degrees Fahrenheit.

California scientists announced a breakthrough that could commercialize nuclear fusion in a few decades, but a Vancouver-based company has a method that claims to power homes with the technology by the early 2030s.

Unlike at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which used lasers to achieve net gain energy, General Fusion compresses hydrogen plasma inside a large cylinder to increase density and temperature.

General Fusion's method uses high-powered pistons to squeeze liquid metal around the plasma to build pressure until the mixture hits 180 million degrees Fahrenheit - and fusion occurs.

The firm has set the early 2030s for when it plans to have its first commercial power plant online, but is targeting 2027 to demonstrate fusion on a power plant level.

General Fusion is developing a massive plasma injector that uses pistons to compress the mixture in a new process that claims to commercialize the clean energy by the early 2030s

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California announced Monday that they had achieved 'net energy gain' by producing more energy in fusion than was used to activate it.

The experiment saw the high-energy lasers converge on a target about the size of a peppercorn, heating a capsule of hydrogen to more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit and 'briefly simulating the conditions of the sun,' said the facility's director, Dr Kim Budil.

'I think it's moving into the foreground — and probably with concerted effort and investment, a few decades of research on the underlying technologies could put us in a position to build a power plant,' she added.

General Fusion, however, claims it will beat the scientists with its new method called Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF).

Historic 'breakthrough' in nuclear fusion: Scientists achieve 'holy grail' by replicating power of the sun,…

By Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com

COP15's key aim: protect 30% of the planet


Issued on: 14/12/2022 -

The Boreal Forest, above The Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, has increasingly been affected by wood bugs in the past 20 years, due to longer summers 

© Olivier MORIN / AFP/File


Montreal (AFP) – Headlining the COP15 biodiversity talks is a drive to secure 30 percent of Earth's land and oceans as protected zones by 2030 -- the most disputed item on the agenda.

Some campaigners say the so-called "30x30" target is nature's equivalent of the landmark 1.5C global warming target set at climate talks under the Paris Agreement.

But delegates negotiating a broad accord for protecting nature are divided over how to pay for "30x30" and how the measure would be applied.

Here are some facts about the initiative, one of numerous targets under discussion at the talks taking place in Montreal until December 19.

Too much?

Fearful that COP15 will end with a less ambitious agreement, scientists and environmentalists insist 30 percent must be a minimum target for protecting nature, not a ceiling.

Currently, 17 percent of land and eight percent of the seas have protected status.

South Africa, Russia, and Saudi Arabia have argued for a target of 20 percent. Other countries, such as China, Japan and South Korea support 30 percent for land but want a less arduous target of 20 percent for the seas.

The target would be applied worldwide, so countries with big populations or small shorelines would not be obliged to contribute a disproportionate share.

Some countries would shoulder higher percentages, particularly ones that are home to areas of rich biodiversity, or places of strategic importance for arresting climate change -- such as the Amazon and the Congo Basin.

Not enough?

Some say the 30 percent target is not ambitious enough.

"Thirty percent would be a laudatory goal if the year were 1952. But it's 2022 and we don't have the luxury of waiting," said Eric Dinerstein, a biologist who authored "Global Safety Net," a study on areas in need of protection.

"The simplest way to say it, as we biologists would like to put it, is that 50 percent is our 1.5 degrees."

Oscar Soria of the civil campaign group Avaaz called too for a 50-percent target, in line with other NGOs such as Wild Foundation and One Earth.

He argued that if governments recognized indigenous peoples' and other communities' rights over their territory, the 30 percent protection target would have already been achieved.

Accounting for six percent of the world's population and occupying 25 percent of its land, indigenous people are key players in the Montreal talks.

"We are here to send the message that we cannot achieve ambitious conservation aims unless our rights are fully taken into account," said Jennifer Corpuz, a lawyer and member of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity.

Subject to conditions

Many NGOs say they will accept a 30 percent target if certain criteria are met, such as only including ecologically significant land in the protected areas and ensuring effective protection measures.

Some are demanding that a fixed percentage of the land be classed as strongly or totally protected -- with barely any human activity.

Most of these elements have yet to be approved in the draft agreements under discussion.

Campaigners are therefore pressing for action from one of the negotiating blocs at COP15: the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People. The bloc is jointly led by Costa Rica, France and Britain and backed by 130 countries that support the 30 percent target.

Some are limiting the scope of these demands, however.

"If the criteria are too restrictive, countries will go and protect areas that are not of great interest for biodiversity," said one Western negotiator who asked not to be named.

"But the richest areas are also the ones with the best resources: they have to be managed sustainably but not prohibited," the negotiator added.

"There is a lot of talk about 30 percent, but what is key is also what is done to nature in the remaining 70 percent."

Other key aims at stake in the talks are defending biodiversity in land management, reducing the use of pesticides, and restoring damaged land.

© 2022 AFP

COP15: Protecting the right 30% of the planet by 2030

Key Biodiversity Areas are critical to the future of life on Earth

By Penny Langhammer on December 13, 2022

Colombia's Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta overlaps with five Key Biodiversity Areas. 

(Photo by Fundación Atelopus)

In the mid-2000s, I became extremely concerned about the number of amphibian species that were experiencing drastic population declines—and even extinctions—because of the fungal disease chytridiomycosis. Species were even disappearing from well-protected areas. At the time, I had been focused on identifying and protecting Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), which are the most important sites on the planet for species and ecosystems. I had co-authored many scientific papers and even a book about KBAs. But given these drastic amphibian declines, I started to worry that our efforts to identify and protect KBAs were not working, at least for amphibians, and I wanted to help uncover a solution.

So I pursued a PhD on the impacts of chytridiomycosis on the frogs of Puerto Rico, where three species extinctions had been recorded since the mid-70s. After five years of study, I came back around full circle. I realized that the most effective way to address this disease crisis was to prevent the pathogen’s spread to new places and to give the amphibians a better chance at surviving disease outbreaks and potentially evolving resistance or tolerance to the pathogen by protecting their habitat.

Harlequin toads are among the amphibians that have been hardest hit by the fungal disease chytridiomycosis. (Photo by Jaime Culebras/Photo Wildlife Tours)

I have been working to help identify and protect KBAs globally for 20 years, nearly my entire conservation career. We have limited time and resources to address the biodiversity crisis, and as a scientist, I have been drawn to this approach, which aims to identify the most important sites on the planet in a rigorous, data-driven and transparent way, according to a global standard. And as a conservationist, I appreciate that KBAs provide a practical, bottom-up approach for countries to identify sites that can guide multiple sectors of society in their efforts to minimize the further loss of the Earth’s biodiversity.

Identifying and protecting KBAs, especially sites that are home to the last remaining population of a Critically Endangered or Endangered species (called Alliance for Zero Extinction sites), is of critical importance even for species impacted by threats that are not related to habitat destruction, like disease. While I have many other responsibilities as Re:wild’s executive vice president, I remain firmly committed to advancing our work as part of the KBA Partnership. This includes our current participation in the UN’s 15th biodiversity summit, known as the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15).

Forest canopy in Java's Ujung Kulon National Park, a Key Biodiversity Area. (Photo by Robin Moore, Re:wild)

Since last week, the nearly 200 countries that are party to the Convention on Biological Diversity have been convening in Montréal, Canada to finalize, and hopefully adopt what is called a Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to set the course for biodiversity conservation for the next 10 years. Given that the interrelated crises of biodiversity loss, climate change and human well-being are worsening each year, it is critical that the parties adopt a framework with ambitious goals and targets that can halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030.

Of particular interest to me is Target 3, of 20 total, which aims to increase the proportion of the Earth’s land and ocean that is under protection to 30% by 2030. This is the so-called ‘30 by 30’ target that has already been embraced by more than 100 countries that comprise the High-Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, along with dozens of NGO partners.

The Philippines' Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park, a Key Biodiversity Area. (Photo by James Slade/Re:wild)

What is often overlooked in 30 by 30 is that there are other elements to the target that are equally essential to helping achieve the goal of halting and reversing biodiversity loss. This includes, for example, a focus on the protection and conservation of areas that are particularly important for biodiversity, rather than on sites that have little economic value to people. This also includes ensuring that protected and conserved areas are effectively and equitably managed, ecologically represented and well-connected.

Between 2010 and 2020, a similar target outlined in the last decade’s global biodiversity framework, included both an area coverage goal (i.e. 17% of land and inland water and 10% of coastal and marine areas) and these other elements, but the only goal achieved was the percent coverage of land and sea. In fact, during the past decade, the expansion of protected areas was biased toward locations that were remote and simply less suitable for agriculture, rather than covering areas of global importance for species and ecosystems, regardless of suitability for agriculture.

A Mountain Gorilla in Virunga National Park, a Key Biodiversity Area (Photo by Bobby Neptune for Re:wild)

One possible reason for this failure is ambiguity about which sites are of ‘particular importance for biodiversity’ that should be the focus of conservation efforts. This is why Re:wild, and other members of the Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership, have been arguing for the explicit inclusion of Key Biodiversity Areas within the targets and indicators of the Global Biodiversity Framework, in particular Target 3.

At present, KBAs cover only 9% of the terrestrial land surface of the planet, and much less in the marine realm. Thus, as the world works to achieve a 30 by 30 target, including protecting “the right 30%,” KBAs represent the minimum of what needs to be protected or conserved, and effectively managed. Other areas will certainly be needed, and we make that clear in our recommended language for Target 3.

Less than 20% of the world’s 16,000 KBAs are protected and only 42% are partially protected. And many of the world’s KBAs have not yet been identified, especially in the aquatic realms. We now need the ambition from governments, donors, NGOs and the private sector to scale up the identification and conservation of KBAs so that all countries can meet the goal of halting and reversing global biodiversity loss. Not only is this the best way forward for saving our planet’s amphibians, but for safeguarding all life on Earth.

About the author   

Penny Langhammer
As Executive Vice President, Dr. Penny Langhammer oversees all Re:wild programs across the world. She is responsible for developing and implementing Re:wild’s strategy through both regional and cross-cutting programs.

All numerical targets including '30x30' pledge remain unsettled in COP15 negotiations

Monday

MONTREAL — Many key goals in a proposed agreement on protecting the planet's biodiversity remain unsettled as debate continues over who will pay for the ambitious pledges, delegates at a UN meeting in Montreal said Monday.


All numerical targets including '30x30' pledge remain unsettled in COP15 negotiations© Provided by The Canadian Press

Delegates to the UN meeting told reporters Monday that the pace of negotiations appears to have picked up in recent days, but more progress needs to happen if an agreement is to be reached by the time the COP15 biodiversity conference ends.

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, said there has still been no agreement on numerical targets, how the deal will be implemented and who will pay for those pledges.

"Good progress has been made," Mrema told reporters. "But if you look specifically at the Global Biodiversity Framework negotiations, it's still a bumpy road."

Among the targets that remain unsettled is a proposal championed by Canada and a number of other countries to protect 30 per cent of the world's land and water by 2030, as well as targets around the reduction of species extinction and harmful pesticide use.

But Mrema said she's optimistic a deal can be reach before the conference is scheduled to end Dec. 19.

Ladislav Miko, who represents the European Commission, said discussions need to move "dramatically forward" before ministers and other high-level delegates arrive later this week to finalize the text. Otherwise, he said, they risk being bogged down in technical details and won't have time to negotiate the bigger issues.

"We do believe the crucial thing is we leave the ministerial segment with several main political issues to discuss, and we should make progress on the other issues as much as possible," he said.

Mrema said around 130 environment ministers and around 40 deputy or vice ministers are expected to participate in the high-level negotiations that begin Thursday.

Canada's environment minister, Steven Guilbeault, told The Canadian Press in an interview Monday that after formal negotiations on Saturday, the text outlining 22 biodiversity targets is about 35 per cent cleaner — meaning there are fewer bracketed words indicating text that is still under discussion.

Both Canada and China, which is the official host of the event, told the secretariat overseeing the conference they have to stop allowing more brackets or new text to be added to the draft and focus on cleaning it up. "Our hope is that by the time ministers arrive on Wednesday, we have a text that is about 80 per cent clean," Guilbeault said.

Mrema praised the behind-the-scenes co-operation between Canada and China to ensure a deal is reached at the conference, adding that Guilbeault and his Chinese counterpart have been meeting regularly.

"The ministers have been meeting almost every other day just to take stock of how the negotiations are going, and are already strategizing how they can continue to lead this process moving forward," she said.

A spokesperson for the World Wildlife Fund said there are positive conversations happening around some goals, including a proposal to conserve 30 per cent of the planet's land and water by 2030.

But Lucia Ruiz Bustos, the biodiversity and finance co-ordinator for WWF Mexico, said progress on that goal could be compromised by the current impasse over how the world will finance its goals and targets, and, in particular, how much money richer countries need to transfer to developing ones.

Marco Lambertini, the WWF's director, said the negotiations are caught in a back-and-forth between ambition and cost. "It's absolutely true that in order to deliver the ambition, we need the right commensurate resources," and that most of those resources need to go to the global South, he said.

Guido Broekhoven, another WWF spokesman, said some have estimated the cost of implementing the biodiversity framework at US$700 billion, although the actual cost will depend on the final agreement. Both Lambertini and the representatives of the European Union said those resources cannot come from governments alone.

Florika Fink-Hooijer of the European Commission said that calls for more financing from developing nations are "legitimate" but finding the money won't be so easy.

While the EU is a "reliable" donor of development assistance, the magnitude of the challenge will require more than foreign aid. She urged decision-makers to look to domestic financing, banks, industry and philanthropic sources to secure additional funds.

Despite the differences, the delegates who spoke Monday said they felt the pace of the talks had picked up after a slow start, and they were encouraged by the progress that has been made.

"I'm confident," said Guilbeault. "I think we are getting there."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2022.

— With files from Mia Rabson and Jacob Serebrin

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press

MINING IS NOT SUSTAINABLE NOR IS IT GREEN
Canada, other G7 nations launch sustainable mining alliance at COP15 nature meeting

Monday

MONTREAL — Canada and other G7 countries have formed a new alliance to compel mining companies to adopt more environmentally sustainable and socially responsible standards, as the Western world ramps up its critical mineral supply chains.


Canada, other G7 nations launch sustainable mining alliance at COP15 nature meeting© Provided by The Canadian Press

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced the agreement on Monday at the COP15 biodiversity talks in Montreal. The deal involves countries that are trying to reduce China's dominance in the critical mineral field.

Critical minerals refer to about three dozen metals and minerals needed for most modern technology, including laptops and cellphones. But they are also essential to rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles, as well as energy storage, and renewable energy production in solar panels and wind turbines.

"There is no energy transition without critical minerals," Wilkinson told reporters. "Critical minerals are the building blocks for the green and digital economy."

The announcement came three days after Wilkinson published Canada's critical mineral strategy, which aims to expand Canada's production in a way that is environmentally sustainable, ensures Indigenous equity and improves global security.

Canada and the United States are among the Western democracies that have made clear that China cannot be allowed to dominate critical minerals in a way that gives it political influence similar to Russia's leverage over oil and gas exports to Europe. China is the dominant player in critical minerals, particularly in the refining and processing and manufacturing uses.

Asked if the alliance was aimed at China, Wilkinson said, "It's a call to action to all countries that they should be actually doing this in a manner that is environmentally sustainable, that respects labour rights and that respects the rights of Indigenous Peoples."

All G7 countries but Italy have joined the alliance, as has Australia.

"We understand that net-zero by 2050 will involve more mining, not less," said Katherine Ruiz-Avila, the Australian deputy high commissioner to Canada, adding that her country joined the alliance to help ensure "critical minerals are mined, processed and recycled in ways that make a positive contribution to the lives of local communities, to First Nations people and to the quality of our natural environment."

The Canadian strategy is focused only on domestic mining, and Wilkinson acknowledged it is silent on the sustainability of raw materials that are mined elsewhere and brought to Canada for further processing or used in the manufacturing of batteries.

The alliance is an attempt to extend the Canadian strategy globally, though it is not clear how heavy-handed Canada or any of the others will be about ensuring imported critical minerals follow the same environmental and social standards as those mined at home.

The agreement also does not specify what role the alliance members will play in ensuring that their own companies follow the standards when operating on foreign soil. Canada's mining companies have a good reputation for sustainable mining practices at home, but internationally it is a different story. There have been several lawsuits — for environmental damage, health impacts and human rights violations — filed against Canadian companies operating in other countries.

Asked how the alliance would change the practices of Canadian mining companies, Wilkinson defended the industry.

"Canada's mining companies, actually both domestically and internationally, have some of the highest standards in the world. That's not to say that we don't need to do more; we do need to do more in the context of ensuring that we are stemming the decline in biodiversity that exists here and around the world," he said.

The alliance members are also not clear on whether they will limit exports to China of raw materials mined in their territories. Canada has already begun enforcing a new policy to limit the role state-owned enterprises in non-democratic countries play in Canadian critical minerals, forcing three Chinese companies to sell their ownership stakes in some small Canadian mining developments.

Wilkinson said, however, that the alliance will influence where Canada sources its critical minerals.

"We're all, essentially, committing ourselves to certain standards that relate to how we produce the minerals, but also where we buy minerals from," he said. "If you are a country that has critical mineral resources, and you want to sell it to the United Kingdom, or to Japan or to Canada, you need to respect those principles."

The COP15 nature talks are an effort by most countries in the world to agree to policies that will both halt and repair the destruction that human activities, including mining, have brought on global ecosystems and wild species. Some environmental advocates aren't pleased the Canadian government is announcing a strategy that expands mining.

Caroline Brouillette, national policy director at the Climate Action Network Canada, said the strategy is disconnected from conversations happening at COP15 and reinforces "our dependence on destructive business models that exhaust resources and harm communities."

Aimee Boulanger, executive director of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, said governments have an essential role to play in ensuring that the extraction of minerals used in the transition away from fossil fuels is done responsibly.

"We need to make sure that the solutions to the problems we're trying to deal with don't themselves cause greater harm," she said in an interview.

But Boulanger said that even in the countries that are members of the alliance, local laws are currently not strong enough to prevent significant harm from industrial mining.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2022.

— Mia Rabson in Ottawa and Jacob Serebrin in Montreal.

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press

COP15
Developing countries walk out of Montreal biodiversity conference over funding

Protesting COP15 in Montreal


Hundreds march during COP15 in Montreal


COP15 rally combats 'corporate greed'



The Canadian Press
Updated Dec. 14, 2022 

MONTREAL -

Developing countries have walked out of global talks on conserving the world's biodiversity over concerns about funding, as the COP15 conference was to have turned its attention toward the role of the private sector.

David Ainsworth, an information officer for the talks, said the countries left the negotiations in Montreal early Wednesday. 

"Delegates from developing countries exited negotiations in protest," he said.

Ainsworth said there are a number of disagreements.

"The issue that seems to have precipitated the walkout was a discussion on creation of a new fund for biodiversity."

The conference's marquee goal is a deal on preserving 30 per cent of the world's lands and oceans by 2030.

But the conference is also trying to reach agreement on how that goal should be funded. Estimates of the cost range fromUS$200 billion to US$700 billion a year, including the redirection of public subsidies from projects that damage biodiversity to those that support it.

Delegates have disagreed on whether the money should be funnelled through a new fund or existing channels. Transparency and disclosure are also topics of discussion.

Francis Ogwal, co-chair of one of the working groups attempting to reach a deal, said the walkout, which came at 1 a.m., was money-related.

"The key point ... is the level of the resource envelope that is going to be available for implementing this framework," he said.

"You can adopt a framework as ambitious as it could be, but if you're not explicit over how it's going to be funded ... implementation will not go at the level needed."

Ogwal said this round of negotiations differs from previous ones in that talks on goals and how they will be paid for are occurring in parallel.

"This time around we said the framework should be a package," he said. "It should all be done at the same time."

It isn't all about money. Discussions also involve technology transfer and capacity building to help funding recipients use resources efficiently.

A meeting was scheduled later Wednesday for all the heads of delegations of countries attending the conference in an attempt to resolve the impasse.

The walkout came as the two-week event entered its final days, with environment ministers from around the world arriving to try to hammer out a final text on the most difficult issues.

The role of private money and industry in preserving enough natural ecosystems to keep the planet functioning was to be the focus of talks Wednesday. Discussions were scheduled on how global capital flows can be harnessed to work with nature rather than exploit it.

Figures from the United Nations suggest those capital flows are now more part of the problem than the solution.

The UN says that in 2019, industries that are eroding biodiversity got money from major investment banks equal to Canada's entire gross domestic product -- an estimated $3.5 trillion.

The UN says most of that money went to agriculture, fisheries, fossil fuels and forestry.

They say the money devoted to conservation was $200 billionat most.

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault acknowledged Tuesday that the private sector will have a role to play.

Many business leaders appearing at the conference also want to discuss disclosure rules, so businesses that take biodiversity into account in investment decisions aren't disadvantaged by those that don't. Others want to ensure resources are transferred transparently, so third parties can ensure they're going where they're supposed to.

Overall, the COP15 conference is aimed at producing a deal for the world's declining biodiversity equivalent to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which assigned hard targets for countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiators are hoping for commitments to preserve 30 per cent of the Earth's land and water by 2030, as well as plans to stop ecosystem decline by the same date.

Climate change and biodiversity are closely linked. Scientists have concluded that it will be impossible to hold global warming to 1.5 C without saving at least one-third of the planet.

The COP15 meetings go on until Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2022 By Bob Weber in Edmonton and Morgan Lowrie in Montreal

UN biodiversity talks hampered by ‘lack of political will’: WWF

World Wildlife Fund urges more ambitious targets after developing nations stage COP15 walkout over funding plans.

The UN biodiversity conference, known as COP15, aims to set global biodiversity protection and restoration targets by 2030

 [Christinne Muschi/Reuters]

THE GUARDIAN
Published On 14 Dec 2022

A “lack of political will” is hindering the United Nations biodiversity conference, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has warned, urging participating nations to set more ambitious goals to tackle the environmental crisis.

Delegates from nearly 200 countries have gathered in Montreal, Canada in an effort to tackle the rapid decline of global biodiversity – the loss of animals, plants, and other organisms, as well as entire ecosystems around the world.

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“Currently, there’s simply a lack of political will compared to what’s needed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030,” Florian Titze, an adviser on international biodiversity policy at WWF Germany, said during a news conference on Wednesday.

“Nothing is lost yet. We still look hopeful towards the next week, when ministers are here,” Titze added.

“But the ministers really need to show up, and they really must step up and show us that they’re willing to not only ask for ambitious targets, but also take action on them – and that includes paying the bill.”

The call to action came after delegates from developing countries staged a late-night walkout of the UN conference – dubbed COP15 – on Tuesday after talks broke down with wealthier nations over the contentious issue of funding.



“The countries left the meeting because they considered that it was impossible to make progress in the discussions because developed countries were not ready to compromise,” the nonprofit group Avaaz said in an update on Wednesday.

David Ainsworth, a spokesman for the UN Environment Programme, also told reporters that “the atmosphere deteriorated when the group started discussing concepts, in particular, the global biodiversity fund proposal.”

The proposal is a new fund sought by low-income nations to help them achieve their biodiversity objectives. But wealthier nations have opposed its creation, preferring instead to reform existing financing schemes.

The COP15 talks, which are set to conclude on December 19, aim to set biodiversity protection and restoration targets by 2030. In addition to funding and implementation, a key topic of debate has been a push to protect at least 30 percent of land and sea globally – the 30×30 proposal.

Experts have warned that one million species currently face extinction across the globe, with various factors – including climate change and development projects – driving the destruction of lands, forests, oceans and other habitats.

A widely cited 2008 World Bank report also estimated that traditional Indigenous territories accounted for 22 percent of the world’s land and held 80 percent of its biodiversity – underscoring the importance of Indigenous leadership on the issue.

Late last week, Dinamam Tuxa, executive coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, told reporters that Indigenous voices needed to be at the heart of any COP15 commitments to ensure that funding and other resources get to the communities at the forefront of the fight.

But the current financing gap for biodiversity ranges from between $600bn to almost $825bn per year, according to experts.

A group of developing nations, including Gabon, Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia, this year called for rich countries to provide at least $100bn annually – rising to $700bn a year by 2030 – for biodiversity.

Late last month, Greenpeace urged richer countries to take on a fair share of the financial burden and help nations in the Global South – which are shouldering much of the biodiversity loss burden – protect areas at risk of destruction.

Similar debates over a so-called “loss and damage fund” dominated the recent COP27 climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Meanwhile, Titze from WWF Germany warned on Wednesday that COP15 negotiations appeared to be on track to deliver targets that are lower than what was agreed to more than a decade ago by the parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

“That is not the political signal that we need,” he told reporters, adding that a “comprehensive” funding package that includes private-sector commitments is necessary to immediately implement any targets, especially in developing countries.

“A lot of the biodiversity left on this planet is in their territories,” Titze said. “They need the support, and that needs to come through international financing.”

 

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Red Cross fears 'enormous suffering' in 2023

Issued on: 14/12/2022 

The ICRC cited Somalia as a country of particular concern 

© YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP

Geneva (AFP) – The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned Wednesday "an enormous level of suffering" awaits the world in 2023 with famine spreading.

Mirjana Spoljaric, who took over at the ICRC in October, told a Geneva press conference: "We expect an enormous level of suffering.

"As the world is trending at the moment we don't see any easing of the humanitarian pressures, they will be immense potentially," she said.

"There is a possibility that we will see very high levels of hunger in many parts of the world and insecurity in general."

Not only will prices be high for food, it will "simply not be available in the same amounts due to a lack of fertilisers and due to, again, the impact of climate change."

She cited Somalia as a country of particular concern.

"In our four hospitals we have seen a tenfold increase of wounds caused by violence, violent, armed violence, conflict and we are also witnessing a three fold increase of malnutrition in children.

"The situation is extremely alarming," Spoljaric said, adding her next trip would be to the Horn of Africa were some 20 million people are suffering from malnutrition.

The ICRC is seeking 2.8 billion euros for next year, up on last year's 2.4 billion.

But the ICRC chief said it might not be enough, "depending on how the situation evolves".

© 2022 AFP

WHO eyes end to Covid and Mpox emergencies in 2023

Issued on: 14/12/2022 

On Mpox -- formerly known as monkeypox -- Tedros said the global outbreak had taken the world by surprise 

 Handout / National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/AFP

Geneva (AFP) – The World Health Organization said Wednesday it hopes that Covid-19 and Mpox will no longer be public health emergencies in 2023 as both diseases end their most dangerous phase.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said one of the chief lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic was that countries had to respond quickly to surprise outbreaks.

On Covid-19, he said the weekly death toll was now around a fifth of what it was a year ago.

"Last week, less than 10,000 people lost their lives. That's still 10,000 too many and there is still a lot that all countries can do to save lives," he told a press conference.

"But we have come a long way. We are hopeful that at some point next year, we will be able to say that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency."

The WHO's emergency committee, which advises Tedros on declarations of public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC), will being discussing what the end of the emergency phase might look like when they meet in January, he added.

"This virus will not go away. It's here to stay and all countries will need to learn to manage it alongside other respiratory illnesses," he said.

"We still face many uncertainties and challenges in 2023. Only one in five people in low-income countries has been vaccinated.

"Access to diagnostics and life-saving treatments for Covid-19 remains unacceptably unaffordable and unequal. The burden of post-Covid-19 condition is only likely to increase and large gaps in surveillance remain."

On Mpox -- formerly known as monkeypox -- Tedros said the global outbreak had taken the world by surprise.

More than 82,000 cases have been reported from 110 countries, although the mortality rate has remained low, with 65 deaths.

"Thankfully, the number of weekly reported cases has declined more than 90 percent since I declared a PHEIC in July," said Tedros.

"If the current trend continues, we're hopeful that next year we'll also be able to declare an end to this emergency."

© 2022 AFP

China COVID 'explosion' began before restrictions eased: WHO

Millions of vulnerable elderly people are still not fully vaccinated.

The flare-up in COVID-19 cases in China was well underway before the government began easing restrictions, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

Officials in China warned that cases are rising rapidly in Beijing after the government abruptly abandoned its zero-COVID policy, scrapping mass testing and quarantines after nearly three years of attempting to stamp out the virus.

"The explosion of cases in China is not due to the lifting of COVID restrictions. The explosion of cases in China had started long before any easing of the zero-COVID policy," WHO emergencies chief Michael Ryan told reporters.

"There's a narrative that, in some way, China lifted the restrictions and all of a sudden, the disease is out of control," he added at the UN health agency's headquarters in Geneva.

"The disease was spreading intensively because the control measures in themselves were not stopping the disease.

"I believe the Chinese authorities have decided strategically that that, for them, is not the best option anymore," he said, referring to the control measures.

Ryan said the Omicron variant of the virus, which was first detected around a year ago, meant China-style restrictions were not as useful as they had been against previous strains circulating when vaccination coverage was low.

"The super-transmissibility of Omicron really took away the opportunity for using public health and social measures aimed at full containment of the virus," he told a press conference with the UN correspondents' association.

Ryan said such measures had been primarily used to protect health systems while vaccination levels increased, but now their usefulness had changed.

"There is data from places like Hong Kong that show that the inactivated Chinese vaccines, with the addition of a third dose, performed very, very well. But it did require that third dose to show that effect," he said.

And he stressed: "The increased intensity of transmission was occurring long before there was any change in the policy."

Chinese leaders are determined to press ahead even though the country is facing a surge in cases that experts fear it is ill-equipped to manage.

Millions of vulnerable elderly people are still not fully vaccinated and underfunded hospitals lack the resources to deal with an influx of infected patients.

© 2022 AFP

WHO pleased to see China ease harsh zero COVID policies

Barcelona invests for masculinity workshops

 Questioning our preconceived notions about gender can be crucial to overcoming bias. Last year, a Centre for New Masculinities opened in Barcelona, Spain aiming to break down old - and often harmful - models of manhood. FRANCE 24's correspondents Sarah Morris and Céline Schmitt went to visit one of their workshops for future Dads.

Saakashvili: Georgia's ailing ex-leader starts new hunger strike

Saakashvili was sent to jail after he smuggled himself back into Georgia last year

By Rayhan Demytrie
BBC News, Tbilisi

Jailed Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili has vowed to go on hunger strike again after a court hearing into his jail term was postponed.

Saakashvili, 54, has been in a Georgian jail for more than a year, convicted of abuse of power while in office.

He has not been seen in public since April, and has reportedly suffered significant weight loss and is unable to move without assistance.

Wednesday's hearing was cancelled because no video link was set up.

The court in Tbilisi had been due to consider whether to suspend his sentence or release him on humanitarian grounds for medical treatment abroad. Saakashvili's lawyer told the BBC the government was afraid to reveal the real state he was now in.

Saakashvili hopes the international community will press Georgia to release him. "SOS. I am dying, I have very little time left," he wrote earlier in a hand-written note to the French president.

He has already staged two hunger strikes against his imprisonment. He was transferred to the private Vivamedi Clinic in Tbilisi in May 2022 and has been confined to a room there.

In a statement on Wednesday he said his right to trial had been refused, so he was forced to respond.

"I am aware of all the risks, considering my health condition, but I will be on hunger strike until I get guarantees that I will be involved in my process, at least with a video link."

Empathy, an organisation supporting victims of torture in Georgia, alleged on 1 December that he had been diagnosed with illnesses "incompatible with imprisonment" and that Georgian and foreign medical experts had found evidence of heavy-metal poisoning.

Hair samples revealed high levels of mercury.

But the Georgian government denies Saakashvili's life is in danger.

"We will not allow anyone, no matter who they are, to put themselves above the law," Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told local media on 7 December.

"I heard a lot that Saakashvilli is depressed and does not like the environment. Which prisoner likes the prison environment?" he said.

The former president has inflamed tensions in Georgia between his supporters and those who want him punished for crimes committed in office.

Mikheil Saakashvilli rose to power after Georgia's so-called Rose Revolution in 2003 and was credited with introducing major reforms and helping to steer the country towards a more Western system of democracy. But in his final years in office, he was accused of turning increasingly authoritarian.

He led the country until his party's defeat in elections in 2012, then later left Georgia to avoid facing prosecution.

Saakashvili was tried in absentia and sentenced to six years in 2018 for abuses of power. There are additional criminal cases against the former president, including illegally crossing the state border last September, after he smuggled himself back into Georgia.

But his supporters believe his prosecution is a transparent political vendetta.

Saakashvilli had a very public falling-out with Georgia's powerful oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia.

Mikheil Saakashvili/Facebook
I am sick, but tomorrow I want to attend the court that decides my life or death. thank you everyone! I love youMikheil Saakashvili
Scrawled letter written last week


Mr Ivanishvili founded the governing party, Georgian Dream, and is widely believed to maintain influence in politics.

The opposition United National Movement, founded by Saakashvili, has accused the current administration of being pro-Kremlin for failing to openly criticise Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.

Georgia's government argues its approach to its northern neighbour is pragmatic and accuses the opposition of seeking to entangle Georgia in Russia's war.

Saakashvili describes himself as a prisoner of President Vladimir Putin.

"All my life I fought for freedom and reforms in Georgia and Ukraine against Russia's imperialist policy. Putin considers me one of his main enemies," Saakashvili wrote in his note to the French president.

IMAGE SOURCE,GEORGIA INTERIOR MINISTRY/REUTERSImage caption,
Saakashvili was detained in October 2021 when he made a surprise return to Georgia

The Russian leader infamously threatened to hang Saakashvili "by his balls" during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war over the Georgian region of South Ossetia, which is now occupied by Russia.

Eduard Saakashvili warned journalists at the European Parliament this week that his father's health was in decline and that he was growing weaker: "A person who used to be energetic, ambitious, charismatic, restless is slowly fading away.

"Add that to the medical reports and we see a dire picture… from mistreatment and inadequate care... We cannot allow my father Mikheil Saakashvili to die in prison."

He called on the Georgian government to allow his father to receive treatment abroad.

Earlier, the US ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, said the government of Georgia was responsible for meeting Saakashvili's medical needs and ensuring his rights.

When asked about his responsibility for the former president's well-being, Prime Minister Garibashvili said it was in the hands of God.

"Our lives are given to God, so I can't really be responsible for anyone's life," he said.