CLIMATE
Meet the psychologist who matchmakes philanthropists with cash-strapped activists

Jessica Kleczka spoke to fellow climate psychologist Margaret Klein Salamon about why disruptive activism works. - 

 Copyright Angharad Bache / Aimee Almstead

By Jessica Kleczka • Updated: 12/03/2023 - 

I meet Margaret Klein Salamon over Zoom. Her New York office is bright and minimalist, with a couple of pieces of abstract art and a single large plant. She greets me with a smile. I’ve been anticipating our conversation for weeks. Being a climate psychologist can be lonely at times as our work is still very niche. So it’s a rare treat to meet another of our small tribe.

It turns out that our work trajectories have been similar, too. We both gave up careers in clinical psychology to focus on activism.

While my work involves researching effective climate communication and implementing findings in my campaigning work, Salamon directs a fund that financially supports some of the most radical activist groups. It’s a joy to connect with someone else who does this unusual job, and uses their skills in an unconventional way.

My diagnosis of our situation is that we're in a state of mass delusion of normalcy.

Margaret Klein Salamon

I wonder aloud to Salamon how her background in psychology shaped her approach to climate action. “My diagnosis of our situation is that we're in a state of mass delusion of normalcy”, she says with what I come to learn is her usual candour, “which is perpetuated by the media and other institutions, but also socially. This is quite challenging, because all you have to do to play a part in perpetuating this delusion is to just continue with life as usual. You could say we're asleep or in a trance.”
‘Climate deniers are victims not villains’: A psychologist’s guide to winning them over
Hannover, Marburg: German mayors on why they're giving climate activists (some of) what they want

We’ve known about the science behind climate change for decades - but our actions are still far from what is needed to solve the climate crisis. A lot of this is the result of relentless lobbying, cover-ups and campaigns from the fossil fuel industry, who continue to falsely claim that a future without their products is impossible. Their fear-based tactics have been successful. Both on an individual and political level, we continue to cling on to the status quo. And that’s where activists come in.

Does climate activism work?

Activists threw tomato soup on one of the world’s most famous paintings, Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh, last October.

Just Stop Oil/AFP

Salamon says activists are awake to the seriousness of the climate crisis and “they are here to wake us up.”

They are unlikely to be popular while blocking major roads, throwing soup at paintings or interrupting football games. But social scientists are seeing that disruptive action shifts the ‘Overton window’ - the range of policies and actions seen as politically acceptable to the mainstream population.

Last year, UK pressure group Just Stop Oil repeatedly stopped traffic on major roads and highways to protest new oil and gas licences.

Non-profit research group Social Change Lab ran surveys before and after a week of Just Stop Oil disruption. They found that while the actions increased polarisation between groups who are strongly for or against climate action, increased awareness of Just Stop Oil also resulted in increased support for environmental charity Friends of the Earth. This phenomenon is called the Radical Flank Effect.

So: activism works. But it’s not free. This is why Salamon’s grant-making organisation the Climate Emergency Fund aims to be a “bridge” between philanthropists and activists.

“We educate and help donors see why disruption is important as it's very foreign to most of them. Many are primarily interested in climate policy, so I explain why activism is a great policy intervention, and that controversial activists are not necessarily a bad thing. Activists have always been unpopular throughout history.”

‘It’s a lifeline’: The colourful letters and postcards uplifting climate protesters in prison

Behind the scenes with the environmental lawyers who are taking Shell’s Board of Directors to court

Why do activists need funding?

The case for funding activists is strong: the Stanford Innovation Review found that funding activist groups can achieve a hundred times the amount of CO2 reduction compared to carbon offsetting.

To put this in context, an estimated $46 million (€43.5 million) in philanthropic funding is invested in grassroots organising worldwide. While $2.3 billion or €2.1 billion is pledged in support of human rights. The voluntary carbon offset market was worth $2 billion (€1.8 billion) in 2021.

So it’s clear that activists are needed but there is one big barrier: making a living.

83 per cent of grassroots activists are unable to focus their time solely on activism for financial reasons.

Research by HERO, a subscription platform which raises funds for activists, found that 83 per cent of grassroots activists are unable to focus their time solely on activism for financial reasons.

It’s hard for grassroots activists, particularly the most radical, to get funding because many institutions steer clear of them for ideological reasons.

Funding provides more than just a living in some cases. “Many activists are at terrific risk,” Salamon says. “One person I want to mention is Zain Haq, who is a 21-year-old activist from Pakistan. He was on a student visa in Canada, and currently facing deportation for non-violent climate activism. If Zain is forced to go back to Pakistan, he will land in jail there for being deported from another country. It’s a shocking case of state repression.”

         Donate to Zain Haq's legal defence fund

 

'Foreign agents': Inside the Russian climate movement taking the government to court

Talking about the climate crisis is one of the best ways you can help

Jessica Kleczka at a protest against the Rosebank, the largest undeveloped oil field in the North Sea which Equinor is seeking approval from the UK government to develop.

Andrea Domeniconi

Normalising activism, or even conversations about climate change, is something Salamon sees as a key psychological challenge. “It’s important to understand the forces of normalcy and social conformity. There’s a social psychology experiment where a room is filling with smoke. If all the other people in the room are just sitting there as if nothing was happening, the study subject will also not act. But if one person raises the alarm, it totally changes the dynamic. Yale calls it the ‘Spiral of Silence’ - people don't talk about climate because other people don't talk about it. The good news is that we can flip this, and normalise being alarmed about the climate emergency.”

Salamon hits the nail on the head. In my climate communication work, I often tell people that the most powerful climate action they can take is to just talk about it. Most people are concerned about the climate crisis, but feel uncomfortable to talk about their feelings, simply because they don’t hear others talk about it. This is perpetuated by unhelpful stereotypes of people who are ‘green’, and harmful media narratives demonising activists.

The emergency is so advanced that we don’t have time for gradualist approaches.

Margaret Klein Salamon

“What we're talking about is getting the public to realise that we are not safe, our families are not safe, everything we love is not safe. The emergency is so advanced that we don’t have time for gradualist approaches. While small changes are better than nothing, I would rather see activists waking up the public and calling for solutions that could actually work.”

Young people’s mental health is especially at stake if we don’t talk about the climate crisis openly. Psychologist and academic Caroline Hickman’s research has shown that 75 per cent of young people are terrified of the future, and a paper I co-published last year found that many young people do not feel taken seriously in their climate concerns.

Salamon cites research, conducted by the United Nations, which found that 56 per cent of young people worldwide think humanity is doomed. A recent study by the University of Bath found that 75 per cent of young people’s daily lives are affected by worrying about the climate crisis.

“That can fuel a movement”, she says. “That pain and despair, those are the conditions that also supply the inspiration and truth that you can be part of changing the world.”

Here are all the positive environmental stories from 2023 so far

EU agrees to push for worldwide phaseout of fossil fuels at COP28

Imagining a better world takes courage

Given the increased stakes of activism and advocating for a better future, how can we inspire people to take action for the planet?

“People will need to understand that they’re taking action for their own safety, their family and the whole world.”, Salamon explains. “[Environmental lawyer and ecocide activist] Polly Higgins talked about the courage to be great, and I think that a vision of greatness is important. It’s very easy to get down on humanity and say that nature will heal when we’re gone. But the reality is that we’re part of a destructive system, and there is a fundamentally different way we can exist on this planet. A healthy, vibrant and restored way.

“Activists are fighting for that, and that mentality is much more fulfilling, joyful and healthy than what most people are doing - living for oneself, our careers, our apartments, and money. Ultimately, the shift we need to make is a new vision of greatness.”

That’s where our imagination comes in. We’ve been stripped of our capacity to envision a better future, taught to believe that there is no alternative to the systems of capitalism and extractivism we currently live in. I personally love climate fiction such as ‘solar punk’, which helps us reclaim that lost imagination. Creatively exploring what could be achieved if we radically restructure our current systems and economies nurtures and maintains our movements.

Salamon agrees. “It’s so hard to envision a way out of this. Policy and think tanks have a role to play in that, but also artists. We need examples to follow both from real life and fiction.”

“When you give yourself over to a greater force, you put yourself in service. This sounds very noble, and it is, but it also feels good. It feels so much better. Once you've seen the possibility of being part of changing the world, even if it seems unlikely, it's the only path to the future that is worth pursuing.”

Pre-order the 2nd edition of Salamon's book “Facing the Climate Emergency: How to transform yourself with Climate Truth”

Donate to Zain Haq's legal defence fund

Learn more about Climate Emergency Fund

Soccer hero’s tweet on asylum kicks up huge culture war and BBC boycott

By Adela Suliman 
March 11, 2023 

BBC TV presenter Gary Lineker is at the English FA Cup quarterfinal football match between Leicester City and Manchester United at King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, on March 21, 2021.

(Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images)


LONDON — There’s only one topic of conversation feverishly consuming the United Kingdom this weekend: soccer. But it’s not what’s going on between two rival teams on the pitch that’s causing a stir.

Instead, it’s a fierce debate about free speech, impartiality and a proposed government immigration law, which has seemingly pitted two hugely popular British institutions — the public broadcaster BBC and soccer, including its most famous presenters and commentators — against each other.

Several BBC TV and radio sports shows have been pulled off air this weekend as presenters, football stars and commentators have boycotted the broadcaster, including its beloved Saturday night sports show, “Match of the Day” — which has been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the longest-running football TV show in history.

It began when the British government this week proposed to send almost all asylum seekers arriving on small boats via the English Channel back to their home country or to a “safe third country,” like Rwanda. The bill has been criticized by rights groups, and the United Nations has described it as a “clear breach” of international law.

What to know about the U.K.'s controversial new asylum plan

Among the critics was the former England soccer captain turned star television pundit Gary Lineker, who hosts “Match of the Day” — which describes itself as “the world’s most famous football show” and is watched by millions.

Lineker decried the government proposal as an “immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable,” in a tweet Tuesday that compared the government’s language to that used “by Germany in the 30s.”

He drew reaction from both sides of the political spectrum. Many urged him to stay out of politics and stick to soccer, while others championed him as the moral conscience of the people.

Conservative politicians criticized Lineker’s tweet, and his employer, the BBC, came under pressure from right-wing commentators to sanction him.

The broadcaster — one of the most trusted sources of news and a producer of some of the most popular television entertainment in the country — is publicly funded and has strict impartiality and social media guidelines for its staff who work in news, which prevent them from expressing opinions on controversial subjects.

Following days of pressure, the BBC said Friday that Lineker’s social media activity was in fact “a breach” of its guidelines, and that Lineker would therefore “step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.”

The reaction has been swift.

Cameroon goalkeeper Thomas N'Kono slides into England striker Gary Lineker during a World Cup quarterfinal match in Naples, Italy, on July 1, 1990. 

(Patrick Hertzog/AFP/Getty Images)

Lineker’s fellow hosts and sideline commentators said they would not be appearing on “Match of the Day” in “solidarity” with Lineker, and fans began urging players not to give post-match interviews to the BBC.


The BBC was forced to announce it would be airing “Match of the Day” in a bare-bones format, with no studio presenters or punditry. The boycott also spread to other BBC TV and radio sports shows, leading to hours of footage being pulled at the last minute, the BBC reported.

On Twitter, the hashtags #ImWithGary and #BoycottBBC were both trending Saturday as people vowed to boycott the show, and a petition to reinstate Lineker has garnered almost 180,000 signatures so far.



Britain’s opposition Labour Party has called the BBC’s decision “cowardly” and “an assault on free speech,” while the National Union of Journalists described it as a “massive own goal,” adding that “yielding to sustained political pressure in this way is as foolish as it is dangerous.”

The BBC, which denies succumbing to political pressure, did not respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post.

A film crew stands outside the BBC headquarters in central London. 

(Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

The overall mood of the BBC newsroom Friday evening was one of shock, according to a journalist working there, who agreed to speak candidly about their workplace on the condition of anonymity.

The journalist joked they would remove their BBC badge when they left the building for the day — a reference to how popular Lineker is with much of the public and how contentious the row has become across Britain.

Employees’ use of social media, impartiality and the expression of opinions have regularly caused controversy and debate, including at The Washington Post.

However, many of Lineker’s supporters have also argued that the BBC’s impartiality guidelines are aimed at employees working in news, rather than pundits or sports presenters. The BBC has previously argued that, as one of the BBC’s highest-profile stars, Lineker was considered to have “an additional responsibility” to the BBC.

British press expert and former newspaper editor Alan Rusbridger told The Post on Saturday the focus on Lineker and the BBC was likely a “godsend” to the government, creating a distraction from the underlying issue of their immigration and asylum stance.

“Everyone’s arguing about Gary Lineker and not the policies they’ve just announced,” he said.

He added that the BBC had a number of “enemies” from commercial competitors to political parties of all stripes and had a tough job maintaining strict impartiality rules. “There is a culture war here. The BBC gets pulled into that because it has a huge output … across music, sports, politics, current affairs.”

“There’ll be something that offends culture warriors on one side or the other.”

A former BBC director-general, Greg Dyke, made a rare public statement Saturday against the company he used to run, stating that “the BBC has undermined its own credibility,” with the Lineker debacle. “There is a long-established precedent in the BBC that if you are an entertainment presenter or a sports presenter then you are not bound by those same rules,” he said of the company’s impartiality guidelines.

However, current BBC director-general Tim Davie stood by the broadcaster’s decision, telling a BBC reporter, “We always look to take proportionate action, and that’s what we’ve done.”

From left, soccer pundits and former players Micah Richards, Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker watch the FA Cup sixth-round soccer match between Newcastle United and Manchester City at St. James' Park in Newcastle, England, on June 28, 2020. 

(Shaun Botterill/AP)

Lineker, who has previously opened his home to at least two refugees, has been an outspoken critic of the government on asylum issues and has been reprimanded by the BBC in the past. He has yet to publicly comment on his sanctioning, and his representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.


However, earlier in the week he tweeted his thanks to supporters. “I want to thank each and every one of you. … I’ll continue to try to speak up for those poor souls that have no voice.”

Helier Cheung in London contributed to this report.

By Adela Suliman is a breaking-news reporter in The Washington Post's London hub. Twitter

BBC slashes sports coverage following suspension of star host Lineker

By Euronews with AP • Updated: 12/03/2023 - 07:49

A growing number of players and presenters rallied to Lineker’s support, - Copyright James Manning/AP

The BBC was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming as the network scrambled to stem an escalating crisis over its suspension of soccer host Gary Lineker for comments criticizing the British government's

Presenters, analysts and English Premier League players rallied in support of Lineker by boycotting the airwaves on Saturday, as Britain’s national broadcaster was accused of political bias and suppressing free speech, and received praise from Conservative politicians.

The broadcaster said it would air only “limited sport programming” this weekend after hosts of many of its popular sports shows declined to appear in solidarity with Lineker. The former England captain

Instead of blanket coverage on Saturday of the most popular league in the world, the BBC had no preview shows on radio or TV and no early evening summary of the final scores of Premier League games. Lunchtime TV program “Football Focus” was replaced with a rerun episode of antiques show “Bargain Hunt,” while early evening “Final Score” was swapped for “The Repair Shop.”

“Match of the Day” — the late-night program that has been a British institution for 60 years — was reduced from the usual hour and a half of highlights and analysis to a 20-minute compilation of clips from the day's games, without commentary or punditry — just cheers and jeers from the stadium crowds for a soundtrack.

There were not any post-match player interviews, either. The Professional Footballers’ Association said some players wanted to boycott the show, and as a result “players involved in today’s games will not be asked to participate in interviews with ‘Match of The Day.’”

The union said it was a “common sense solution” to avoid players facing sanctions for breaching their broadcast commitments.

The BBC said it was "sorry for these changes which we recognize will be disappointing for BBC sport fans. We are working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak even weighed in, urging Lineker and the BBC to settle their disagreement.

“Gary Lineker was a great footballer and is a talented presenter. I hope that the current situation between Gary Lineker and the BBC can be resolved in a timely manner, but it is rightly a matter for them, not the government," he said.

Lineker, 62, was a household name in Britain even before he became chief “Match of the Day” presenter in 1999.



One of English soccer's most lauded players, he was the leading scorer at the 1986 World Cup and finished his international career with 48 goals in 80 matches for England.

After retiring from a career that included stints with Barcelona, Tottenham, Everton and Leicester, Lineker has become one of the U.K.’s most influential media figures and the BBC's best-paid star, earning 1.35 million pounds ($1.6 million) last year.

An enthusiastic social media user with 8.7 million Twitter followers, Lineker has long irked right-of-cenre politicians and activists with his liberal views, including criticism of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

The latest controversy began with a tweet on Tuesday from Lineker’s account describing the government’s plan to detain and deport migrants arriving by boat as “an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”

The Conservative government called Lineker’s Nazi comparison offensive and unacceptable, and some lawmakers said he should be fired.

In his statement, Sunak doubled down on the government's plan to deter people from making dangerous journeys across the English Channel in small boats, saying it was the only way to “break this cycle of misery once and for all.”

On Friday, the BBC said Lineker would “step back” from “Match of the Day” until it had "an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.” Lineker has yet to comment publicly, and on Saturday went to his hometown of Leicester to watch Leicester City play Chelsea in the Premier League. He was greeted with cheers from bystanders as he arrived for a match Chelsea won 3-1.

The 100-year-old BBC, which is funded by a license fee paid by all households with a television, has a duty to be impartial in its news coverage, and BBC news staff are barred from expressing political opinions.

Lineker, as a freelancer who doesn’t work in news or current affairs, isn’t bound by the same rules, and has sometimes pushed the boundaries of what the BBC considers acceptable. Last year, the BBC found Lineker breached impartiality rules with a tweet about the Conservatives’ alleged Russian donations.

BBC neutrality has come under recent scrutiny over revelations that its chairman, Richard Sharp — a Conservative Party donor — helped arrange a loan for then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021, weeks before Sharp was appointed to the BBC post on the government’s recommendation.

Former BBC Director General Greg Dyke said the network “undermined its own credibility” by appearing to bow to government pressure.

Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said the BBC was “caving in” to political pressure from Conservative lawmakers.

“They got this one badly wrong and now they’re very, very exposed,” he said.

France’s Senate passes controversial reform to pension system

By Euronews with AFP • Updated: 12/03/2023 - 

France's Senate passed a controversial reform to the country's pension system by 195 votes to 112 late Saturday night.

It means the government's package to raise the pension age from 62 to 64 is another step towards becoming law.

Gérard Larcher, the French Senate president, announced: "We have reached the end of this very dense debate in which everyone has spoken. Since Thursday, March 2, we have sat continuously for ten days and almost as many nights for a total of more than 100 hours of debate. We have registered a record number of amendments and sub-amendments: 8,900 in total."


Protesters in France urge President Macron to scrap pension reform plans

French Senators had already voted on Thursday in favour of a decisive article of the bill.

The text must now be agreed upon during a joint committee on Wednesday 15 March. If deputies and senators approve the text, it will have to be validated on Thursday 16 first in the Senate and then in the National Assembly.

This last vote, if positive, will be considered as final adoption by the Parliament.

Demonstrators march throughout France against the pension reform for the 7th time, at the call of the unions who are counting on a new show of force at the start of a decisive week

Saturday's vote came hours after hundreds of thousands of people marched in protest in rallies across the country, although in significantly fewer numbers than expected.

These protests, now in their seventh consecutive day, have also severely disrupted public transport routes as various unions called for rolling stoppages in certain sectors to keep pressure on the senate to revise the reform and on President Emmanuel Macron to change his plans.

THE DRUIDS KNEW

How A "Climatic Memory" Gene Helps Trees Face Environmental Threat

Humans and animals have strategies to deal with their surroundings, including the impacts of climate change. But what about trees? Researchers in Spain have identified mechanisms in plant life to learn over time from unfavorable environmental situations.

Tree brain?

GDJ

March 11, 2023

OVIEDO — When it doesn't rain, humans look for water under rocks. Throughout history, we have developed more or less effective techniques (and more or less respectful of the environment) to always have something to drink. Reservoirs, wells or desalination plants help us, when available, to cope with periods of drought.

Animals also have strategies to deal with lack of water, such as moving (sometimes long distances) in search of new reserves or reducing hydration needs by lowering physical activity.

But how does a tree survive?

These living beings are anchored to the same place, where they spend tens, hundreds and even thousands of years. For this reason, their strategies to deal with stressful situations, such as a drought, a heat wave or a plague, are very different from those of animals.

New research has discovered something incredible: trees have a kind of climatic memory in their genes.

Plants transmitting information

“We humans have many resources to deal with these situations, from fight or flight, to building tools and shelters," says Lara García-Campa, a researcher in plant physiology at the University of Oviedo in northern Spain. "Animal survival lies to a large extent in experience, which allows us a better evaluation, anticipation and response to a risk. And this experience is based on memory.”

García-Campa explains that while plants have neither the ability to move, nor complex memory based on a nervous system like that of animals, "they have simpler systems at the cellular level, which trigger different strategies than those of animals."

The latest research published by García-Campa and other researchers from University of Oviedo has concluded that trees have mechanisms to remember unfavorable environmental situations, respond better and better to stressful situations, and transmit this information to their offspring.

The meaning of adaptation

The first time we touch fire, we burn. But most likely this will not happen again. Human beings, like many other species, remember the situation and its negative consequences in order to avoid them in the future. In fact, it is very likely that this first contact with fire never happened. Our parents or grandparents have warned us about the probabilities of burning ourselves and transmitted information as part of a memory collective that is accumulating useful knowledge for our species.

Human memory is based on a complex nervous system that plants lack. However, this does not mean that they do not have their own systems to transfer information internally and between generations.

They remember to learn from the past and reduce future damage.

The study of the memory of plants, of their ability to retain information from past stimuli and respond to them in the future, has shown that plants have different mechanisms to remember. They are very different mechanisms from those of animals, but they pursue the same objective: learning to adapt to changes.

Some plants, for example, reduce or increase the concentration of a certain chemical in certain tissues in response to a stressful event. They maintain this concentration for a period of time and use it as a signal for a recovery response.

Others exhibit epigenetic responses, modifying the way their genes are expressed to respond more effectively to future stress situations. "Whenever we talk about adaptation, we should understand it as a coordination of several processes rather than one of them taking the lead," explains García-Campa.

This research at the University of Oviedo has deepened the knowledge of a new genetic response that trees use to remember unfavorable environmental situations such as heat waves or periods of drought. This mechanism allows them to better respond to successive unfavorable periods, increasingly frequent in the context of climate change, and transmit the "knowledge" to their offspring.

"Plants are capable of perceiving, remembering, and learning from negative experiences in order to better deal with them the next time they occur."

Bill Booth

Remembering the past to prepare for the future

"When plants perceive stress for the first time, they set off alarms, like any other living being," says García-Campa. "In the first place, general response mechanisms are activated, which are sufficient to face low stress levels. These mechanisms mainly try to prevent oxidative damage in the cell and to maintain the integrity of the different structures and organelles that make up the cells. But if the stress is more intense, a molecular machinery is activated with more advanced and, generally, more specific responses."

As García-Campa explains, this response is based on activating specific genes that until then were asleep and on modifying the way in which these genes are transcribed (translated into proteins) through a mechanism known as alternative splicing.

"This process can originate different proteins from the same gene," she points out. "In the same way that when we prepare a recipe we must adapt it to the ingredients we have, cells, through transcription and alternative splicing, can adapt the functioning of genes so that they respond better in certain situations."

Once the drought or heat wave passes, plants remember this and maintain a small number of alternative genetic forms, allowing them to respond quickly and efficiently when the situation repeats itself in the future. That is, they remember to learn from the past and reduce future damage.

Close to the point of no return

The University of Oviedo study was carried out in pine trees, but the mechanism has been described in other species, which makes the researchers think that it is probably somewhat widespread. "Therefore, plants, just like animals, are capable of perceiving, remembering, and learning from negative experiences in order to better deal with them the next time they occur," adds García-Campa.

That's because it is most likely that they will appear again. According to the special report on land and climate change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the health and functioning of both individual trees and forest ecosystems are being affected with increased frequency, severity and duration by extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts and floods.

Unfortunately we are close to a point of no return.

In addition, they are vulnerable to new pests and diseases that increase their range as temperatures rise, as well as being affected by longer fire seasons.

“Plant cells have great cellular plasticity and are able to cope with adverse conditions and learn from them. But investing efforts in alleviating stress also has negative physiological consequences such as slowing down growth," concludes García-Campa.

“In addition, climate change is faster than the rate of adaptation of plants, so unfortunately we are close to a point of no return in which environmental reality exceeds the maximum capacity of acclimatization of many species. We must not forget our responsibility to ourselves and to future generations now that we still have time and can take giant steps towards a more sustainable world

Plant Memory Discovered: Turns out they can make memories ›

Are Plants Intelligent? Science is Beginning to Think So ›

'Mother Trees' Are Intelligent: They Learn and Remember - Scientific ... ›

Laura Valentina Cortés Sierra

LA MAREA

ENGLISH EDITION • WORLDCRUNCH

Explainer | Who is Chinese economist Yi Gang, the US-educated governor of the People’s Bank of China?

Since 2018, central bank governor Yi Gang has led financial reforms and debt reduction, while maintaining a prudent monetary stance

Educated in the US, Yi has also been responsible for raising China’s profile on the global stage and continuing its opening to the world


Orange Wang
Published:12 Mar, 2023

Yi Gang, right, with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Photo: AP

As a foreign-educated economist who once had tenure as a distinguished professor at a US university, Yi Gang cuts a distinct figure among China’s army of beige bureaucrats.

And he has unexpectedly secured a second five-year term as head of the central bank, extending his leadership role despite having reached retirement age this year. This gives him the chance to serve longer than usual, and it is particularly eye-catching given that the country has ushered in a mostly new administration under President Xi Jinping.

Yi, the 65-year-old governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), is considered in Beijing to be a straight-talking, pro-market reformer with a scholarly air. Respected for his knowledge of monetary economics, he is also well known for his low-key and balanced work style.

Though he has a comparatively low rank in China’s political hierarchy, Yi has a long working relationship with former vice-premier Liu He, who was once the president’s closest economic adviser, dating back to the late 1990s.

China’s central bank and finance chiefs retain spots in cabinet shake-up
12 Mar 2023


Fluent in English, Yi gained his PhD in economics in the United States and taught the same subject as an associate professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis – an institution he has called his “second home” and at which he worked for about eight years before returning to China in 1994.

The central bank under Yi has refrained from big stimulus measures and held consumer inflation at only 2 per cent last year – a sharp contrast with the 40-year-high inflation seen in major Western countries. He was also tasked with countering financial turbulence when the country saw a massive exodus of capital last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Yi said earlier this month that the central bank would maintain a prudent monetary policy and continue to address financial risks.

“We will further create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalised world-class business environment and steadily expand institutional opening up in the financial sector,” he said at a press conference on March 3, just prior to the opening of the “two sessions” parliamentary meetings.

Before taking the helm of the PBOC in 2018, Yi had worked at the Chinese central bank for two decades, including spending more than eight years as deputy governor under Zhou Xiaochuan – known as “Mr Renminbi” for his tireless promotion of the Chinese currency.

But despite his qualifications, the appointment of his first five-year term as China’s top central banker surprised some China-watchers, as it seemed to break an unspoken rule that someone with an overseas background should never be named a leading government official.

Others saw it differently: with Beijing determined to raise its profile on the global stage, while also maintaining policy stability at home, Yi was the obvious choice.

Since 2018, Yi – who closely studied inflation in the 1990s – has maintained a prudent stance on monetary policy, refraining from aggressive stimulus during the pandemic, and not sharply tightening like his Western counterparts have done in recent months to combat inflation.

Foreign investors react as Fed’s ‘renewed hawkish’ stance hits emerging markets
11 Mar 2023


On Yi’s watch, the PBOC has accelerated financial reforms, such as introducing the Loan Prime Rate (LPR), which sought to establish more market-based interest rates.

He called for “competitive neutrality” in regards to China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in his first year, responding to Western criticism about the unlevel playing field that has long given state firms an edge over foreign firms operating in China.

He has also stepped up efforts to expand international use of the yuan over the past four years and brought China’s digital currency initiative to the forefront. The country is now leading the race among global central banks in the field.

Under his leadership, the PBOC has accelerated China’s financial opening, lifting the ceiling on foreign ownership of financial institutions and expanding the bond-connect schemes between the mainland and Hong Kong.

But despite such positive steps being taken, market-access barriers, regulatory risks and geopolitical tensions still constrain foreign businesses in China.

China’s constitution does not limit the term of its central bank governor, but it bars premiers, vice-premiers and state councillors of the State Council from serving more than two consecutive terms. Yi’s predecessor, Zhou Xiaochuan, spent 15 years at the helm of the institution, since he still held a vice-state-level post at that time.

In recent years, China’s central bank has taken a lead role in Beijing’s deleveraging campaign, including on high-profile debt cases at Baoshang Bank and property developer Evergrande Group.

As China thaws out its property sector, can it light a fire under the economy?
20 Feb 2023


Though Yi is responsible for running the PBOC, he does not have the final say in its strategic direction. The role of PBOC party secretary was awarded to Guo Shuqing, who is also head of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Yi Gang was no longer in the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party after the 20th Party Congress, meaning he has been away from the country’s nerve centre of policy discussion and development. He was only an alternate member of the Central Committee during the past five years, with no right to vote in plenary sessions.

Born in 1958, Yi’s surprise second term might help mitigate worries about the outlook of China’s monetary policy and Chinese financial policymakers’ international engagement. But who becomes the next party chief of the PBOC, a more preponderant position, remains to be seen.

Either way, Yi has left his mark on the job.

Officials like Yi Gang ... have a lot of friends overseas

Victor Shih, University of California San Diego

In the spring of 2015, while deputy PBOC governor and director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Yi granted a media interview when taking the subway in Beijing.

In China, where government statements are closely scripted and information is tightly controlled, Yi’s off-the-cuff reply became a much-talked-about story at the time, and it hinted at the leadership style he would bring to the PBOC in the years to come.

“Officials like Yi Gang have had a lot of international exposure from early on in their careers,” said Victor Shih, an associate professor of political economy at the University of California San Diego, while speaking at an Atlantic Council event last week.

“They have a lot of friends overseas, which for the party is a little bit problematic, but for China, they really bring a lot to the table, because they’re able to … very comfortably talk to international investors, and international financial institutions such as the IMF, and negotiate with them for various things that China would like to have.”



Orange Wang
covers the Chinese macroeconomy, and has many years of experience with China's monetary and fiscal policy moves. He also covered global market and financial news for a long time, with a particular focus on new technologies and their influences on economic growth and society. Before joining the South China Morning Post, Orange worked as a Shanghai Correspondent for ET Net, a Hong Kong financial news agency.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco notches up nearly £134bn profit in 2022

12 March 2023

Saudi Aramco Oil Company. Picture: PA

The firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co, said in its annual report that higher crude oil prices propelled its profits.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco has reported that it made a 161 billion US dollar (£133.8 billion) profit last year.

The firm, known formally as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co, said in its annual report that higher crude oil prices propelled its profits.

It made the announcement on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange.

In 2021, Aramco declared profits of 110 billion dollars (£91.4 billion), compared with 49 billion dollars (£40.7 billion) in 2020 when the world faced the worst of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, travel disruptions and oil prices briefly going negative.

Benchmark Brent crude oil now trades at around 82 dollars (£68) a barrel, though prices had reached more than 120 dollars (£100) a barrel in June.

Aramco, whose fortunes hinge on global energy prices, announced a record 42.4 billion dollars (£35.2 billion) profit in the third quarter of 2022 on the back of that price spike.

Those high prices have further strained ties between the kingdom and the United States, traditionally a security guarantor among the Gulf Arab states amid tensions with Iran.

Before the mid-term elections in November, the kingdom said Biden administration had sought to delay a decision by Opec and allies including Russia to cut production which could have kept fuel prices lower for voters – making public the typically behind-the-scenes negotiations common in the region.

President Joe Biden had warned the kingdom that “there’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done” in terms of oil prices.

However, those consequences have yet to be seen as Saudi Arabia and Iran went to China to strike a diplomatic deal on Friday.

US petrol prices now stand on average at 3.47 dollars (£2.88) a gallon, down about a dollar from last year.

An Aramco oil facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Amr Nabil/AP)

Saudi Arabia’s vast oil resources, located close to the surface of its desert expanse, make it one of the world’s least expensive places to produce crude.

For every 10 dollar (£8.30) rise in the price of a barrel of oil, Saudi Arabia stands to make an additional 40 billion dollars (£33.2 billion) a year, according to the Institute of International Finance.

Shares in Aramco stood at 8.74 dollars (£7.26) on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange before it opened on Sunday, down from a high of 11.55 dollars (£9.60) a share in the last year.

However, that current price still gives Aramco a valuation of 1.9 trillion dollars (£1.6 trillion) – making it the world’s second-most valuable company behind only Apple.

The Saudi government still owns the vast majority of the firm’s shares.

By Press Association

Thai women activists end hunger strike, vow to keep up fight

Two Thai women activists have given up their hunger strike of more than seven weeks and say they'll continue their fight for political and judicial reforms

ByKAWEEWIT KAEWJINDA 

Associated Press

March 11, 2023,

BANGKOK -- Two Thai women activists gave up their hunger strike of more than seven weeks, announcing Saturday they have decided it is better to live so they can continue their unfinished fight for political and judicial reforms.

Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon, 21, and Orawan “Bam” Phuphong, 23, had been on hunger strike since Jan. 18, much of that time refusing water as well. Refusing all liquids in addition to food can cause permanent injury and even death if carried on for an extended period, and doctors several times had announced they were seriously at risk.

“Tawan and Bam would like to announce to the public that they have ended their hunger strike and will accept treatment to use their lives in continuing their fight as there has been no response from the court," said a statement released on their behalf on social media.

It said the two are now in a hospital under close medical supervision because of concern for damage the hunger strike might have caused to their kidneys and other organs. It added that they are responding well and fully conscious.

The activists are among at least 233 people who have been charged since November 2020 with violating the lese majeste law, which carries a prison term of three to 15 years for insulting or defaming top members of the monarchy. Critics say the law, also known as Article 112, is often wielded as a tool to quash political dissent.

Student-led pro-democracy protests beginning in 2020 openly criticized the monarchy, previously a taboo subject, leading to vigorous prosecutions under the law, which had previously been relatively rarely employed. The protest movement faded due to government harassment and the coronavirus pandemic.

In January, a court sentenced a 27-year-old activist to 28 years in prison for posting messages on Facebook that it said defamed the monarchy. Last week, another man was sentenced to two years in prison for selling calendars featuring satirical cartoons of yellow ducks that a court said mocked Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Tantawan and Orawan were charged with lese majeste for conducting public polls on whether people felt bothered by royal motorcades, which can lead to road closures and heavy traffic. They also face other charges such as sedition and refusing to comply with the authorities.

The two had been free on bail when they announced in mid-January that they were revoking their own release to return to prison in solidarity with others held pending trial on the same charge. They issued demands including reform of the justice system, the release of political prisoners and the restoration of civil liberties by abolishing legislation such as the lese majeste law.

Tantawan and Orawan were granted temporary release last month when their health deteriorated but they refused to formally recognize it and continued their hunger strike camped out in front of Thailand’s Supreme Court.

At the same time, the courts continued to turn down appeals for freedom on bail of their imprisoned comrades.

Opposition political parties had offered support for some of the hunger strikers’ demands, but they and other sympathizers at the same time implored the women to save themselves.

Several expressed approval on social media Saturday of the decision to end their strike.

“The announcement to end the hunger strike by #TawanBam is not a defeat. The dictatorship is not worth the lives of young people,” Jiraporn Sindhuprai, a lawmaker from the Pheu Thai Party, said in a Twitter post. “The word hero for this country does not always come with justice. I ask my two young sisters to look after their lives and remain an important part of the people’s fight.”

March 11 agreement is major achievement of Kurdish liberation movement: KDP Leader Masoud Barzani

President Barzani reaffirmed that the agreement was the product of the struggle and sacrifices of the Peshmerga, and all communities in the Kurdistan Region.

President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani. (Photo: KDP)

ERBIL ( Kurdistan 24 ) –President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, issued a statement commemorating the 53rd anniversary of the March 11 Agreement between the Kurdish leadership and the former Iraqi regime.

“The March 11 agreement is one of the achievements of the Kurdish liberation movement,” President Barzani said. The significance of this historical occassion is that the Kurdish people, under the leadership of Mullah Mustafa Barzani, forced the Iraqi regime to officially recognize the rights of our people for the first time.

President Barzani reaffirmed that the agreement was the product of the struggle and sacrifices of the Peshmerga, and all communities in the Kurdistan Region.

He also explained that although the Iraqi regime turned its back on the rights of the Kurdish people and violated the March 11 agreement, this achievement was a gateway to greater successes of our people's struggle.

Moreover, President Barzani emphasized the peacefulness of the Kurdish people and determination to never concede their rights or freedoms.

The 1970 agreement came after 11 years of intense conflict between the Kurdish Peshmerga, led by the legendary Mustafa Barzani, and the then-Iraqi regime.

According to the agreement, the Iraqi regime, for the first time, recognized Kurdish political and cultural rights, including granting administrative autonomy, adding Kurdish studies to the education curriculum, and permitting Kurdish officials to participate in the then-Iraqi government.

The Kurdistan Region recognizes March 11 as a national holiday in honor of the historic occasion.

Inside Turkey’s post-earthquake homelessness crisis 

BBC News Mar 11, 2023 

Earthquake survivors are living on the streets in Turkey, one month on from the devastating earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people across southern Turkey and northern Syria.

The BBC’s Middle East correspondent Anna Foster investigates Turkey’s emerging homelessness crisis and the anger over unsafe buildings.