Category Archives: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Germany Breaks Record: 85% of Energy Comes From Renewables Last Weekend

. .. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT .. .

An article by Lorraine Chow for Ecowatch

Germany’s “Energiewende”—the country’s low-carbon energy revolution—turned another successful corner last weekend when renewable energy sources nearly stamped out coal and nuclear.

Thanks to a particularly breezy and sunny Sunday, renewables such as wind and solar, along with some biomass and hydropower, peaked at a record 85 percent, or 55.2 gigawatts, and even came along with negative prices for several hours at the electricity exchange.

Conversely, coal use was at an all-time minimum. According to DW, on April 30, coal-fired power stations were only operational between 3 and 4 p.m. and produced less than eight gigawatts of energy, well below the maximum output of about 50 gigawatts.

“Most of Germany’s coal-fired power stations were not even operating on Sunday, April 30th,” Patrick Graichen of Agora Energiewende told RenewEconomy. “Nuclear power sources, which are planned to be completely phased out by 2022, were also severely reduced.”

Graichen added that days like Sunday would be “completely normal” by 2030 thanks to the government’s continued investment in the Energiewende initiative.

Following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Germany announced in May 2011 that it plans to phase out nuclear and shut down all its nuclear power plants by 2022. That Sunday, nuclear power plants reduced their output from 7.9 to 5 gigawatts.

Germany’s ambitious energy transition aims for at least an 80 percent share of renewables by 2050, with intermediate targets of 35 to 40 percent share by 2025 and 55 to 60 percent by 2035.

Question for this article:
Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

USA: Peoples Climate March a Huge Success: Final Count: 200,000+ March in D.C. for Climate, Jobs and Justice

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A press release from Peoples Climate Movement

Organizers are heralding today’s Peoples Climate March as a huge success, with over 200,000 people participating in Washington, D.C., and tens of thousands more taking part at over 370 sister marches across the country. Sister marches took place on Saturday across the world including in Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand, Uganda, Kenya, Germany, Greece, United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, and more.


Scene from video on Common Dreams website

In the United States, tens of thousands more took to the streets at hundreds of events in nearly all 50 states, from the town of Dutch Harbor in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to the streets of Miami, Denver, Los Angeles, Chicago and other major American cities. Early counts estimated that more than 50,000 people took place nationwide.

“This march grew out of the relationship building among some of the country’s most important progressive organizations and movements,” said Paul Getsos, National Coordinator for the Peoples Climate Movement. “In 2014, the march was planned as a singular moment to pressure global leaders to act on climate change. There was a simple demand – act. This march was planned before the election as a strategic moment to continue to build power to move our leaders to act on climate while creating family-sustaining jobs, investing in frontline and indigenous communities and protecting workers who will be impacted by the transition to a new clean and renewable energy economy.”

In Washington, the march topped 200,000 people at it’s peak, far outpacing the National Park Service’s permitted space for 100,000 people. The march extended for over 20 blocks down Pennsylvania, with tens of thousands more surging along the mall to push back on the Trump administration’s policies and stand up for “climate, jobs and justice.”

“The solidarity that exists between all of us is the key to having a strong, fair economy and a clean, safe environment,” said Kim Glas, Executive Director, BlueGreen Alliance. “We can tackle climate change in a way that will ensure all Americans have the opportunity to prosper with quality jobs and live in neighborhoods where they can breathe their air and drink their water. Together we will build a clean economy that leaves no one behind.”

The day’s activities in D.C. began at sunrise with a water ceremony led by Indigenous peoples at the Capitol Reflecting Pool. Participants included Cheyenne River Sioux tribal members who traveled 1,536 miles by bus from Eagle Bend, SD to attend the ceremonies.

At an opening press conference, representatives from front line communities spoke about the impact that climate change and pollution were already having on their lives and called out the Trump administration for worsening the crisis. They called for a new renewable energy economy that created good paying, union jobs, and prioritized low-income and people of color communities.

(continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

(continued from left column)

The march began at 12:30 PM EDT and was led by young people of color from Washington, D.C. and Indigenous leaders from across the country. Tens of thousands of marchers headed up Pennsylvania Avenue in creatively named contingents, like “Protectors of Justice,” “Reshapers of Power,” and “Many Struggles, One Home.”

“When our communities are most threatened by climate; the solutions we build must allow us to have control of our resources and the energy we produce in an equitable and truly democratic way,” said Angela Adrar, Executive Director, Climate Justice Alliance. “They must create meaningful work that allows people to grow and develop to their fullest capacity. They must allow us to retain culture and traditions from our ancestors and give us the freedom of self-determination we so deserve so that we can thrive. This does not come easy and it must come with resistance and visionary opposition. Our existence depends on it.”

Art played a central role in the organizing of the mobilization and was on full display during the march. Dozens of giant parachute banners filled the streets, while puppets danced overhead. Some contingents carried sunflowers, a symbol of the climate justice community, while others simply raised their fists in resistance.

By 2:00 PM EDT, organizers had succeeded in their goal of completely surrounding the White House. Marchers sat down in the streets in a silent sit-in to recognize the damage caused by the Trump administration over the last 100 days and those who are losing their lives to the climate crisis.

They then created a movement heartbeat, tapping out a rhythm on their chests while drummers kept the time. The heartbeat was meant to show that while march participants came from many different backgrounds and communities, their hearts beat as one. It was a heartbeat of resistance, one that began with the Women’s March and will continue through the Peoples Climate March to May Day and beyond.

“Six months ago, my kids woke up to half a foot of water in our living room,” said Cherri Foytlin, director of BOLD Louisiana and spokesperson for the Indigenous Environmental Network. “Now, Trump wants to open up the Gulf Coast to even more offshore drilling. But we have a message for him: we are not afraid, and we will not stop fighting. With 100 and 500 year storms now coming every year, we are fighting for our lives.”

After the heartbeat, marchers rose up with a collective roar and continued down to the Washington Monument for a closing rally. Speakers at the rally celebrated the success of the day, while many marchers gathered in “Circles of Resistance,” some set up around their parachute banners, to talk about how to continue to build their movement.

As of 3:30 PM EDT in the afternoon, crowds of people still remained at the Monument while marches continued to take place across the country. The Peoples Climate Movement, a coalition of over 900 organizations representing many of the major social justice, labor and environmental groups in the country, has pledged to keep the momentum going after Saturday, from supporting the May Day marches on Monday to organizing at the local level.

“Today’s actions are not for one day or one week or one year,” said Getsos. “We are a movement that is getting stronger everyday for our families, our communities and our planet. To change everything, we need everyone.”

North America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

El Salvador Votes for Water over Gold

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Pedro Cabezas for Inequality.org, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies

The people of El Salvador and their international allies against irresponsible mining are celebrating a historic victory. After a long battle against global mining companies that were determined to plunder the country’s natural resources for short-term profits, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly has voted to ban all metal mining projects.


Members of El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly display banners reading “No to mining, yes to life” as they prepare to vote on a historic mining ban. Photo: Genia Yatsenko.
(Click on photo to enlarge)

The new law is aimed at protecting the Central American nation’s environment and natural resources. Approved on March 29 with the support of 69 lawmakers from multiple parties (out of a total of 84), the law blocks all exploration, extraction, and processing of metals, whether in open pits or underground. It also prohibits the use of toxic chemicals like cyanide and mercury.

In the lead-up to the vote, communities in the town of Cinquera had rejected mining through a local referendum and the Catholic Church of El Salvador had called for massive participation in a public protest to demand legislators to start discussions on the prohibition of mining. When the protest arrived at the legislative assembly, on March 9, they were greeted by a multi-party commission that committed to start discussions immediately and have legislation ready before the Easter holidays.

Despite the fact that there is a national consensus among communities, civil society organizations, government institutions, and political parties for a mining prohibition, the Australian-Canadian company OceanaGold and its subsidiaries in El Salvador have consistently attempted to slow the bill’s progress and sought to gain support for their so-called “Responsible Mining” campaign.

The company launched the campaign at a fancy hotel in San Salvador after losing a $250 million lawsuit against El Salvador in October 2016. The company had filed a claim with the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), demanding compensation when the government declined to grant the firm a permit for a gold extraction project that threatened the nation’s water supply. In the face of tremendous opposition from a wide range of groups inside and outside El Salvador, the ICSID tribunal ruled against the company.

(Article continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

(Article continued from left column)

When legislators announced that they would begin serious discussion on the mining ban, the company intensified its activities. Besides publishing paid communiqués in local pro-business newspapers, social organizations reported that OceanaGold representatives met with government officials to lobby against the bill.

On March 23, a pro-mining protest was organized by the El Dorado Foundation (the foundation created and funded by OceanaGold) in front of the Legislative Assembly while the Commission deliberated over the bill. It was later reported by FMLN Representative Guillermo Mata, President of the Environment and Climate Change Commission, that the busloads of people brought by the foundation from the Department of Cabanas had each been paid $7 plus a free lunch to attend. They were also directed not to talk to the press. Also on March 23, Luis Parada, the lawyer who led the defense team for El Salvador in the ICSID case, denounced through his twitter account a letter sent by OceanaGold and its subsidiary Pac Rim containing veiled threats of further legal action should El Salvador vote to ban mining.

But the push for a mining prohibition remained strong. To support the anti-mining coalition, Carlos Padilla, Governor of Nueva Vizcaya in the Philippines, visited El Salvador to share his province’s adverse experience with OceanaGold. On March 28, in presentations to El Salvador’s Environment and Climate Change Commission, Padilla reported that the mine had brought no significant economic growth, had violated human rights, and posed a threat to the province’s agricultural activity, the environment, and future generations.

His testimony helped break down the myths of economic growth and responsible, sustainable mining propagated by OceanaGold. After Padilla’s presentation the legislators on the Commission unanimously voted to advance the Law to Ban Metal Mining to the floor of the Legislative Assembly.

Also in advance of the assembly vote, many foreign organizations and individuals wrote to the president of the Legislative Assembly, Guillermo Gallegos, expressing solidarity with the people of El Salvador and support for the law.

By voting in favor of the mining ban, these lawmakers in El Salvador have chosen water over gold, and people and the environment over corporate profits. And they showed that even a very poor country can stand up to powerful global mining firms.

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Earth Day around the World – 2017

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A survey by CPNN

On the website, http://earthday.org, we find the following quotation: “Earth Day Network’s mission is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Growing out of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network is the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 50,000 partners in nearly 195 countries to build environmental democracy. More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.”

Certainly this is a good cause, and one that is central to the culture of peace, since, as defined by the United Nations, sustainable development is one of the eight program areas of the culture of peace. But are the numbers correct? Where can we find a list of the “50,000 partners in nearly 195 countries”? And how can we verify the participation of “more than 1 billion people”?

We find 102 partners listed on one of the website’s pages. A few of them are networks, such as Sister Cities International or the National Wildlife Federation, but most of these partners are small organizations (for example, the Woods Hole Research Center) or government agencies, for example, the Maryland Transportation Authority or the California State Parks. None, as far as I can tell are organizations with large memberships.

Looking at the list of Earthday partners, we find many countries represented, although the vast majority are limited to the United States. If one counts the partners of Sister Cities International , there are already 145 since they have “2,000 partnerships in 145 countries around the globe.” There are a eight with names in non-English scripts, mostly Arabic or Chinese. And there are at least 13 partners from other countries including Vietnam, Australia, Guatemala, Guyana, India, (Agastya), Bahamas, Kosovo (Eco Viciana and Shoqata), Tanzania (Friends of Usambara), Italy (Dietro le fo’), UK (University of Leeds), UK and Canada (International Fund for Animal Welfare), Peru (Ecoan), and Malaysia (Rakan Segari).

We search in vain on the website of earthday.org for a listing of earthday observations around the world, although their claim of 1 billion participants is quoted by wikipedia and a other websites such as the The Guardian (UK).

With this in mind, we decided at CPNN to search the internet using google to find examples of the celebration of Earthday. What we found were celebrations mostly in North America, in all 50 states of the USA and most of the Canadian provinces. To a lesser extent, the “Dia de la tierra” or “Dia de la madre tierra” was celebrated in Latin America and the Caribbean. Articles about celebrations in the rest of the world were spotty, with a few in Europe and Asia and very few in Africa.

The largest number of celebrations in the rest of the world were the satellite marches for science, in solidarity with the march in Washington. On the website of Science Magazine, we find descriptions of the satellite marches in Seoul, Tokyo, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Tromsø and Svalbard in Norway, Bonn and Berlin in Germany, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra in Australia, Aukland in New Zealand. According to Africa News, there were satellite marches in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, Ghana’s capital Accra, Kampala in Uganda, Blantyre in Malawi and Cape Town as well as Durban in South Africa among other cities. In the Philippines, there was a satellite march in Quezon City.

(Survey continued in right column)

Question for this article

What has happened this year (2017) for Earth Day?

(Survey continued from left column)

Ironically, given that the new administration in Washington is considered to be against ecological initiatives – for which the March for Science is a protest – the foreign embassies of the United States are one of the biggest sponsors of Earth Day events in the rest of the world. Hence, for example the article about Earth Day cleanup in Vietnam quotes the US ambassador and begins, “More than 1,000 volunteers from the US Embassy, associations, organisations and universities, joined hands to pick up garbage in Thong Nhat Park in Hanoi Saturday morning to mark Earth Day here.” In Fiji, “the Embassy of the United States hosted a clean-up campaign with Bank South Pacific (BSP) at the My Suva Picnic Park.” In China, “Earth Day Network is also partnering with the US Embassy in Beijing to host the Earth Day Expo at Beijing American Center.” In India, “As part of the Earth Day activities, the US embassy, in cooperation with programme partner Clean Air Asia, organised a two-day campaign “Better Air, Better Earth” to promote air quality awareness.”

Some other Earth Day sponsors were also surprising. In Malaysia, the Earth Day celebration was sponsored by the World Wildlife Federation based in the United States and the Soka Gakkai sect based in Japan. In Pakistan, the Earth Day celebration was sponsored by the Defence Housing Authority, an upscale real estate and property development organisation administered by the Pakistan Army which develops housing for current and retired military personnel. In Kenya, the earth day activities were sponsored by Chandaria Industries, makers of tissue and hyigiene products, and by Youth for Earth, an Australian-based NGO. According to the website tnf.org, “Tanzanians around the country celebrated Earth Day. Check out some of the great activities that took place: A Picnic, tree planting; and more.” But when we click on the links for the picnic, the tree planting and more, we get the US Nature Conservancy, US earthday and Jane Goodall’s website Roots and Shoots in the United States.

In Europe there were several Earth Day events that were local in nature. In Spain, The Provincial Delegation of Almería celebrated the ‘International Day of Mother Earth’ of 150 species of almucine in the environment of Laujar de Andarax, involving schoolchildren of the municipality. In France, the website Jour de la Terre, reported that there were at least 60 local events in that country. In Norway, there were events organized by the Center for Ecology-Based Economy. In the village of village of Ninotsminda in (Georgia) school №2, 9-10 held a lesson in the open air and celebrated “Earth Day” by cleaning the school grounds from the accumulated garbage. In Moscow, there were several events, including a festival in the “Pokrovskoe-Streshnevo” park. Also in Russia, there was a school celebrations in Rostov on the Don and Ryazan.

We found two Earth Day events in Asia that were local in nature. In Indonesia, SINTALARAS, an outdoor club from Makassar State University, rallied-up together to clean a large amount of wastes at Mount Bulusaraung in commemorating Earth Day. And in Kuo Tao, an island resort in Thailand, “As well as an island wide land clean-up in the morning, an island wide underwater clean-up in the afternoon and an evening of fairground-style games, food & drinks and a raffle with huge prizes, the local government will be launching their Shark & Turtle Sanctuary Project for Shark Bay/Rocky Bay and a Giant Clam Project in Sai Nuan.”

We found one Earth Day event in Africa that was local in nature. In Ghana, “The Ghana Youth Climate Coalition in partnership with Ghana Youth Environment movement and zoom lion- Ghana embarked on a cleanup exercise and sanitation education.”

Is the Earth Day initiative gaining in scope? According to the Earth Day Network website, it has grown from 200 million people in 141 countries in 1990 to 1 billion people in 195 countries this year. But judging from the survey results above, we have to be skeptical of these numbers. It’s a good initiative, and we’d like to see it grow, but wishful thinking is not enough!

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Global Alliance for Tax Justice: #EndTaxHavens campaign update

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

A news article from The Global Alliance for Tax Justice (abbreviated)

[The Global Alliance for Tax Justice is a growing movement of civil society organisations and activists, including trade unions, united in campaigning for greater transparency, democratic oversight and redistribution of wealth in national and global tax systems.]

The Government of Ecuador, current leader of the G77, continues to champion the establishment of a UN Global Tax Body to end tax havens. On Thursday 6 April, Ecuador, together with the Government of South Africa, and working with the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, hosted a UN side event in New York: “Towards an international tax agenda based on rights and equality for tax justice: For a UN global tax body and the achievement of Agenda 2030.” This forum was held in connection with the UN meetings this week of the 14th session of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (Committee) and the ECOSOC special meeting on international cooperation in tax matters.


Also on Thursday, new legislation introduced in the United States by Democratic Representatives takes aim at the biggest offshore tax avoidance loopholes. See this statement on the introduction of this legislation during the Global Week of Action to #EndTaxHavens by Clark Gascoigne, deputy director of the FACT Coalition, the North American regional network member of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice.

At the European Union PANA (Panama Papers) hearings in Brussels, Tax Justice Network-Africa’s Alvin Mosioma presented on the “Impact of the schemes revealed by the Panama Papers on Developing Countries”, along with TJN-A’s Nuhu Ribadu who “made a passionate case for the world to rise against illicit financial flow and tax evasion. They’re crimes against humanity.” The hearing was live here.

And in Rwanda, ActionAid staff shared their messages to #EndTaxHavens!

MORE CAMPAIGN NEWS THIS WEEK:

Check out this great new video by Attac France about creative actions in Paris last Saturday, 1 April.

(Article continued on the right column)

Question for this article:

Opposing tax havens and corruption: part of the culture of peace?

(Article continued from the left column)

Here are some photos from the Presidential Candidates round-table debate in France organized by Plateforme Paradis Fiscaux et Judiciaires on Monday 3 April, marking the one year anniversary of the publication of the Panama Papers.

Plateforme Paradis Fiscaux et Judiciaires members also organized a Tax Lobby Tour in the La Défense, Paris business district. See more photos and videos here.

Also on Monday, Oxfam Intermón presented Spain’s four major political parties with a petition calling for a Law against tax evasion and avoidance, “Ley contra la Evasión y Elusión Fiscal”, signed by 183.235 people already!

On Tuesday 4 April in Canada, ATTAC-Québec and partners organized a fabulous comedy cabaret “Front commun comique contre les paradis fiscaux.”

ATTAC-Québec and network members are celebrating the publication this week of the report of the Quebec Committee on Public Finance on the use of tax havens. “The recommendations in this report are an excellent first step. They can significantly reduce tax avoidance and evasion if applied. This report addresses the key issues related to tax havens, such as the creation of screen companies, double tax treaties and transfer pricing,” said Claude Vaillancourt, President of ATTAC-Quebec. Several of the recommendations in the submission filed by ATTAC-Québec were accepted by the Commission, in particular those concerning the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The report recommends that it reduce “gradually its investments in companies that make abusive tax avoidance or evasion” and that it requires companies in which it invests significantly to stop resorting to tax havens. The report also recommends that the Government of Quebec no longer grant contracts or subsidies to firms and firms found guilty of facilitating or avoiding tax evasion or avoidance.

In London, Christian Aid, Tax Justice Network and Methodist Tax Justice Network members held a protest “In Praise of Whistleblowers” in front of the PwC Head Office on Wednesday 5 April. See this report about the event by David Haslam, Chair, Methodist Tax Justice Network.

In Spain, Oxfam Intermón published a video about a stunt including a fake travel agency, offering free trips to tax havens, paid for by the Spanish people!

Luxembourg: Antoine Deltour has announced he will appeal #Luxleaks #whistleblowers verdict to Luxembourg supreme court. We support you Antoine! (See CPNN article). . .

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

France: Pierre Rabhi decorated with the Legion of Honor

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Auguste Bergot for La Relève et la Peste (translated by CPNN)

Ségolène Royal, Minister of the Envirornment, has presented Pierre Rabhi with the insignia of Chevalier in the National Order of the Legion of Honor, rewarding the unusual journey of a true humanist who has devoted his life to the development of ecological agriculture and dissemination of an ethic of life advocating “happy sobriety”. Here is the course of this French peasant, writer and thinker of Algerian origin.


The course of his life

Pierre Rabhi was born in 1938 in Kenadsa, Algeria. After spending his youth in Oran with his adopted family, he left for Paris at the time when the Algerian War broke out. With his wife Michèle he then realized the dream of emerging from urban life to adopt a rural lifestyle and turn to agriculture. They therefore went to the Ardèche before the great wave of the neo-rural movement of the late 1960s. Pierre Rabhi enrolled in a rural family house to be trained. He embarked on goat farming by refusing the productivist model to prefer an experimental method of biodynamic farming, a method consisting of considering any agricultural domain as the most autonomous and diversified living organism linking the lunar and planetary rhythms to agricultural activity. In 1985, he founded a training center for agroecology in Gorom-Gorom, Burkina Faso, and then extended consciousness-raising and training programs throughout the African continent, particularly where the land is most difficult to farm.

In 1994 he created the association “Les Amis de Pierre Rabhi”, which was later renamed “Terre & Humanisme” and “Mouvement Colibri” whose mission is “to inspire, connect and support all those involved in building a new project of society “. He has also published some twenty books, among them Towards Happy Sobriety, Agroecology, an ethics of life and The power of moderation. They call for an “insurrection of consciences” to humanize globalization, to unite humanity around the return to earth and to emerge from the myth of indefinite growth.
(Article continued on the right column)

(Click here for a version of this article in French)

Question for this article:

What is the relation between movements for food sovereignty and the global movement for a culture of peace?

(Article continued from the left column)

“fertilize consciences”

After dedicating his life to spreading an alternative model and proposing new paths of thought, Pierre Rabhi was decorated on Thursday 23 March with the highest honorary decoration of France that rewards citizens who have rendered “eminent merits” to the Nation. Ségolène Royal, Minister of the Environment, Energy and the Sea, emphasized in a complimentary speech his “refusal of voluntary servitude” which led him to invent, produce and above all “fertilize consciences”. It also recalls the terms that Pierre Rabhi himself used to speak of his profession and which summarize well the path that followed and teach it: “the farmer installs a concord between the land and himself, He shapes life, he enslaves nothing, he is free in conforming to the laws of nature. ”

Pierre Rabhi the humanist

Faithful to his will to fertilize consciences, Pierre Rabhi insisted in his discourse on the crucial role of education. Regretting the aesthetics of wars and conquests, as well as the “duality and competitiveness” that govern our school system, he pleads for an education that is done “in solidarity”. In the words of a “humanity in disarray in relation to the continuation of history”, he militates that “humanity should recognize itself as such”, one with solidarity, committed together on its original ark. The wisdom of his speech is, as always, a source of meditation, but also of hope.

(Thank you to Kiki Chauvin, the reporter for this article.)

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Climate Change and Nepal

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Shree Prasad Devkota and Navin Pandey for Transcend Media Service (abbreviated)

. . . Nepal has been combating hard to adapt to the effects of climate change and move towards climate resilience. One of the most important points to consider is the fact that most of the energy produced here is clean and from perpetual source. Nepal, being the second richest country in inland water resources in the world, produces 92% of its national grid energy via hydropower. Although the total potential for hydropower production is 83,000 MW; of which less than one percent (700 MW) is currently harnessed – the annual renewable energy potential sums up to 226,460 GWh comprising solar PV, wind and hydro. (UNDP, 2013)

In December 2009, Government of Nepal held the world’s highest altitude cabinet meeting on the slopes of Mount Everest to highlight the danger that global warming poses to Himalayan glaciers. The Everest Declaration included provisions like increasing the protected areas of country’s land from 20 to 25 percent, and developing communities’ capacity to cope with changing climate in addition to urging the developed nations to curb the carbon dioxide emission and simultaneously to contribute 1.5% of their GDP to Climate Fund to decrease greenhouse gases to pre-industrialization levels.

Similarly, Government of Nepal has initiated various programs like “Hariyo Ban”, “Chure Conservation Program” and watershed conservation under the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation to preserve the existing biodiversity and combat the changing climate patterns. The growing popularity of eco village concept and insitu conservation of endangered species in natural parks and reserves are all run very succinctly. Few initiatives like Community Forestry and Leasehold Forestry Programs even received global acclaim due to their effectiveness in forest conservation. A recent government survey shows that the forest cover has increased by five percent from earlier 39.6% (1998) to 44.74% (2016) of the total land area in the last decade- a green light for hope.

Initiatives like “Zero Carbon Nepal- Vision 2030” have been launched under National Planning Commission with approval of Confederation of Nepalese Industries to promote green economy and low carbon development by developing “Made in Zero Carbon Nepal” label for every Nepalese product that not only strengthens our economy but also establishes our identity as a carbon neutral country.

To this date, while the political debate over climate change has already been settled over the backdrop of various scientific facts published, countries around the world have started to come together to solve the issue. The developed countries and emerging economies lead in total carbon dioxide emissions while the developing and the least developed countries that have less share for carbon emission must suffer more. According to the Trading Economics Data, the 20 developed nations produce 80% of the total carbon while the rest world produces just 20%.

Analysing Nepal’s data, CO2 emissions per capita here is 0.14 metric tons while carbon sequestration capacity of our forest is as high as 3.1 tC/ha/yr (ICIMOD, 2013). In a global scenario of greenhouse gases emission, Nepal is not just a carbon neutral country, but a carbon negative country offering a net carbon sink through our lush green forests. The forests of Nepal store more than 913 million metric tons of carbon as of 2014(Journal of Forest and Livelihood).

(Article continued in right column)

Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

(Article continued from left column)

Nepal signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on June 12, 1992, and ratified it on May 2, 1994. It is also a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and became party to the conference from December 2005. As a party to the Convention, Nepal is obliged and committed to acting against the earth’s climate change and the adverse effects of human activities.

According to the voluntary schemes of the Kyoto Protocol, Nepal could earn the revenue of NRs. 4.5 billion, 11 billion and 18.4 billion at the rate of $5, $12, and $20 per ton CO2 sequestration respectively even if half of the existing forest area could be registered for the carbon credits. In addition to the above, Nepal can be at a position to reap a huge chunk of financial flow through the sale of the permissible average which has surplus of 0.07 ton CO2 per capita if the mechanism could be established under the emerging issue of the Polluter Pays Principle.

The world’s forests and forest soils currently store more than 1 trillion tonnes of carbon, twice the amount floating free in the atmosphere. Thus, increasing storage and preventingthe stored carbon from being released back to the atmosphere are two of the most important measures for combating global warming and conserving the environment.

The outside world should all learn from the progress made by Nepal in sector of forest conservation and use of clean energy in combating the climate change. Although Nepal being a small agrarian country contributing 0.016% of global Greenhouse gas emissions, the initiatives taken in such seriousness are reflective of our unfathomable love for nature and mother earth. These efforts are not only an act for solidarity; they are also an investment for our common future, contributing to green, healthy, and naturally liveable earth.

References:

Banskota, K., Karky, B.S., & Skutsch, M. (2012). Reducing carbon emission linking community managed forests in the Himalayas. Kathmandu: International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

DFRS, (2015). Forest resources of Nepal (1987‐2014). Kathmandu: Department of Forest Research and Survey, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation.

Dhungana, S.P., Oli, B.N., & Mandal, R.A. (2014). Claiming a bird in hand: Economic potential of plantation in Nepal under clean development mechanism. Journal of Forests and Livelihood. 12(1): 18‐27.

DoF, (2016). Forest cover change analysis of the Terai districts (1990/91‐2015/16). Kathmandu: Department of Forests. FAO, (2014). Global forest resource assessment 2014. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Liau, J., & Rasul, G.(2007). Climate change, the Himalayan mountains and ICIMOD. Sustainable Mountain Development. 53. Schoene, D., & Netto, M. (2005). The Kyoto protocol: What does it mean for forest and forestry. Unasylva. 222 (56).

South Asia, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

France: The farmers who bought an old Lidl supermarket

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Jeunes Agriculteurs

Coeur paysan (literally farmer’s heart) is the name of an ambitious project of 35 farmers who have joined toegher to sell their products directly. Their store is in Colmar, in an old Lidl supermarket. A real symbol.


Colmar, December 6, 2016. The persistent mist accentuates the cold of winter that is already biting. But the occupants of the 82-84 Neuf-Brisach Road are not cold. In this former Lidl, supermarket, closed more than two years ago ,people are busy and in good humor. We cut meat, we place cheeses in the showcases, we stick on the last labels … These are the 35 producers who have invested in these walls to market their products directly. The opening preview is scheduled for 3:00.

The old Lidl is transformed to Coeur Paysan. A rea; symbol! Colmar, wotj ots 70,000 inhabitants, finally has its market of local producers. The locals can buy fruits and vegetables, cheeses, dairy products, meat, bread, etc. The farmers themselves sell the product, working in the store half day per week. A classic operation for a grocery store. What is less important is the size of the project, which required 1.5 M € of investment. This was necessary to renovate the premises, to buy equipment (showcases, boxes, etc.), to invest in communication. As soon as it opened, the store employed six people.

Better valuation. With 35 farms, Coeur Paysan offers a range of products ranging from wild game to teas, snails and smoked trout. These are an asset to achieve the ambitious objective set by the group: to achieve a turnover of 2.5 M € per year. “The hard core of the group is a team of entrepreneurs,” says Nicolas Guibert, tasting his organic goat cheese produced in Linthal, 35km away. “The hardest part is finding a team,” he says jovially. The group met and worked very quickly: the project was completed in eight months, compared to the usual two years preparation for this type of store.

Thirty of the suppliers are now shareholders of SAS Cœur Paysan, which manages the point of sale. The investment – financial and time (sales) – varies according to the turnover expected by each producer. Six of the shareholders bought the building, via an SCI. “We wanted to be independent,” says Denis Digel, President of SAS Cœur Paysan. It is up to us to take our destiny in hand. “As initiator of the project, he is also president of the cooperative of market gardeners of Sélestat. It was “the desire for proximity with consumers” that guided this union leader. A rapprochement synonymous with better valorisation, because “we, the producers, do not draw our chestnuts from the fire!”, he insists.

(Article continued on the right column)

(Click here for a version of this article in French)

Question for this article:

What is the relation between movements for food sovereignty and the global movement for a culture of peace?

(Article continued from the left column)

Battle of the image. Between the riesling of the Domaine Rieflé and the beer of the brewery Saint-Alphonse, a poster proclaims: “Behind every product, there is a producer.” For, beyond the valorization of products, there is a battle of images. In this struggle, farmers have the key cards: “Consumers want to see and touch the producer,” says Denis Digel. Distributors like Intermarché, have understood this, as they claim to be a “producer-trader”. With Cœur Paysan, the farmers have responded in their own way. Modern and rustic, the visual identity of Cœur Paysan, developed by a communication agency, is widely available in the store, on the clothes of sellers and on the Internet. Upon entering the store, customers come across a large sign presenting all the producers.

Inevitably, some people are disturbed. To those who accuse him of overshadowing supermarkets, Denis Digel replies: “We are responding to a new demand that retailers are unable to satisfy.” We fill a need in Alsace. “The proof with Fabien Barre. This young farmer, newly installed in 2014, was looking for a new and secure outlet for his organic goat cheeses. For this farmer, the store has the advantage of “not competing with the goat farmers already on the market”. And it corresponded to his wish to “offer local products directly to the consumers at a correct price.”

Installed in the village of Soultzeren, Fabien transforms into cheeses the whole milk produced by his 60 goats, which allows him to fix his own prices. His goal ? “10 to 20% of my turnover to Cœur Paysan would not be bad. The shop could thus take over from one of the three markets where I am now selling. “Between the cheese-making and its sale,” I have less time with my goats,” he regrets. This is why he is considering to hire someone to help “A project like this comes only once in a lifetime; I don’t want to waste the opportunity.

(Thank you to Kiki Chauvin, the CPNN reporter for this article.)O

Europe, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Latin America and the Caribbean could be first developing region to eradicate hunger

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Latin America and the Caribbean could be the first developing region to completely eradicate hunger if its governments further strengthen their implementation of a food security plan developed by the CELAC bloc, FAO’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva said today [25 January 2017].

Speaking at the Summit of Presidents and Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Graziano da Silva stated that, “CELAC’s Food Security, Nutrition and Hunger Eradication Plan (FNS) represents the crystallization of governments’ political will to eradicate hunger before 2025.”

Approved by CELAC in 2015, the plan promotes comprehensive public policies to reduce poverty, improve rural conditions, adapt agriculture to climate change, end food waste and face disaster risks.

In his address, FAO’s Director-General noted that the CELAC FNS plan is fully in line with high-level global commitments such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

And the region has made an even more ambitious commitment, he noted: to eradicate hunger by the year 2025, five years before the target established by SDG 2: Zero Hunger.

“This region has all the necessary conditions to achieve this, starting with the great political commitment that sustains the CELAC FNS Plan,” explained Graziano da Silva.

The plan is already bearing fruit throughout the region: Bolivia, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela relied on it to diagnose their food and nutrition security policies, while Peru used it as a base for the creation of laws regarding food donation and to minimize food losses and waste.

Tackling the double burden of malnutrition

The integral nature of CELAC’s FNS Plan allows countries to not only address hunger but also obesity, which affects 140 million people in the region according to the FAO / PAHO report Panorama of Food and Nutrition Security.

Malnutrition generates enormous economic and social costs, as public health systems must now cope with increasing levels of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, as well as the consequences of child stunting, wasting and undernourishment.

(Article continued in the right side of the page)

( Click here for the French version of this article or here for the Spanish version.)

Question for this article:

Can UN agencies help eradicate poverty in the world?

(Article continued from the left side of the page)

According to the FAO, one of the worrying trends in the region is the increase in female obesity: the rates of obesity for women are ten percentage points higher than that of men in more than twenty countries in the region.

As a way to o confront this situation, Graziano da Silva highlighted the CELAC FNS Plan’s Gender Strategy, which will ensure that the plan benefits women and men equally and which is already being implemented as a pilot program in four countries: El Salvador, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Strengthening family farming to tackle climate change

According to FAO’s Director-General, the impacts of climate change have the potential to reverse the gains made in the fight against hunger and extreme poverty in the region.

“Agriculture is the sector most affected by climate change and one of its main victims are small family farmers, men and women, many of whom struggle daily for their survival,” said Graziano da Silva.

Together with CELAC, FAO is developing a plan of action for family agriculture and rural territorial development that promotes sustainable intensification of production, public procurement and food supply systems, rural services and greater opportunities for rural youth.

FAO is supporting CELAC in putting together a Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Management for Agriculture and Food Security, which supports resilience and adaptation of farmers through sustainable farming techniques and resource management.

Graziano da Silva stressed that eleven countries in the region have already adhered to the Port State Agreement, which seeks to eradicate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and called on all countries to join in taking care of the sustainability and conservation of their fishery resources.

Peace, food security and sustainable development

In Colombia, the CELAC FNS Plan has supported the creation of a strategy aimed at rehabilitating the livelihoods of vulnerable communities in the central area of the country.

According to FAO’s Director-General, the peace process in Colombia illustrates the indissoluble link between peace, food security and sustainable development, an issue that is at the heart of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

“There will be no social stability or peace as long as there is hunger, poverty and inequality. Nor can we move forward if we continue to exploit our natural resources. Sustainability is a pre-condition for development,” said Graziano da Silva.

(Thank you to Sergio Tripi and the Good News Agency for calling our attention to this article.)

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Coal and oil demand ‘could peak in 2020’

. .. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT .. .

An article by Megan Darby in Climate Change News

Fossil fuel giants are vastly underestimating the disruptive power of solar panels and electric cars, which could see coal and oil demand peak by 2020. That is the conclusion of a report by the Carbon Tracker Initiative and Grantham Institute published on Thursday.


A 10MW solar plant at Masdar City, Abu Dhabi (Pic: Masdar)

Energy companies pursuing business as usual are in for a rude awakening, by this analysis, with many mines and oil fields likely to become surplus to requirements.

Based on dramatic cost reductions in recent years, the model foresees these two technologies taking a 10% chunk of market share from carbon majors in a decade. That may not sound like much, but was enough to devastate the US coal sector.

“If people are just waiting on policy to happen, they could get bitten by clean technology coming up behind them,” said James Leaton, an author of the report.

Solar panel costs have fallen 85% in the past seven years and car battery costs 73%. Despite these advances, the traditional energy companies continue to forecast linear growth at best.

BP predicts electric cars will make up 6% of the market by 2035. Carbon Tracker reckons a third is feasible.

Exxon Mobil expects all renewables to supply 11% of electricity in 2040. Carbon Tracker says solar alone could produce 23%.

It is not enough to meet the Paris Agreement upper limit on global warming of 2C, but bends the curve to 2.4-2.7C, compared to 3-4C under industry scenarios. Policies targeting other sectors would bring the international climate goal within reach.

Question for this article:
global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT