Author: web Desk

Combating climate change and averting, minimising and addressing its impacts are essential if we are going to realise the ultimate goal of lives well lived for all. The United Nations uses the language of sustainable development, including reducing the impact of disasters, as one means to secure the rights of present and future generations. To do so effectively requires a whole of society approach[1]- ensuring that all actors are given the opportunity to do their part – as well as a whole of government approach[2] – ensuring coherence between a host of reinforcing processes. For people and planet, we must commit to ensuring rapid implementation of the Paris Agreement and addressing the urgency of action on Loss and Damage in the UNFCCC climate change negotiations/processes. The Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism for Disaster Risk Reduction is an open, structured mechanism of 17 constituencies of non-state actors to participate in the implementation and monitoring of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (Sendai Framework). It sees tremendous benefit to greater policy coherence and shared approaches between the Paris Agreement and the Sendai Framework and will be advancing such initiatives at COP27 and beyond.

A number of specific recommendations are outlined in greater detail below, but three experiences from disaster risk reduction come to the fore. Firstly, stakeholder inclusion at all levels is essential for any meaningful and sustained advance in combating the climate crisis. Second, solutions and strategies already exist within communities beyond the conventional UNFCCC mechanisms. Drawing on them would do much to strengthen integration and improve effectiveness, including on losses and damages. Finally, climate action and disaster risk reduction are two sides of the same coin – as climate change is mitigated, disasters are reduced, and as resilience is built in communities the impacts of climate change are tempered.

The IPCC reports not only clearly articulate the precipice upon which the world finds itself, but also demonstrate the negative impacts without riskinformed development. In order to counteract the impact, increase adaptation measures, and reduce vulnerability, we call for an enhanced coherence among previously siloed UN processes, especially DRR and climate action. The priorities of the Egyptian presidency, including prioritising adaptation, financing climate action, and advancing a just and equitable transition are shared by the disaster risk reduction community. Disaster risk reduction, humanitarian response, and climate change adaptation have the common objective of reducing vulnerability and enhancing capacity and resilience. A comprehensive disaster and climate risk management approach, starting with agreed-upon definitions, is key to making the shift towards integrated plans and policies, supported by shared risk understanding and inclusive institutions.

At a fundamental level, modern conceptions of development are increasingly outdated. Historical assumptions of where knowledge lies are rightfully coming into question both at the local and national levels. Local level experience and expertise is vital for development to be meaningfully owned and sustained by the populations it is meant to benefit. And the learning of so-called “developing” countries will need to be drawn upon as the “developed” world increasingly faces hazards new to them. Being hosted in Africa, this COP can serve to accelerate the pattern of knowledge exchange at all levels.

As members of the UNDRR Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism (SEM), we welcome Egypt and the African region’s prioritisation of adaptation. While mitigation is critical to ensuring the Paris Agreement’s 1.5℃ target, adaptation has consistently been sidelined in the process, risking lives and livelihoods, and wreaking havoc upon those living in poverty and other populations in situations of vulnerability. The need for a permanent, clear and tangible link between the objectives and timelines of the Paris agreement and of the Sendai Framework is more urgent than ever; COP27 could play an important role in formalising these links. COP27 has the potential to renew focus on policies that reduce risk by building synergies with the effort to implement the Sendai Framework and other critical global policy agreements. With this in mind, the SEM calls upon the Parties to the UNFCCC to adopt the following measures:

Source: UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

CAPE TOWN, Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya says efforts taken by the current administration to root out corruption and fight state capture are bearing fruit.

Magwenya was addressing the media and public in Cape Town on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s public engagement programme for the week and on topical issues of public and media interest.

“The several high profile cases that are before the courts bear testament to the success of the enablement provided by the Ramaphosa administration to law enforcement agencies in support of their fight against corruption,” he said.

Magwenya laid out efforts by the administration in the fight against corruption and State Capture.

“These are the appointment of new leadership at the Hawks which has restored the credibility and stability of the institution and led to action against corruption. Since 2018, the Hawks have secured 4,500 convictions on corruption and other priority crimes.

“The appointment of a new National Director of Public Prosecutions on the recommendations of an independent panel following a transparent public process.

“The establishment of the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority] Investigating Directorate to prosecute state capture and other significant corruption cases. The Investigating Directorate has by August 2022 enrolled over 20 corruption cases and charged 65 accused,” he said.

Magwenya added that to ensure the state recovers monies looted from its coffers, the Special Tribunal was appointed to expedite civil claims against corrupt individuals.

Since it was established through a proclamation by President Ramaphosa in 2019, the Special Tribunal has recovered more than R8.6 billion for state coffers.

On matters of the State Security Agency, Magwenya said much work has been undertaken to “end corruption and politicisation” of the agency “including the appointment of new leadership and implementation of recommendations of a high level panel on the SSA”.

At Eskom, Magwenya said the work of multiple agencies to address “sabotage and theft” has resulted in the enrolment of some 67 cases with three finalised with a conviction.

“This a significant step towards ridding Eskom of rogue elements that undermine one of the key tenets of achieving the country’s energy security, which is the fixing of Eskom and improving the operational performance of existing power stations,” Magwenya said.

Source: Nam News Network

Better catch the moon’s disappearing act Tuesday — there won’t be another like it for three years.

The total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout North America in the predawn hours — the farther west, the better — and across Asia, Australia and the rest of the Pacific after sunset. As an extra treat, Uranus will be visible just a finger’s width above the moon, resembling a bright star.

Totality will last nearly 1 1/2 hours — from 5:16 a.m. to 6:42 a.m. EST — as Earth passes directly between the moon and sun.

Known as a blood moon, it will appear a reddish orange from the light of Earth’s sunsets and sunrises. At the peak of the eclipse, the moon will be 390,653 kilometers away, according to NASA scientists. Binoculars and telescopes will enhance viewing, provided the skies are clear.

South America will get a glimpse of Tuesday’s lunar eclipse, weather permitting. Striking out altogether, Africa, the Middle East and most of Europe will have to wait until 2025.

Among those providing a livestream of Tuesday’s lunar extravaganza: Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and the Italian-based Virtual Telescope Project.

It’s the second total lunar eclipse this year; the first was in May. The next one won’t be until 2025. Plenty of partial lunar eclipses will be available in the meantime.

Source: Voice of America

More than 120 world leaders will attend this year’s U.N. climate talks, and requests by environmental activists to stage a rally during the event would be responded to “positively,” host Egypt said.

Veteran diplomat Wael Aboulmagd, who heads the Egyptian delegation, told reporters Friday that his country had been working for months to set the scene for “meaningful outcomes” at the two-week meeting in the Red Sea coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh starting Sunday.

“We have, I think about 121 maybe, and the number is growing, heads of state and government here,” he said during an online briefing. “We hope that it will be a watershed moment.” Leaders such as U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed their attendance, but Aboulmagd said other major heads of state such as China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi would not be going.

Aboulmagd said recent scientific reports highlighted the urgency of tackling global warming.

“Everyone is now aware of the gravity of the situation, of the enormity of the challenge, and have come here hopefully to work together,” he said.

Greenhouse gases, financial aid

Several thorny issues will be discussed at the November 6-18 talks, including further cutting greenhouse gas emissions and boosting financial aid for poor countries struggling with the impacts of climate change. It is the first such meeting held in Africa since 2016. Over 40,000 people have registered for the event.

Aboulmagd appealed to negotiators to engage constructively. “We cannot afford to waste any time,” he said. “So everyone must rise to the occasion and must move away from the adversarial winner-takes-all approach that has plagued this process for too long.”

Civil society groups have expressed concern that their presence at this year’s talks will be restricted, citing Egypt’s questionable human rights record.

But Aboulmagd said activists would get their space, with special arrangements already put in place “for those who want to organize demonstrations or protests or stand-ins.”

Asked about the possibility of holding a large rally midway through the talks, as has traditionally happened in previous meetings, he said, “That will be taken care of.”

Organizers would need to submit the names of contact persons, and city officials must approve the planned route.

“Once a request to that effect comes, it will be responded to positively,” he said.

Egypt would press diplomats to live up to the lofty pledges their leaders had made, Aboulmagd said, warning that so far, these had not been translated into the negotiating rooms.

“This separation between the reality in the public sphere and what actually happens in negotiating rooms cannot continue,” he said. “It is about real lives that are being lost and future lives that will be devastated” by unchecked climate change.

Source: Voice of America

With turquoise seawaters and rich coral reefs, Egypt’s resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh is a picturesque location for this year’s United Nations global summit on climate change, known as COP27.

But behind postcard-perfect appearances, it’s a tightly controlled fortress on the Red Sea. Climate activists say the restrictions will discourage protests that have been a way for the public to raise their voices at past summits.

Many working in tourism have been sent home; those who stayed need special security cards. Vacationers have been turned back at security checkpoints surrounding the town. Hotel rates have increased tenfold, pricing out many. Local workers are prevented from speaking freely with visitors.

In a country where protests are virtually banned, the government has set up a specific venue for climate protests — except no one is quite sure where it is. Notifications are required 36 hours in advance.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. In past statements, officials have pledged to allow protest and participation from activists.

As COP27 approaches, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s government has touted its efforts to make Sharm el-Sheikh a more eco-friendly city, with new solar panels and electric vehicles.

“From the beginning, there was a big question mark on the choice of Egypt as a host country,” said one Egyptian activist, who was detained for over two years without trial during the government’s crackdown on dissent. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing he could be re-arrested. “They know that the choice of Sharm means there would be no protests.”

The scene is likely to be a sharp contrast to COP26 last year in Glasgow, Scotland, where some 100,000 people marched through the streets in one rally and protesters massed frequently in public squares, parks and bridges.

On Friday, a group of activists took part in a small protest calling for climate action on the African continent at a roundabout in front of the conference venue in Sharm el-Sheikh. A line of police stood by.

A group of U.N.-appointed experts has expressed concern that the environment in Egypt will not be conducive to full and open participation.

Since 2013, el-Sissi, a U.S. ally with deep economic ties to European countries, has overseen a massive crackdown, jailing thousands of Islamists, but also secular activists involved in the 2011 popular uprising. Many others have fled the country. A prominent rights activist, Alaa Abdel-Fattah, escalated his hunger strike this week, refusing also water.

Outside the Sinai Peninsula, where Sharm el-Sheikh is located, rights groups say more than 100 people have been detained the past two weeks in Cairo and other cities as security forces stepped up their presence in main squares after rumors of planned protests on Nov. 11. COP27 starts on Sunday and is expected to last through Nov. 18.

The government has repeatedly said its security measures are vital to maintaining stability in a nation of more than 104 million people after a decade of turmoil that started with the Arab Spring and was followed by years of deadly Islamic militant attacks.

For decades, Sharm el-Sheikh has been the government’s favorite spot for conferences and high-level summits precisely because it is so easy to control. The 1996 Mideast peace summit attended by then-President Bill Clinton was held there.

Isolated in the desert near the Sinai’s southern tip, Sharm — as it’s often referred to — is a six-hour drive from the capital, Cairo. Vehicles must pass through a closely guarded tunnel under the Suez Canal, then numerous checkpoints along the highway, enabling authorities to turn back those considered undesirable.

A concrete and razor-wire barrier surrounds parts of Sharm. One entrance is set into a several-story-high concrete wall, painted with a gigantic peace sign — a reference to the “City of Peace,” a nickname authorities have tried to make stick to Sharm. Large boulevards in the desert link walled resorts, with few public spaces for people to gather.

Hussein Baoumi, Amnesty International’s researcher for Egypt and Libya, called it a “dystopic city.”

“There is so much surveillance, so much control over who enters and who leaves the city, which is again an attempt to control who gets to speak to the international community,” he said.

Hotel workers say security is particularly tight for COP27 — all must obtain security clearance and since Tuesday, they have been barred from leaving their places of work or housing. Some decided to return to their hometowns until the conference ends.

“We are accustomed to restrictions, but this time it is very harsh and there were no exceptions,” said a waiter at a four-star hotel.

Security has always been high in Sharm because to the north, across the length of the peninsula, Egypt’s military has been battling a decade-old insurgency led by a local branch of the Islamic State group. In 2015, a Russian MetroJet plane crashed soon after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people onboard, an attack claimed by IS.

Sinai has twice been occupied by neighboring Israel: first during the Suez Crisis in 1956, which also involved France and Britain, and later in the 1967 Middle East war. It was returned to Egypt in 1982 as part of the U.S.-brokered peace deal between Egypt and Israel.

Since then, government-licensed development has helped resorts along Sinai’s southern coast become a top beach and scuba-diving destination.

The COP27 conference is taking place at Sharm’s large convention center. As in past COPs, only official U.N.-accredited delegates can enter the venue, known as the Blue Zone, which during the gathering is considered U.N. territory and subject to international law.

Another venue, the Green Zone, is for businesses, youth and civil society to hold events on the sidelines of the summit. It remains unclear where protests are meant to happen.

A government COP27 website says that besides the 36-hour notification for protests inside the venue, a 48-hour notice via email is required for protests outside it.

From the few photos of the Green Zone in pro-government press, it appears to be on a section of highway or a parking area with cafeterias set up. Maj. Gen. Khaled Fouda, the provincial governor, called the site “very chic and clean” in comments to local TV last month.

“Protests are allowed, but smashing and insulting are not allowed,” he said.

The government has dispatched 500 taxis to transport COP27 attendants, Fouda said — all with cameras connected to a “security observatory” meant to monitor the drivers’ behavior.

None of this bodes well for activism, climate protest leaders say.

Greta Thunberg, a youth leader of the protest movement, has said she would not attend. “The space for civil society this year is extremely limited,” she said at a recent London event. “It will be very difficult for activists to make their voice heard.”

Cost is another factor. The recently released Egyptian activist said that many can’t afford to travel, with the cost of a plane ticket from Cairo out of reach for many amid double-digit domestic inflation.

Cristine Majeni, a youth environment volunteer from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, scraped together thousands of dollars required for her 10-day trip, after struggling through the accreditation process.

“It’s crucial for us to be given an opportunity to take part,” she said.

Source: Voice of America

In South Africa, a country where ‘braai’ all-day barbecuing is a national pastime, plant-based substitutes are making surprising inroads despite a deep cultural love of meat and hostility from the regulator.

That could be heartening for climate scientists, who say shifting diets from emissions-heavy meat and dairy towards more plant-based foods is vital to the fight against climate change.

Plant-based meat substitutes are growing by 6.5% a year and sales are expected to reach $561 million by 2023, according to Research and Markets – more than half Africa’s share of a global market forecast to hit $162 billion by 2030.

That is still pretty niche – South Africans spent $15 billion on meat products in 2018 and is now the world’s 9th biggest per capita consumer of beef.

But the popularity of veggie alternatives would have been unthinkable even a decade ago and the market is outstripping forecast growth for meat. The shift has so unnerved South Africa’s processed meat industry that in June it lobbed for – and got – a government ban on plant-based products using words like ‘nugget’, ‘sausage’ or ‘burger’ on packaging.

The agriculture department at the time said the move was aimed at preventing consumer confusion. A spokesperson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Food producers remain undeterred.

At meat processor Feinschmecker, staff pour powdered soy and pea protein into vats and rehydrate them to make its plant-based ‘deli slice’ – called so in anticipation of a ban on labeling it ‘ham’.

“A lot of it’s driven by flexitarianism. People who want to make a bit of an effort to eat less meat,” Alistair Hayward, Feinschmecker managing director, told Reuters.

Top food producer Tiger Brands TBSJ.J bought a stake in meat-substitute start-up Herbivoire in March, while supermarkets like Woolworths WHLJ.J have introduced their own ranges.

Clearly, ethical food choices are a luxury of the relatively well-to-do – a quarter of South Africans struggle to put any food on the table.

Consumer climate

Evidence is accumulating that curbing consumption of meat and dairy – which the latest estimates put at around a fifth of all emissions – is key to meeting U.N. climate goals.

A paper in Science in February said ending animal agriculture could stabilize greenhouse gas levels for 30 years and offset 68% of CO2 emissions this century; another in 2018 showed switching the world to a purely plant-based diet could slash food-related emissions – which are about 30% of the total – by nearly half.

Yet forgoing cheeseburgers is not something governments, many of which dole out billions of dollars to livestock farmers, are likely to propose at this month’s climate talks in Egypt.

Lowering animal consumption, then, may boil down to consumers – like Angie Raphalalani, 57. She gave up meat over climate concerns and her diabetes.

“My immediate family … were shocked,” she said, after lunching at plant-based restaurant Lexi’s Healthy Eatery in Johannesburg. “But probably they’ll follow me. I’m quite influential in their lives.”

Source: Voice of America

A court in Senegal has dismissed a lawsuit by a fishermen’s collective against a fishmeal factory they had accused of polluting their village and destroying their livelihoods.

Dozens of people filtered into the Thies courthouse Thursday to hear the judge’s decision.

The lawsuit, filed by the Taxawu Cayar Collective against the Touba Proteine Marine fishmeal factory, accused the factory of polluting the town of Cayar’s air, soil and water.

The collective had asked for the temporary closure of the factory based on urgency.

During the legal proceedings, the collective presented video footage of the factory’s truck dumping fish waste into Cayar’s lake. An independent laboratory analysis revealed high levels of toxic metals in the lake, which was also found in the town’s tap water.

The collective is now deciding whether to appeal the decision or to bring forward new litigation that would permanently shut down the plant.

“We will pursue all possible legal avenues while respecting the laws of this country, said Alle Sy, a member of the fisherman’s collective. “We will never give up, as this is a battle close to our hearts.”

Boubacar Cisse, the lawyer for the fishmeal factory, formerly known as Barna Senegal, said the factory plans to take action against the collective.

“The factory is more than 3 kilometers away from Cayar, so how could a business like that pollute the air and make it unbreathable?” asked Cisse. “Obviously, Barna Senegal will retaliate against these people for having discredited the factory and tarnishing its image.”

The factory is one of at least a half dozen fishmeal plants operating in Senegal.

Source: Voice of America

Manama, Nov.4 (BNA): Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Mohammed bin Thamer Al Kaabi received International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Willie Walsh, on the sidelines of the World Passenger Symposium (WPS) 2022, hosted by Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national carrier.

The meeting was also attended Kamil Al-Awadhi. Regional Vice President Africa & Middle East at International Air Transport Association (IATA), Khaled Al-Eisawi. Head of Account Management Gulf & Near East.

The minister praised IATA’s outstanding efforts to support the aviation sector’s continuous development which is one of the most important and fastest growing sectors. During the meeting, the two sides discussed issues related to the air transport sector, stressing its vitality as a key pillar of the global economy.

Source: Bahrain News Agency