Africa

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Prince Johnson oversaw the torture and killing of the then-president but was later elected to the senate.

To effectively eliminate rabies in the continent, there is need for the right information on its prevalence, transmission patterns, vaccination rates and treatment efficacy. Credit: Shutterstock

By Isatou Touray
Nov 28 2024 (IPS)

Rabies, despite being a major public health concern in Africa, is still not fully understood, due to the limited data available on it. This has slowed down efforts to eliminate it, yet the continent bears a significant burden of the disease and accounts for most of the deaths it causes globally.

With the exception of only a handful of countries, the continent generally has poor and incomplete data on this disease that results from bites or scratches by an infected dog. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the disease is responsible for an estimated 59,000 deaths in the world every year, out of which 95 per cent are in Africa and Asia.

All this arsenal against the disease has largely been rendered ineffective by the absence of complete, reliable, high-quality data that could inform effective decision making and proper management. Without the full picture that only data can paint, decision makers cannot see the true scale and impact of the disease is unclear

Even in cases that are not fatal, rabies, like other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) – a group of 20 diseases that debilitate, disfigure and can kill – robs individuals of good health, dignity and livelihood.

Rabies, in particular, causes progressive and potentially fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord that make up the central nervous system. It often leads to death once the virus infects the central nervous system and the symptoms appear, underlining the urgent need for prompt treatment.

The good news is that the knowledge and tools for tackling rabies, which is one of the oldest human diseases, are well known, proven and available. Vaccines and antibodies that can save lives in case of infection exist, as well as dog vaccines to keep the virus at bay.

The bad news, however, is that all this arsenal against the disease has largely been rendered ineffective by the absence of complete, reliable, high-quality data that could inform effective decision making and proper management. Without the full picture that only data can paint, decision makers cannot see the true scale and impact of the disease is unclear.

To effectively eliminate rabies in the continent, there is need for the right information on its prevalence, transmission patterns, vaccination rates and treatment efficacy. Armed with this, it becomes easier to identify infection hotspots, monitor and evaluate interventions and deploy equitable responses.

Better appreciation of the disease will help trigger action by governments, funders and other actors in securing resources and mobilising action to relieve needless suffering and decrease health-related drivers of poverty.

Ultimately, this will help the continent inch towards attaining Sustainable Development Goal 3.3 that targets a 90 per cent reduction in the number of people who need NTD intervention.

Over the last decade progress has been made against NTDs, leading to 600 million fewer people requiring NTD intervention between 2010 and 2020, which has been attributed to strengthening domestic and international commitment.

There is a greater opportunity to accelerate this progress further by focusing the fight against rabies. Without this crucial data, efforts against the disease will remain piecemeal, reactive, unfocused and inefficient.

This will leave individuals suffering and could sometimes lead to preventable deaths. The WHO estimates the global cost of rabies to be about US$8.6 billion annually, arising from lost lives and livelihoods, medical care and associated costs, as well as uncalculated psychological trauma.

Absence of proper data also makes it more difficult to mobilise national and international resources for control, elimination and eradication of the disease.

Significant and sustainable resources are required to avail vaccines to at high-risk individuals and emergency treatment to communities that cannot afford them. Also critical in the fight is mass vaccination of dogs that has been found to be effective in controlling rabies, as well as public awareness and education campaigns on preventing bites and what to do when bitten or scratched.

All this begins with quality data and robust data systems. This is the compass in the fight against rabies and other NTDs in Africa. It is also a guide for elimination of the disease by identifying where to deploy vaccines, provide treatment and rollout requisite infrastructure.

It is worth highlighting that Kikundi, a community of practice for NTD Program Managers in Africa, is well positioned to strengthen the efforts to enhance data quality and build robust systems, ultimately supporting countries in their fight against rabies.

As highlighted in the theme of this year’s World Rabies Day – ‘Breaking rabies boundaries’, it is time to disrupt the status quo by improving our understanding of this disease. No one in Africa should continue suffering and dying from preventable and treatable diseases like rabies.

 

Dr Isatou Touray, a former Vice-President of the Republic of the Gambia, is the interim Executive Director of Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Salvadoran farmer Damian Cordoba looks at the trunk of what was once a fire tree, one of many that have been felled to make way for solar panels to be installed on a farm in western El Salvador by Volcano Energy to provide cheap energy for bitcoin mining. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

By Edgardo Ayala
IZALCO, El Salvador, Nov 28 2024 (IPS)

With machete in hand, Salvadoran farmer Damián Córdoba weeds the undergrowth covering the trunk of what was once a leafy tree to show the deforestation taking place on the Santa Adelaida farm, where a company seeks to install a solar park in western El Salvador.

“The people hired by the company... said they were going to cut down some trees to plant coffee and fruit trees, but that was a lie, because later they revealed they were for solar panels”: Damián Córdoba.
The 115-hectare farm intersects with the territories of several hamlets, whose approximately 10,000 families will be affected by the deforestation required to install the photovoltaic power station, which is being built by Volcano Energy, a private initiative whose trading company is named Hashpower Energy Solutions.

The recently formed Volcano Energy wants to generate cheap electricity that will be used to mine bitcoins, taking advantage of the enthusiasm the government of El Salvador continues to show for this cryptocurrency, legal tender in this Central American nation since September 2021.

“The people hired by the company to cut down the trees said they were going to cut down some to plant coffee and fruit trees, but that was a lie, because later they revealed they were for solar panels,” Córdoba told IPS, as he continued to cut down the undergrowth covering the trunk of what was once a fire tree (Delonix regia), more than a metre in diameter.

Córdoba is a native of the Chorro Arriba canton, one of the three peasant communities that will be most affected by the photovoltaic project, along with Cuntán and Cuyagualo, all three of which belong to the Izalco district.

Arístides Ramón Munto and his mother Macaria Rufina Munto oppose the installation of a photovoltaic plant in their area, near Izalco, El Salvador. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

Forced displacement

Most of these families live on plots of land they own, bordering the Santa Adelaida estate, but their ancestors settled there as labourers or settlers decades ago, with the permission of the landowners, in exchange for work on agricultural tasks for a meagre wage.

Over time, the descendants managed to buy the plots and thus have their own place to live.

However, there are 13 families still living on the Santa Adelaida farm as settlers who are about to be evicted from the property, villagers said. IPS saw how the cottage of one of these workers had already been demolished.

“This logging carried out by Volcano Energy is the final blow, the death blow to the farm,” said Córdoba, referring to prolonged process of indiscriminate logging the estate has been subject to since it was bought some 25 years ago by a member of the Saca family, one of the most prominent in the country.

This family includes former Salvadoran president Elías Antonio Saca (2004-2009), who since 2018 has been serving a 10-year prison sentence for corruption.

The Santa Adelaida farm in western El Salvador has suffered from indiscriminate logging for more than two decades. This will continue so that a solar farm can be installed on the property to supply energy to a bitcoin farm. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

The farm was reportedly sold months ago to Volcano Energy, although details of the transaction are unknown, said residents of the hamlets.

This new wave of deforestation, to set up the solar park, began in January, said Córdoba, as he continues to walk through the undergrowth of the cleared land, except for a dozen timber trees, still standing but marked with light blue dots, confirming that they will be felled.

Some of the 115 hectares of the estate has already been felled, at the hands of the former owner, the Saca family. But the solar project has begun to clear what is still standing, and is looking to acquire more property, say villagers, who estimate 350 hectares could be affected in all.

In June, the solar project was announced by company representatives at a general meeting with residents, said Córdoba, 40.

He added that at the meeting Volcano Energy officials did not confirm the project would be for mining bitcoins, but rather “for data processing”, although in reality mining bitcoins is just that: the execution of highly complex mathematical operations that must be solved by powerful computers to “find” or validate a bitcoin in this ecosystem.

On its website, Volcano Energy presents itself as “a renewable energy and bitcoin mining company propelling El Salvador toward energy independence and financial sovereignty”, whose mission is “to lead the sustainable bitcoin revolution in El Salvador”.

In many parts of the Santa Adelaida estate, trees are marked with light blue paint, a clear sign that they will soon be felled. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

Social and environmental impact

Farming families in the area told IPS they will be affected by the environmental impact of cutting down the few remaining areas of trees on the property, especially because of the potential water shortages it will cause.

“We all know that the fewer trees we have, the less water there will be,” farmer Arístides Ramón Munto, 70, told IPS, sitting inside his house, shirtless, to get a breath of fresh air.

Then the farmer put on a shirt to pose for an IPS photograph with his mother, Macaria Rufina Munto, 85, who was preparing the wood-burning cooker to “throw” corn tortillas (flat, round breads) on a circular clay griddle, called comal in Central America.

“We don’t want them to throw away the sticks (trees), because where will the wild animals live?” the mother wondered, waiting for the comal to heat up to make the tortillas.

The arrival of Vocano Energy on the Santa Adelaida farm has led to the forced displacement of some peasant families who lived there as tenants or permanent workers and whose houses have been demolished. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

On 22 August, a group of villagers wrote a letter to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Fernando López, warning they were “full of concern about the environmental problems that are looming in our community” due to the imminent arrival of the solar project.

The project “will hinder the connectivity of the ecosystem, especially for species of wild mammals in a delicate state of conservation, such as agouti, lowland paca, panther and margay”, among others.

The inhabitants also reminded the minister the area is a harvesting and exploitation zone for water for human use, and it feeds the Cuntán river, which at one point has a small dam that supplies water to the port city of Acajutla, to the south.

The signatories of the letter reminded the minister that the area is part of the Apaneca Ilamatepec mountain range, an extension of 59,000 hectares of forest and coffee plantations, certified as a biosphere reserve by Unesco in 2007, and as such, business initiatives should not be allowed there, especially if they involve cutting down trees.

On 24 October, those affected sent a formal complaint to the General Board of Forestry, Watershed and Irrigation Management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock. In accordance with article 152 of the Law of Administrative Procedures, they requested that precautionary measures be taken, i.e., that the project be suspended while an environmental court resolves the case.

The Salvadoran government is betting on electricity generation from clean sources, such as solar, to inject cheap energy into a bitcoin mining farm in which it is participating under a public-private partnership model. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

Cheap electricity for bitcoiners

The socio-environmental conflict at the Santa Adelaida farm has emerged within the context of the Salvadoran government’s serious commitment to clean energy, not only because of its interest in lowering electricity costs.

Clean energy is also being encouraged by what seems to be an obsession with bitcoins by the Salvadoran president, the neo-populist and right-wing Nayib Bukele, in power since 2019 and who, since 2021, has been promoting one of his most unusual projects: the first farm to mine this crypto-asset in the country.

It is known that the mining process uses a huge amount of electricity to operate the computer network, and the cheaper it is, the lower the operating costs of the farms. Hence the interest in finding energy at low-cost.

In May, Diario El Salvador daily, funded by the Salvadoran government, reported that Bukele’s effort had paid off, as some 473 bitcoins had been mined from the farm installed at the Berlin geothermal power plant, a state-owned plant located in the eastern department of Usulután.

These crypto assets represent some US$44 million, at bitcoin’s current price of US$93,236 per unit.

This initial effort has apparently led to Volcano Energy, founded by Max Keiser, President Bukele’s advisor on bitcoin, and US-based Luxor Technologies, which are said to have formed Hashpower Energy Solutions, although everything is shrouded in government secrecy.

Some 10,000 people living in three rural communities in western El Salvador will probably be affected by environmental damage caused by deforestation from the imminent installation of a solar park. Credit: Edgardo Ayala / IPS

The Berlin plant is supposed to have 300 computer systems already in place to solve the intricate mathematical operations involved in finding bitcoins, but the independent press has not had access to the facility to verify this.

Although it is not clear how, due to official secrecy, the Salvadoran government is also linked to Volcano Energy, offering it all the conditions to set up and operate its solar project in the country, using the clean and cheap energy that the company intends to obtain from various sources, including the solar power station it wants to set up on the Santa Adelaida estate.

In return, in this sort of public-private partnership, the Salvadoran government will receive 23% of the total income of Volcano Energy, which plans to start operations in 2025, said Josué López, the company’s general manager, to Diario El Salvador in April.

Lopez said that, at first, the farm will run on solar and wind power, generating around 130 megawatts in all, but that in the medium term they will build their own geothermal station. Although he did not say it, it is understood they will use the state-owned infrastructure of the geothermal plant in Berlin.

Meanwhile, on 15 October, the foreign investment office for El Salvador announced that the Salvadoran government has approved 21 new photovoltaic projects.

These new initiatives join the more than 250 solar projects already operating in the country, according to Oscar Funes, vice-president of the Salvadoran Association of Renewable Energies, formed by companies working in the sector.

Funes told IPS that Volcano Energy does not belong to the association and that, although he has been working in the energy sector for three decades, he only found out about Hashpower Energy Solutions, the company understood to be behind it, when the media reported on the conflict at the Santa Adelaida farm.

When Córdoba, the farmer who walks the cleared plots, machete in hand, read the news on the internet about the 21 new solar projects approved, he said: “That’s probably why they are interested in grabbing more property here, close to our communities”.

At least 13 bodies have been found but officials fear the true number of dead is much higher.

A displaced family flees Solino, a neighborhood in the heart of Haiti’s capital, following increased insecurity due to gang violence. Credit: UNICEF/Ralph Tedy Erol

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 28 2024 (IPS)

As gangs continuously seize more territory in the Haitian capital, Port-Au-Prince, the humanitarian crisis deepens. Gang violence in Haiti has considerably escalated following the deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission and the appointment of the new Prime Minister, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. Attacks on civilians continue to increase in brutality as the severely underfunded MSS mission and lackluster police efforts do little to combat gang activity. Girls and women have been disproportionately affected by rampant gender-based violence.

Over the past several days, violent clashes between armed gangs, civilians, and police in Port-Au-Prince have intensified greatly. On November 25, the United Nations (UN) ordered its staff to evacuate following increased security concerns.

“We are temporarily reducing our footprint in the capital. The critical humanitarian programmes in Port-au-Prince as well as support for the Haitian people and authorities continue,” said Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, in a press release. This comes a few days after the medical humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders, announced that they would suspend operations in Haiti following continued threats of rape and violence from the local police.

Due to suspended relief efforts from humanitarian aid organizations and the relative ineffectiveness of the MSS mission, many Haitians have expressed concern over the dwindling of protections.

“Every Haitian thinks that we are being abandoned by the whole world. If I was in a foreign country and I believed at any moment my life could be at risk, I would leave too,” says Dr. Wesner Junior Jacotin, a physician in Haiti.

American missionary David Lloyd, who lost his children due to an attack by Haitian gangs earlier this year, expressed uncertainty for the future of Haiti to reporters. “Seems like everyone that can is relocating to somewhere outside of Port-au-Prince. My question is, after Port-au-Prince is burned, where is next? Will the gangs go to Cap Haitien then? Someone needs to make a stand and say enough is enough,” said Lloyd.

The UN estimates that the death toll from gang violence in Haiti has surpassed 4,500 civilians. On November 20, UN High Commissioner of Human Rights Volker Türk warned that the growing insecurity in the capital is a “harbinger of worse to come,” stressing that if proper action is not taken, conditions will further deteriorate. The UN confirmed in a press release that at least 150 people have been killed, 92 injured, and 20,000 displaced over the past week. Additionally, it is predicted that Port-Au-Prince’s population of 4 million people are being held hostage by gangs as all of the main pathways to the capital have been besieged.

The UN has warned that there have been increasing reported cases of gender-based violence in Haiti. According to figures from the Human Rights Watch (HRW), there have been over 54,000 cases of gender-based violence from January to October of this year. The true number of cases is unknown but is believed to be much higher.

“The rule of law in Haiti is so broken that members of criminal groups rape girls or women without fearing any consequences. The international community should urgently increase funding for comprehensive programs to support survivors of sexual violence,” said Nathalye Cotrino, a crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch.

According to HRW, there has been a 1000 percent increase in cases of sexual violence involving children in the past year. Many of the survivors are left with complications, including injuries, mental trauma, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. Yet, due to an overall lack of medical and psychosocial support for victims alongside a pervasive stigma and fear of retaliation, many victims do not come forward.

Haiti’s ban on abortions has only exacerbated this issue. “Haitian women and girls facing poverty resort to unsafe abortions, risking their lives. Unsafe abortions are the third leading cause of maternal mortality,” said Pascale Solages, director of the women’s organization Nègès Mawon.

On November 24, the MSS mission announced via a statement posted to X (formerly known as Twitter) that they are cooperating with the Haitian National Police (HNP) to target gang operations in Delmas. “These operations are specifically targeting gang leaders responsible for terrorizing innocent civilians. MSS is resolute in its mission and will not relent until these perpetrators are apprehended and brought to justice. Our commitment to dismantling gang networks and dislodging them from their strongholds remains firm,” the statement reads.

The Haitian government has called for a full-scale peacekeeping operation to be sent to Haiti, adding that the MSS mission lacks the necessary personnel and equipment to respond effectively to the gangs.

Miroslav Jenca, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, urged the Security Council to discuss peacekeeping options in Haiti on November 20. “Amid the severe and multifaceted crisis in Haiti, robust international security support is required now. This is not just another wave of insecurity; it is a dramatic escalation that shows no signs of abating,” Jenca said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit Sebastian Voortman

By Mathieu Belbéoch and Emma Heslop
GENEVA / PARIS, Nov 28 2024 (IPS)

At their recent Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the G20 committed to support developing countries in responding to global crises and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To meet that pledge, the world’s leading economies need to enhance global collaboration and investment in ocean prediction systems and technology.

As we highlight in the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC) 2024 State of the Ocean Report, this is key to both addressing climate change and closing the gaps currently hindering progress towards multiple SDGs.

Strengthening the capacity of under-resourced countries to improve ocean observing and forecasting is imperative to protect people from the impacts of a changing ocean.

Sea level is rising and will accelerate in the future, driven by unprecedented ocean warming and melting glaciers, including the Greenland and West Antarctica ice sheets. Not only do we need climate action, but—with the ocean containing 40 times as much carbon as the atmosphere—we need to increase our understanding of how proposed climate solutions will interact with the ocean’s carbon cycle and ecosystems, and the resulting risks and benefits.

In fact, observations and forecasts of the ocean’s physical, chemical and biological changes should be at the root of all sustainable development decision-making. Fortunately, new technologies and networks mean our capacity for monitoring and prediction is growing, but not fast enough and not in all parts of the ocean.

After four decades of investment, ocean prediction systems have matured and can now provide accurate forecasts. However, persistent gaps remain, both spatially—particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, polar regions, and island nations—and thematically in critical application areas where more ocean data is needed to advance our prediction of extreme weather, coastal hazards, marine biodiversity, and ocean health.

There is an increasingly urgent need to fill in these missing links to allow us to adapt to changes, predict and manage risk, develop accurate future climate scenarios, and accelerate sustainable blue economic growth—including clean ocean energy technologies.

To date, the Global Ocean Observing System comprises more than 8,000 observing platforms, operated by 84 countries through16 global networks and many biological and ecological observing programmes, and delivering more than 120,000 observations into operational systems daily.

However, to address global challenges and inequalities, spatial and temporal ocean observation gaps must be addressed, particularly those related to the inter-connected triple planetary crises of climate, biodiversity and pollution. That will require recognition of the Global Ocean Observing System as a critical infrastructure and greater cooperation to align data reporting and access.

Free and open data access must be assured as a prerequisite for equitable global sharing of data and information. Supporting this will help G20 States to reduce asymmetries in science, technology, and innovation; one of the inequalities the Leaders’ Summit declared to be at the root of all global challenges.

To improve data access and interoperability, worldwide efforts coordinated by the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) have established a network of 101 data centres in 68 countries. Further expansion of this integrated IOC Data Architecture, including the development of UNESCO-IOC’s Ocean InfoHub Project and new Ocean Data and Information System (ODIS), will create a more unified data delivery infrastructure and continue to support information accessibility as part of action under SDG14.

It is extremely concerning that, despite technological advances, a combination of inflation and flat national funding means that there has been no significant growth in ocean observations in the last five years. One area that demands urgent attention is the enhancement of global, regional and coastal observing and forecasting capabilities for biogeochemistry.

Although there has been investment in biogeochemical sensors, they still represent a small fraction of the observing system; for example, only 7.5% of the current system measures dissolved oxygen and this figure drops even further for other biogeochemical variables.

To provide the baseline information needed to track ocean carbon and oxygen levels, we need a significant increase in both biological and biogeochemical observations.

Another missing piece of the puzzle is the 75% of the ocean floor that remains unmapped. New technologies and partnerships are mobilizing and 5.4 million km2 of new data have been obtained since 2022, but there is still a long way to go. Greater global efforts to expand our knowledge of the seafloor are essential and must be spread across both hemispheres.

A primary driver of the North-South disparity in ocean prediction is the need for extensive supercomputing infrastructure. New forecasting systems using AI models promise to reduce this imbalance. With these data-driven systems, a ten-day forecast can be computed in less than a minute, and there is potential for AI-based forecasts to enlarge the limits of predictability up to 60 days. This would help safeguard coastal cities and build climate resilience.

The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 is a chance to mobilize transformative changes in ocean forecasting by developing a new framework for ocean prediction and capitalizing on key opportunities, including leveraging the advent of AI. This work has already begun, but too many communities are still not benefiting from sophisticated coastal forecasting.

We call on G20 leaders to prioritize ocean observation, data management and prediction as they take action to meet their commitment to the SDGs and global challenges. Global cooperation and investment in prediction technology and equitable access to ocean data will bring multiple, long-term benefits to millions of people across the world. It’s time to bridge the North-South divide and advance equitable ocean prediction for a safer, more sustainable future.

Mathieu Belbéoch, World Meteorological Organization, OceanOPS; Emma Heslop, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Farmer Hasan Khan took photos of his farm in Kasur during the smog. Credit: Hasan Khan

By Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI, Nov 28 2024 (IPS)

Atif Manzoor, 45, the owner of the renowned blue pottery business in Multan, had every reason to feel cheerful last week when the sun finally came out. For a good three weeks, the city of Sufi shrines had been shrouded in an envelope of thick smog.

For over three weeks, he said, business had been terrible, with “several orders canceled” and advance payments refunded. He also had to bear the transport costs he had already paid after the government imposed restrictions on heavy traffic and closed the motorways due to poor visibility.

Thick smog had blanketed cities across Punjab province, home to 127 million people, since the last week of October. Multan, with a population of 2.2 million, recorded an air quality index (AQI) above 2,000, surpassing Lahore, the provincial capital, where the AQI exceeded 1,000.

While Lahore’s AQI has improved, it still fluctuates between 250 (very unhealthy) and 350 (hazardous) on the Swiss company’s scale, keeping it among the top cities in the world with the poorest air quality. As this article went into publication, it was 477, or “very unhealthy.”

Terming the AQI levels in Punjab, in particular Lahore and Multan, “unprecedented, Punjab’s Environment Secretary, Raja Jahangir Anwar, blamed the “lax construction regulations, poor fuel quality, and allowing old smoke-emitting vehicles plying on the roads, residue burning of rice crops to prepare the fields for wheat sowing” as some of the factors contributing to the smog in winter when the air near the ground becomes colder and drier.

Manzoor was not alone in his predicament. Smog had disrupted everyone’s life in the province, including students, office workers, and those who owned or worked in or owned smoke-emitting businesses like kilns, restaurants, construction, factories, or transport, after authorities put restrictions on them.

Even farmers in rural settings were not spared. Hasan Khan, 60, a farmer from Kasur, said that the lack of sunlight, poor air quality, transport delays preventing laborers from reaching farms, and low visibility were all hindering farm work and stunting crop growth.

“The smog hampered plant growth by blocking sunlight and slowing photosynthesis, and since we do flood irrigation, the fields stay drenched longer, causing crop stress, and the trees began shedding their leaves due to poor air quality,” he said.

A screenshot of the IQAir airquality index for Thursday, November 28, 2024, showing the top 10 most polluted cities. Credit: IQAir

Divine Intervention or Blueskying

After weeks of relentless smog, residents of Punjab had been calling for artificial rain, similar to what was done last year. This process involves releasing chemicals like silver iodide from airplanes to induce rainfall. However, Anwar explained that artificial rain requires specific weather conditions, including the right humidity levels, cloud formations, and wind patterns. “We only carry out cloud seeding when there is at least a 50 percent chance of precipitation,” he said.

On November 15, favorable weather conditions allowed for cloud seeding over several cities and towns in Punjab’s Potohar Plateau, leading to natural rainfall in Islamabad and surrounding areas. The forecast also predicted that this would trigger rain in Lahore.

On November 23, Lahore received its first winter rain, which helped clear the thick, toxic smog that had been causing eye irritation and throat discomfort, revealing the sun and a clear blue sky. However, some believe the downpour was the result of the collective rain prayer, Namaz-e-Istisqa, held at mosques across the province, seeking divine intervention.

But cloud seeding has its critics. Dr. Ghulam Rasul, advisor at the China-Pakistan Joint Research Centre and former head of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, cautioned that cloud seeding might reduce smog temporarily, but it was not a sustainable solution. Instead, it could create dry conditions that worsen fog and smog. He also warned that an overdose could trigger hailstorms or heavy rainfall.

Once the smog thinned and the air quality improved, the government eased its restrictions, allowing shops and restaurants (with barbecues if smoke is controlled) to remain open till 8 pm and 10 pm, respectively; schools and colleges have also opened, and the ban placed on construction work, brick kiln operations, and heavy transport vehicles (carrying passengers, fuels, medicines, and foods), including ambulances, rescue, fire brigades, prison, and police vehicles, has also been lifted. In addition, the government has installed 30 air quality monitors around Lahore and other cities of the province.

While the air may have cleared, health issues left in its wake are expected to persist, according to medical practitioners. Over the past 30 days, the official score of people seeking medical treatment for respiratory problems in the smog-affected districts of the province reached over 1.8 million people. In Lahore, the state-owned news agency, the Associated Press of Pakistan, reported 5,000 cases of asthma.

“Frankly, this figure seems rather underreported,” said Dr. Ashraf Nizami, president of the Pakistan Medical Association’s Lahore chapter.

“This is just the beginning,” warned Dr. Salman Kazmi, an internist in Lahore. “Expect more cases of respiratory infections and heart diseases ahead,” he said.

UNICEF had also warned that 1.1 million children under five in the province were at risk due to air pollution. “Young children are more vulnerable because of smaller lungs, weaker immunity, and faster breathing,” the agency stated.

While the government has put several measures in place, a long-term, measurable plan is needed, say experts. Credit: Hasan Khan

Ineffective Band-Aid Solutions

Although the government took several measures to manage the smog, few were impressed. Climate governance expert Imran Khalid, blaming the “environmental misgovernance for degradation of an already poor air quality across Pakistan,” found the anti-smog plan a “hodgepodge of general policy measures” with no long-term measurable plan.

He argued that the plan only targets seasonal smog instead of taking a year-round “regional, collective approach” to fighting air pollution across the entire Indus-Gangetic plains, not just in Lahore or Multan.

“I will take this seriously when I see a complete action plan in one place, preceded by a diagnostic of the causes and followed by a prioritization of actions with a timeline for implementation monitored by a committee with representation of civil society,” said Dr. Anjum Altaf, an educationist specializing in several fields along with environmental sciences. “Till such time, it is just words!” he added.

Khalid said plans and policies can only succeed if they are evidence-based, inclusive, bottom-up, and “and implemented by well-trained authorities, supported by political will and resources, flexible in response to challenges, and focused on the health of the people.”

Others argue that the slow response to the decade-long smog crisis, despite a clear understanding of its causes, reflects a matter of misplaced priorities.

“It’s all about priority,” said Aarish Sardar, a design educator, curator, and writer based in Lahore. “Many years ago, when the government wanted to nip the dengue epidemic, it was able to,” he said.

“Mosquitoes were eliminated once they reached officials’ residences,” said farmer Khan, agreeing that when there is political will, remarkable changes can occur.

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Kaieteur Falls in the Potaro River, Guyana. The country has a clear path forward to employ its oil and gas resources for economic and social sustainability by investing long-term in sustainability across society, environment, and economy. Credit: Shutterstock

By Rio Namegaya
SAN DIEGO, USA, Nov 27 2024 (IPS)

Long before the transformative discovery of its offshore oil in 2015, Guyana had made a strong pledge to decarbonization and climate action as set forth in its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) 2030. The development of its oil industry has led to remarkable economic growth in Guyana, including a 62.3% growth rate in 2022.

But balancing its oil-driven economic growth with its longstanding commitment to climate action and the promise of sustainability — the milestones and objectives of the LCDS policy framework — will be essential. Put simply, how can its idealistic and ambitious pathway become a reality?

The country’s offshore oil deposits have reached 11 billion barrels and production is set to top 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027, making this small Latin American country one of the fastest-growing oil producers in the world

To begin, it is essential to understand the truly transformative nature of the country’s oil and gas sector development. The country’s offshore oil deposits have reached 11 billion barrels and production is set to top 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027, making this small Latin American country one of the fastest-growing oil producers in the world.

The expected boost in production is estimated to bring in revenue of 7.5 billion USD to the Government of Guyana by 2040. This is motivation strong enough for a small developing country like Guyana to balance “the goose that lays the golden egg” with its promise of Paris Agreement targets and a global status as a leading advocate for decarbonization among developing countries that was earned before its offshore oil was found.

For Guyana, there is a clear and obvious key to achieving such a delicate balance: the nation’s forest ecosystems. Guyana is a country with the second-highest percentage of global forest cover that can annually store 19.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide (almost 40% of global emissions) and capture 154 million tons per year from the atmosphere.

This has afforded the coastal nation to stake a clear claim as one of the globe’s few carbon-negative jurisdictions. Furthermore, it has allowed the country to succeed in monetizing its conservation efforts through Architecture for REDD+ Transaction: the REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard (“ART TREES”), a global climate initiative focused on forestry conservation, including managing, monitoring, and reporting carbon credits.

With the carbon credit certification from ART TREES, Guyana issued carbon credits for the first time as a country. Successive efforts allowed Guyana to secure a carbon-credit transaction in 2022 with Hess Corporation, a US gas and oil producer.

The agreement, that spans the years 2016-2030, includes payment to Guyana totaling at least 750 million USD to compensate for emissions in the oil production process.

This agreement also proves Guyana’s commitment to balancing oil production and sustainability by way of protecting its tropical forests, as the carbon credits payments are conditioned upon the requirement that 99% or more of Guyana’s forests remain intact.

Another notable sign of Guyana’s long-term readiness to strike the balance for its ambitious energy transition plan is Community-produced Village Sustainability Plans (VSPs).

As stipulated in the LCDS 2030, 15% of the revenue from the carbon market is used for Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs). It should be noted that this is an important distinction for Guyana’s efforts when compared to other countries in the region.

Moreover, the VSP’s are part of Guyana’s sense of urgency to mitigate and adapt to the risks and impacts of climate change as a Latin American country particularly vulnerable to the most pernicious impacts from climate change.

The country has repeatedly underscored how it views its role as one of the most crucial countries in biodiversity conservation while shaping policy and governance lessons as to how to invest the oil revenue in possible expansion and conservation of forests, coastal, land, and ocean biodiversity, and heightening resilience against climate change impacts.

Successful development and implementation of these plans could both save lives in the region and further advance Guyana’s economic development while affording crucial lessons learned globally.

Further, Guyana also uses revenue from the carbon market to invest in education and other public services, agriculture, manufacturing, and IT industries.

These measures are important to stave off and mitigate the impacts of the resource curse. The early results are positive as the non-oil economy grew by 12.6% in 2024, which points to an important start and reassuring evidence that Guyana is working to diversify its economy.

In other words, Guyana is already preparing an antidote to “Dutch Disease,” a phenomenon where accelerated growth in one sector harms the economy in another sector as seen in the Netherlands, where discovery of oil and gas and rapid development and income generation for the nation resulted in a decline in manufacturing industry during the 1970s.

Finally, Guyana is aware that its continued commitment to environmental sustainability improves the long-term viability of both oil production and its domestic economy.

Continued development of an efficient level of production in its burgeoning offshore oil industry combined with important carbon capture technologies is positioning the nation’s output as so-called “low-carbon” barrels.

As oil demand declines over the coming years, it also seems apparent that changes in international regulations and governance would impact high-carbon producers first.

Nothing would promise longer prospects as an oil producer for Guyana than as a sustainable low-carbon oil producer. Such attributes can ensure Guyanese oil competitive even after achieving global net-zero carbon emissions despite being a latecomer to the global oil market.

An optimist might even add that this would pressure other major existing producers to lower their carbon emissions if considering Guyana’s collaboration with Norway—another oil producer aiming to lower net carbon emissions in recent years.

Guyana has shown its strong and confident commitment to sustainability in oil production and social and economic development through a commitment to policy and legislation at the domestic level.

The nation’s ambitiousness of harnessing the economic opportunity presented from the discovery of its massive offshore oil wealth has not subsumed the longstanding and necessary commitment to biodiversity and climate action.

Indeed, the country has a clear path forward to employ its oil and gas resources for economic and social sustainability by investing long-term in sustainability across society, environment, and economy.

Rio Namegaya is a graduate student at the University of California San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS)

 

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