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Zambia: Civil Society Fighting New Legislative Threats and Restrictive NGO Bills

Fri, 12/06/2024 - 20:12

Credit: Alex Berger in North Western Zambia

By Leah Mitaba and Bibbi Abruzzini
LUSAKA, Zambia, Dec 6 2024 (IPS)

Over the past few years, new “tools of control” affecting the work of civil society organisations have multiplied, often imposing forms of “bureaucratic criminalisation” and “administrative harassment”. In particular, more and more restrictive and demanding laws are hurting civil society organisations’s capacity to operate across the globe.

2024 saw a new NGO Bill being proposed in Zambia. The proposed Bill seeks to introduce new regulations for the governance of civil society organisations. Under the bill, all NGOs would be required to re-register every five years and adhere to mandatory membership in a government-regulated central body. It also imposes stringent reporting requirements, including disclosure of activities, funding sources, and personal wealth declarations by NGO officials. Failure to comply with these provisions could result in severe penalties, including heavy fines and imprisonment.

“Placing the same onerous registration requirement on small Community Based Organisations in the provinces as their national well resource counterparts shows very weak understanding of the NGO landscape in Zambia. These requirements would wipe out scores of organisations who carry out vital grassroot work,” says Laura Miti, Executive Director at Alliance for Community Action.

Zambian CSOs warn that these measures, far from promoting accountability or transparency, represent an overreach by the state, placing undue burdens on organizations and jeopardizing their autonomy. If enacted, the NGO Bill could severely limit the ability of CSOs to operate independently, advocate for human rights, and support development initiatives across the country.

“The Non-Governmental Organisations Bill continues the trend by the government to oversee the work of civil society. Several provisions undermine the work that advocacy civil society organisations undertake. The Bill is not a result of consensus among civil society and between civil society and government. Civil society’s asks have not changed since the government began taking steps to enact legislation regulating the sector years ago. Yet, each time a Bill is shared, it does not reflect the aspirations of the sector and does not provide any protections an enabling legislation should,” says Josiah Kalala, Executive Director at Chapter One Foundation.

In a joint statement signed by platforms representing over 400 organizations, including the Zambia Council for Social Development (ZCSD), Transparency International, NGOCC, and the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR), Zambian CSOs have highlighted the following critical issues with the proposed bill:

· Overregulation and Intrusiveness:

· Punitive Measures:

· Lack of Consultation:

Leah Mitaba, Executive Director of the Zambia Council for Social Development, underscores the need to have laws that promote collaboration and transparency, not control and coercion: “Zambia is a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. These legal frameworks call on member states to avoid enacting laws that restrict civic space or hinder fundamental freedoms, including expression, association, and assembly. Unfortunately, the proposed 2024 Bill risks undermining these commitments. Therefore, the government’s decision to initiate consultations is a step in the right direction. It is hoped that this dialogue will lead to a self-regulatory framework that fosters the vibrancy and effectiveness of civil society organizations in Zambia.”

Additional concerns: cybersecurity and Anti-Terrorism legislation

In addition to the NGO Bill 2024, three new bills—the Cyber Security Bill 2024, Cyber Crimes Bill 2024, and Anti-Terrorism Bill—have been introduced and fast-tracked to parliament. While the stated objectives of these bills are to safeguard national security, combat cybercrime, and address terrorism, their provisions raise serious concerns about human rights, democratic governance, and constitutional compliance.

Key concerns raised by Zambian CSOs include:

· Broad Surveillance Powers:

· Vague and Overbroad Definitions:

· Continuity of Authoritarian Practices:

In a joint statement, Zambian CSOs called on Members of Parliament to reject these bills in their current forms and urged the United Party for National Development (UPND) administration to withdraw them for broader consultation and review. “Laws protecting Zambia’s security must also protect Zambia’s democracy and rights,” the statement emphasizes.

CSOs also highlighted that these laws, if enacted, would undermine constitutional protections and set a dangerous precedent for future legislation. They have appealed to Zambian citizens to demand accountability from their representatives, warning that these laws will shape the future of freedoms, privacy, and the ability to speak out in the country.

What do the bills mean for civil society?

The concerns raised by Zambian CSOs go beyond the immediate implications of the proposed bill. At stake is the broader enabling environment for civil society—a combination of legal, institutional, financial and social factors that allow CSOs to operate effectively and contribute meaningfully to development efforts and community support. This includes ensuring:

· Protection of Fundamental Freedoms:

· Access to Resources:

· Inclusive Decision-Making:

“Many CSOs are caught in a web of increasingly complex regulations that limit their ability to operate freely. From endless bureaucratic delays to arbitrary decisions and denial of permits, these tactics slow civil society organisations down and drain their resources. Many are denied access to critical funding, while also facing stringent reporting requirements from donors, creating financial insecurity. This results in various forms of economic and emotional pressures,” said Forus director Sarah Strack in a recent article.

Next steps: what civil society is calling for

Zambian CSOs have consistently demonstrated their commitment to transparency and accountability through self-regulation initiatives. They have called on the government to build on these efforts rather than impose restrictive measures that could stifle civic engagement.

Zambian CSOs are calling on the government to demonstrate its commitment to democratic governance by:

· Revisiting the Bills:

· Protecting the Environment of Civil Society Organisations:

· Supporting Self-Regulation:

· Broaden Consultation:

· Uphold Accountability:

With the UN Special Rapporteur visiting Zambia in January 2025 there is a call now to bring these issues to light and advocate for meaningful reforms. Zambia’s civil society calls on national and international partners to stand in solidarity with their efforts to protect the enabling environment.

Leah Mitaba Executive Director of the Zambia Council for Social Development and Bibbi Abruzzini Communications Coordinator at Forus.

IPS UN Bureau

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Categories: Africa

African Union, Nations Lay Bare Climate Vulnerabilities at UN’s Top Court

Fri, 12/06/2024 - 19:01

Submissions from Papua New Guinea laid bear the country's diversity and heightened vulnerability to climate change. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
THE HAGUE & NAIROBI, Dec 6 2024 (IPS)

Kenya agrees with many UN member states testifying before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the law of international responsibility should hold countries legally responsible for major damage to the global climate system.

“Responsible states must cease wrongful acts or remedy any omissions harmful to the climate system as well as make reparations for all damage caused by their breach. Such reparation may take the form of compensation for loss and damage. Of course, the court need not definitively pronounce on compensation in the context of historical omissions,” said Phoebe Okowa, a Kenyan lawyer and Professor of Public International Law.

“However, this is a precious opportunity to integrate the corpus juris (body of law) of climate change treaty law and customary international law, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, in a way that will assist states in establishing workable frameworks for compensation.”

Okowa was speaking on behalf of Kenya at the ICJ, which is one of 98 countries and 12 organizations participating in ongoing public hearings, contributing to the UN top court’s advisory opinion on the obligation of states to prevent climate change and ensure the protection of the environment for present and future generations.

The ongoing landmark climate change case dates to September 2021, when the Pacific Island of Vanuatu announced its intention to seek an advisory opinion from the ICJ. Vanuatu supported the efforts of a youth group—the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change—who were concerned about the vulnerability of small island developing states in the region to climate change.

Vanuatu then lobbied other countries to support this initiative and formed the core group of UN member states to take the initiative forward to the General Assembly.

In pursuit of this advisory, Ambassador Halima Mucheke on behalf of Kenya said the court “has had numerous participants stress the existential nature of the threat caused by climate change. In response, this court must bring clarity to the law, informed by the perspectives of developing states, particularly those in Africa, where temperatures are rising the fastest.”

“We believe that a clarification of the existing legal obligations will provide much-needed guidance to states, as well as the impetus for the next phase of political negotiations. Kenya specifically invites the court to draw on equitable principles reflected in climate change treaties, such as the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities,” she said.

Fred Sarufa, Permanent Representative of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea to the UN, said in the country’s nearly 50 years of nationhood, this was their first appearance before ICJ because climate change can no longer be ignored. He then proceeded to illustrate the significant issues at stake.

Prof. Phoebe Okowa invited the court to integrate the corpus juris of climate change treaty law towards a workable framework for compensation. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

“Papua New Guinea is home to and the custodian of a diverse geophysical and geomorphic landscape, including 20,197 kilometres of coastline, 40,000 square kilometres of coral reefs, one of the highest known levels of marine biological diversity in the world, around 10 percent of the world’s biodiversity in less than 1 percent of the world’s total land area, and the world’s third largest expanse of pristine tropical rainforest, covering 77.8 percent of our total land area,” Sarufa told the court.

Stressing that Papua New Guinea’s biodiversity is directly linked to its unsurpassed linguistic diversity, with over 850 spoken languages, the most in the world. Pila Niningi, the Minister for Justice and Attorney General of Papua New Guinea, discussed the numerous ways that climate change is wreaking havoc.

These include “forcing people to abandon their ancestral lands and territories, altered landscapes and seascapes, disrupted livelihoods, and led to civil unrest among traditional landowners, fighting over increasingly limited land and space. It has also endangered food crops, water and security, and the collapse of traditional and cultural practices and indigenous systems of governance,” Niningi said.

Rising seas have forced the islanders from northeast Bougainville and the people of Veraibari in the Gulf province of Papua New Guinea to abandon their ancestral lands because it engulfed their homes and schools and inundated what remains of the arable land.

This led Papua New Guinea to join other Pacific nations in adopting, within the framework of the Pacific Islands Forum, the Boe Declaration on Regional Security, which affirms, among others, that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security, and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific.

On her part, Kenya invited the court to confirm that significant financial assistance and technology transfer are binding legal obligations and not matters of discretion.

Professor Dr. Makane Moïse Mbengue from the African Union told the Court the matter on hand was about climate justice, as “climate change is a phenomenon that has not been caused by all states equally, and nor will all states suffer its effects equally.”

He emphasized that science serves as the cornerstone of climate justice for states, peoples, and individuals affected by climate change, underscoring the necessity of protecting the climate system and demanding responsibility from states that have caused harm to it. In this context, he said the African Union welcomes the court’s engagement with experts from the IPCC prior to the commencement of the hearings.

“The African Union notes efforts of certain states, albeit a minority, to negate science and trivialize the ordinary meaning of the terms of the request (for an advisory opinion). Their repeated calls for undue caution now, and in their written submissions, are transparent attempts to dilute the very object of the present proceedings. The African Union respectfully urges the court to dismiss these unfounded arguments,” he observed.

Further inviting the court to “reject the flawed argument, which was repeated again this week, that the relevant obligations are reduced solely to the so-called specialists of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. The same arguments were tried, tested, and defeated before they lost. Nonetheless, they should find no fertile ground before the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, whose advisory opinions have consistently contributed to maintaining the systemic coherence of the international legal system.”

Mbengue said that if the court didn’t say who was responsible, it would be the same as a situation of non-liquet, which means there is no law that applies, and states would be free to keep damaging the climate system. Such an outcome could hardly have been the intention of the General Assembly in seeking this advisory opinion.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

Excerpt:

Rising seas due to climate change threaten the future of Papua New Guinea, a country known for its significant linguistic and biodiversity. Already, this has forced people to abandon their ancestral lands and caused civil unrest as landowners fight over increasingly limited land and space.

Categories: Africa

Another Tsunami Sweeps Sri Lanka

Fri, 12/06/2024 - 09:26

The Wickremesinghe government was unnerved by the huge attendance at NPP public rallies.

By Neville de Silva
LONDON, Dec 6 2024 (IPS)

On 26 December 2004 a powerful Asian tsunami swept over many of Sri Lanka’s coastal provinces, killing thousands of people and wildlife, devastating habitats and even washing away a trainload of passengers far from the rail tracks.

Almost 20 years later, on November 14 this year, another tsunami struck, sweeping across the country in an unprecedented wave that mesmerised many of the 22 million population.

But this was a tsunami of a different kind. It took much of the nation by surprise, causing a tectonic shift in the country’s post-independence political landscape and traditional ways of governance as it dispensed with the corrupt old guard.

The November 14 parliamentary election uprooted the long surviving ruling class and the comprador capitalism of the old political parties that had dominated Sri Lanka’s politics since independence in 1948.

If the 2004 tsunami was geological and physical in nature, and the damage it wreaked was within the country, this one was essentially political and its impact was felt not only in neighbouring nations but far beyond, particularly in the western world, though for different reasons.

November’s election was won by a political alliance formed just a few years earlier, which swept aside Sri Lanka’s major parties that had dominated politics for over 60 years. And on its way to gaining power, it made history.

MAN OF THE SOIL: Anura Kumara Dissanayake

This is not only because the alliance won 159 seats, an unprecedented majority of over two-thirds of the seats in a 225-member legislature – the first time this has happened since the introduction of proportional representation decades ago.

Nor is it because it won 21 of the country’s 22 district constituencies; nor even because it was the first Sinhala-Buddhist party from the country’s south to win parliamentary seats in the predominantly minority-Tamil constituencies in the north, including the Tamil heartland of Jaffna, the east and the mainly Tamil plantation areas in the central hills, defeating long-established Tamil political parties that perpetuated Tamil nationalist politics.

This nascent election king-maker that made political history in November was a Left-leaning alliance of small political parties, trade unions, civil society organisations and activists named the National People’s Power (NPP). It threatened to oust the decaying and corruption-ridden politics of the past and implant an entirely new political and governance system.

Today, for the first time in its history, Sri Lanka has a government led solely by a Leftist alliance.

The NPP that emerged as a political party in 2019, led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, (popularly called AKD), a member of one-time Marxist party Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP- People’s Liberation Front), which he had joined as a student, contested the presidential election that year but gained a paltry 3 per cent of the vote. The following year, the NPP managed to scrape together 3 seats in the 225-member legislature.

It was scornfully named by its rightist parliamentary opponents and critics as ‘3 per cent’ for its poor electoral showing at both elections, which swept the Rajapaksa clan into power, the country’s most powerful political family, with one sibling as president, another as prime minister and still another as finance minister.

Yet in a remarkable change of events that shook the country’s political establishment, a party that only five years earlier had been derided and dismissed as a minor nuisance has risen to the pinnacle of power.

The NPP’s opponents label them as violent Marxists

Its capturing of executive and legislative power with relative ease in an unforeseen peaceful democratic transformation has resonated in nearby countries, some of which face civil turmoil and upheavals at home.

It is this transmogrification of an alliance virtually discarded by voters five years earlier as a political nonentity which has reduced to virtually zero long surviving parties with seasoned leaders and politicians. When the nation awoke the next morning to the news, it seemed like a fairytale.

But history intervened between the elections of 2019 and 2024. This helped the NPP’s slowly gathering public support to transform the one-time Marxist party into a democratic socialist progressive political entity, despite the fact that the earlier JVP had been involved in armed insurrections, the second in the late 1980s, which was virtually forced on it by a pro-western rightist government determined to crush democratic dissent.

Although the JVP was the hardcore party at the centre of the now emerging NPP led by Dissanayake, a progressive socialist determined to transform Sri Lanka into a people-centred democracy, 20-odd other organisations that formed the NPP were more inclined to follow the Dissanayake ideology.

In 2022, public protests against the then Gotabaya Rajapaksa presidency began to spread, due to his unbelievably incongruous and inconceivable policies, which led to shortages of food and domestic essentials like fuel. Mass protests erupted in Colombo and protestors camped opposite the presidential secretariat in their thousands for months.

It was a grand opportunity for the progressive democratic NPP, which has been calling for the abolition of the executive presidency and a return to the parliamentary system, to join the ‘Aragalaya’ protest movement and establish its credentials as a people’s movement determined to dispel the old order and build a new Sri Lanka.

Unable to quell the public protests, President Rajapaksa fled the country, having earlier appointed a political opponent but still one of the ruling class, Ranil Wickremesinghe, as prime minister. Wickremesinghe was later elected president by the Rajapaksa-family led parliamentary majority, as the constitution allowed it.

Wickremesinghe’s high-handed policies, backed by the military and police to crush public dissent, and his deal with the IMF that led to more austerity and increasing poverty, promising economic prosperity only in future years, drove the people increasingly to oppose his policies and authoritarianism.

Hailing from a remote village in rural Sri Lanka and from a poor family living in a hamlet, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, like many of his comrades from the JVP and later the NPP, is a genuine man of the soil, the first such leader Sri Lanka has ever had.

Having struggled to educate himself in village schools and later at a provincial government school, AKD nevertheless managed to enter university and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics – a rare achievement for a boy of his background.

Had President Wickremesinghe had an opportunity to postpone national elections, he would have done so, just as he did the local government elections during his interim presidency, fearing public defeat. But the constitution stood in his way.

Seeing the massive attendance at the NPP’s public rallies, the Wickremesinghe government, and others expecting victory at parliamentary elections, panicked. They started branding the NPP as Marxists and insurrectionists who had engaged in armed violence and were likely to do so again. They demonised the NPP and created a nightmare image of a country under an authoritarian regime.

But such attempts to scare-monger the Sri Lankan people and potential foreign investors failed, due to Sri Lanka’s important geopolitical position in the busy Indian Ocean.

Yet this has not stopped the NPP’s opponents labelling them as violent Marxists, even as they forget their own past running armed paramilitary groups responsible for the killing and torture of hundreds of civilians in the late 1980s.

Those who read some of the Indian media and western news reports will not forget how they came to name the NPP as the country’s Marxist government, and continue to do so. However, over 60 per cent of Sri Lankan voters turned their backs on these nightmare visions, whether they came from local political leaders and their loyal press, the Indian or western media, which was likely hoping for a return of pro-western politicians and the continuation of corrupt regimes.

They now fear that the NPP will pursue the corrupt and bring them to justice for robbing state assets, as it has promised to do.

While the NPP’s immediate priorities are to continue dealing with the IMF to rescue the economy and other domestic issues, foreign policy does not appear to be at the top of its list. But, caught between India and China as ever, major issues lie ahead in this regard, which the NPP cannot afford to ignore for long.

Neville de Silva is a veteran Sri Lankan journalist who held senior roles in Hong Kong at The Standard and worked in London for Gemini News Service. He has been a correspondent for the foreign media including the New York Times and Le Monde. More recently he was Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in London

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa

UNCCD COP16 Raises Hopes for Ambitious Global Land Action

Fri, 12/06/2024 - 09:16

Announcement of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Drought Resilience Partnership Initiative. Credit: Anastasia Rodopoulou/IISD/ENB|

By Stella Paul
RIYADH & HYDERABAD, Dec 6 2024 (IPS)

While many delegates at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP16) hope that this could be the convention’s own Paris moment—referring to the historic Paris agreement inked by UNFCCC signatories—however, this hedges heavily on the UN parties’ seriousness to combat drought, desertification and land degradation.

UNCCD COP 16, themed “Our Land and Our Future,” is currently underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

One of the biggest expectations from the conference is a landmark decision on achieving a complete halt to land degradation by 2030. The other expectations are mobilizing enough resources to restore all degraded land and achieve total resilience against droughts.

Global Land Degradation at COP

Degradation affects 2 billion hectares of land globally. This is more than the total land area of Russia, the largest country on earth. This affects 3.2 billion people—twice the population of entire Africa. The degraded land area is also continuously expanding as each year an additional 100 million ha get degraded—mostly due to the impacts of climate change such as a drought and desertification. With a business-as-usual approach, by 2050, 6 billion ha will be degraded, warns UNCCD, which is urging the parties of the ongoing COP to take urgent action to halt this.

“Every second, somewhere in the world, we lose an equivalent of four football fields to land degradation. We must act now to restore our lands. They are the foundation of everything. For the first time, through our UNCCD reporting, we have evidence-based estimates of the alarming state of land degradation. COP16 is about our reliance on lands, but also our resilience,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, the Executive Secretary of UNCCD, at the opening ceremony of the COP.

“The scientific evidence is unambiguous: the way we manage our land today will directly determine our future on earth. Land restoration is the first and foremost foundation of our economy, security and humanity. We must restore our land now,” Thiaw said to an audience of party delegates, civil society groups, women’s rights organizations, business and finance experts, members of other UN agencies and youths.

Responding to the UN call, Saudi Arabia, the COP16 host, has promised to deliver strong action.

On Wednesday, December 4, the COP observed “Land Day.” Speaking at the event, Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen AlFadley, UNCCD COP16 President and Saudi Arabia Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, said, “Through our Presidency of COP16, we will work to make this COP a launchpad to strengthen public and private partnerships and create a roadmap to rehabilitate 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030.”

Finance Gap: Common Challenges of all UN COPs

On Dec 3, the second day of COP, the UNCCD released its financial needs assessment report, detailing the latest funding requirements to address land degradation, drought and desertification. The findings revealed a sizeable funding gap for international land restoration efforts. Based on UNCCD targets, the required annual investments for 2025–2030 are estimated at USD 355 billion. However, the projected investments for the same period amount to only USD 77 billion per year, leaving USD 278 billion that requires mobilization to meet the UNCCD objectives.

In the past, UNCCD’s finance mobilization efforts included the creation of a Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDN Fund), a financial mechanism to support the achievement of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)—a target under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 15.3). But, similar to the climate change COPs and the biodiversity COPs, UNCCD’s LDN fund is underfunded and has only received USD 208 million.

However, on the second day of COP16, the Arab Coordination Group pledged USD 10 billion to combat land degradation, desertification and drought. The donation would go to the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership, an initiative launched by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has also already announced a donation of USD 150 million to operationalize the initiative. The additional backing took place during the Ministerial Dialogue on Finance, part of the high-level segment at COP16 in Riyadh, aimed at unlocking international funding from the private and public sectors.

The Missing Private Sector Investment

The Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership will also focus on unlocking new financial mechanisms, such as credit, equity financing, insurance products, and grants, to enhance drought resilience.

With over USD 12 billion pledged for major land restoration and drought resilience initiatives in just the first two days, COP16 in Riyadh is already bringing more hopes than the biodiversity (UNCBD) and climate change (UNFCCC) COPs.

Dr. Osama Faqeeha, Deputy Minister for Environment, Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and Advisor to the UNCCD COP16 Presidency, said: “I hope this is just the beginning, and over the coming days and weeks, we see further contributions from international private and public sector partners that further amplify the impact of vital drought resilience and land restoration initiatives.”

However, the convention has still not been able to unlock any significant private funding, which has been identified by many as a huge challenge in the path of achieving total land restoration. According to the COP Presidency, only 6 percent of the private investors and businesses have invested in land-related initiatives and the funding gap in the UNCCD is a ‘worrying blackhole.”

“If the international community is to deliver land restoration at the scale required, then the private sector simply must ramp up investment. As the latest UNCCD findings show, there remains a worrying blackhole in the funds needed to combat land degradation, desertification and drought,” said Faqeeha.

A Gender-Just Financing Solution: Can COP16 Deliver?

Following a series of events this year at the UN General Assembly, the CBD COP16 in Cali, Colombia and COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the ‘Rio Convention Synergies’ dialogue also took place on Land Day, highlighting developments made during the 2024 Rio Trio events. The event discussed the interconnected issues driving land degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change and how to find common solutions.

Most participants highlighted the disproportionate impact of drought and land degradation on women and their urgent requirement for access to finance.

Women’s Leadership for Sustainable Land Management, Tarja Halonen, UNCCD Land Ambassador and Co-Chair of the UNCCD Gender Caucus, said, “Women and girls in rural communities bear the greatest burden of desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD), and their empowerment is crucial for addressing urgent land challenges.”

AlFadley noted that women’s empowerment enhances sustainable land management (SLM) and the preservation of ecosystems, as well as long-term resilience against DLDD.

Recognizing the challenges women face to mobilize resources for their own land restoration initiatives often due to lack of capacity and connections, Neema Lugangira, Member of Parliament, Tanzania, advised the COP16 Gender Caucus to connect with parliamentarians in the global climate finance chapter of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s parliamentary network.

“It will be good if the UNCCD can have a land restoration parliamentary group,” she said.

Speaking at a high-level interactive dialogue, Odontuya Saldan, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Mongolia, which will host COP17 in 2026, proposed establishing a global coalition of future rangelands and pastoralism solutions focused on gender equality and the role of youth, children, and women. She said Mongolia would make gender a priority at COP17, where the key theme will be rangelands and pastoralism.

What decisions COP16 makes to provide women land restorers and drought warriors with greater access to land finance is still up in the air.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa

Climate Finance Not Charity, But Obligation, International Court of Justice hears

Thu, 12/05/2024 - 20:54

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the UN, is holding public hearings on the request for an advisory opinion on the Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change. Mr. Nawaf Salam, President of the court, is preciding. Credit: ICJ

By Umar Manzoor Shah
THE HAGUE & SRINAGAR, Dec 5 2024 (IPS)

Developing nations should not bear the brunt of the climate crisis caused by the industrialized world’s historical emissions. This was the resounding message as the Solomon Islands, India, and Iran, among others, presented their cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The submissions from three nations—Solomon Islands, India, and Iran—converged on one critical point: climate change is a global crisis requiring collective action. The Solomon Islands highlighted the intrinsic link between climate justice and human rights, urging urgent global efforts to protect vulnerable populations.

At the request of Vanuatu, the UN General Assembly asked the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion on the obligations of UN member states in preventing climate change and ensuring the protection of the environment for present and future generations. While its advisory opinion will not be enforceable, the court will advise on the legal consequences for member states that have caused significant harm, particularly to small island developing states. Hearings are ongoing at the court in The Hague.

India stressed the need for international cooperation based on the principles of equity and the Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDRRC); however, it cautioned against any overreach that could compromise developmental priorities. Iran agreed, asserting that effective climate action depends on the fair treatment of developing nations and the removal of barriers to cooperation.

Solomon Islands: A Cry for Justice
Representatives Attorney General John Muria, Junior and counsel Harj Narulla from the Solomon Islands elaborated on the threats posed by rising sea levels, urging the ICJ to affirm the moral and legal obligations of industrialized nations to support vulnerable states.

“Our people face displacement, loss of livelihoods, and threats to their cultural heritage, yet we have contributed negligibly to global emissions,” said Muria. He called for the court to prioritize the principle of “climate justice,” asserting that nations historically responsible for greenhouse gas emissions bear a greater obligation to mitigate climate impacts and assist affected countries.

The Solomon Islands demanded enhanced financial and technological support for small island and least-developed states. They argued that this assistance is not an act of charity but a legal and ethical necessity rooted in international law.

India Pleads for Equity and Differentiated Responsibilities
India’s representative, Luther Rangreji, said that the complexities of climate change as a global challenge disproportionately affect developing nations. Rangreji highlighted the inherent inequities, noting that developing nations, like India, contribute less to emissions but bear the brunt of climate impacts.

“Developed countries, historically the largest contributors to climate change, have the resources to address it. Yet, they demand that developing nations limit their energy use. This is inequity at its core,” Rangreji said.

India’s submission reinforced the principle of CBDRRC as enshrined in international agreements such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Rangreji said that developing nations’ developmental priorities, including poverty eradication, must not be compromised in the name of climate action.

Legal Frameworks and Unmet Financial Obligations
Both India and the Solomon Islands highlighted the necessity for robust legal frameworks to address climate change. The Solomon Islands referenced previous ICJ cases, such as the Pulp Mills and Nuclear Weapons advisory opinions, to underline states’ obligations to prevent transboundary harm.

India, while advocating for the frameworks established by the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol, and Paris Agreement, cautioned against imposing new obligations. Rangreji emphasized the significance of fulfilling current commitments, specifically the USD 100 billion annual climate finance pledge from developed nations, a promise that provided minimal benefits to developing countries.

“USD 100 billion pledged at the Copenhagen COP in 2009 by developed country parties and the doubling of the contribution to the adaptation fund have not yet been translated into any concrete actions,” Rangreji said.

“Climate finance is not charity; it is an obligation.”

He argued that developing nations can scale up climate actions only if adequately supported.

Furthermore, India provided data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to highlight disparities. Rangreji noted that developed nations, despite comprising only 16 percent of the global population, contributed 57 percent of cumulative emissions between 1850 and 2019. This historical responsibility, India argued, necessitates a differential approach to climate obligations.

Similarly, the Solomon Islands stated that small island nations bear a disproportionate burden of climate impacts. “Justice demands that those who benefited most from industrialization should bear the greater burden of rectifying its consequences,” stated their representative.

Iran Urges Equity and International Cooperation
Sayyid Ali Mousavi, representing the Islamic Republic of Iran, emphasized the principles of equity, CBDRRC, and international cooperation. Mousavi emphasized the significant challenges that developing nations like Iran, despite their limited emissions, face due to climate change.

Mousavi criticized unilateral coercive measures imposed by developed nations, arguing that these measures hinder the transfer of financial support and technology critical for climate mitigation in developing countries. He called on the ICJ to recognize such restrictions as violations of international cooperation principles.

“Developed countries must lead in reducing emissions and supporting developing nations through financial resources, technology transfer, and capacity building,” Mousavi stated, referencing the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol, and Paris Agreement as foundational frameworks.

Iran’s representative stated that the CBDRRC principle is significant, as it differentiates obligations based on historical emissions and current capacities. Mousavi argued that developed nations’ leadership in addressing climate change should include financial contributions, technology transfer, and capacity-building efforts for developing countries.

“Without access to technology and resources, developing countries cannot effectively participate in global climate mitigation efforts,” Mousavi told the court.

He criticized trade policies such as the carbon border adjustment mechanism, describing them as disproportionate measures that unfairly burden developing economies.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Excerpt:

The International Court of Justice in the Hague hearings centered on emissions and equity during the fourth day of testimony into the obligations of UN member states in preventing climate change and ensuring the protection of the environment for present and future generations.

Categories: Africa

Heightened Insecurity in Sudan Threatens Nationwide Collapse

Thu, 12/05/2024 - 14:34

Two women and a child in a displacement shelter in Sudan. Displaced women and children are the most vulnerable populations. Credit: UNICEF/Ahmed Mohamdeen Elfatih

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 5 2024 (IPS)

As the Sudanese Civil War continues to ravage the people of Sudan, conditions for internally displaced persons grow more dire every day. The situation in Sudan is currently the biggest displacement crisis in the world. Famine, violence, and gender-based violence are rampant. Described as “an invisible crisis” by the United Nations (UN) new emergency relief chief, Tom Fletcher, many believe that the humanitarian response has been largely ineffective in tackling the urgent and growing scale of needs.

The latest figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimate that approximately 11.5 million people have fled their homes since the wake of the war. Roughly 8.5 million people have been dispersed throughout Sudan’s borders while 3 million have fled to neighbouring nations such as Chad, Egypt, and Ethiopia. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) mass displacement has given way to one of the world’s biggest educational crises. It is estimated that 90 percent of Sudan’s 19 million school-aged children lack access to any form of formal education.

Sudanese displacement camps have seen a steep rise of violence over the past few days. On December 1-2, intense gunfire and shelling was reported around the Zamzam camp, one of Sudan’s largest shelters, located south of El Fasher, North Darfur. According to humanitarian organizations, at least five people were killed and eighteen were injured. This led to the evacuation of a hospital within the camp and suspension of medical services.

In a report released by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Clementine Nkweta-Salami condemned the attack and urged for stronger protections to be established for civilians.

“I am deeply concerned by reports of the indiscriminate shelling of Zamzam camp, health clinics, and shelters of displaced people. Their protection is paramount. Civilians and civilian infrastructure are protected under international humanitarian law and should never be a target,” said Nkweta-Salami.

The UN has described conditions in the Zamzam camp as being at a “breaking point.” Heightened violence has exacerbated already dire conditions for the nearly 500,000 displaced persons residing in this camp. Health clinics, residential areas, and the humanitarian response has been severely strained due to the sheer scale of suffering. According to a press release from the UN, famine has been persistent in the Zamzam camp since August 2024, making it the only location globally where famine has been declared this year.

The medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has been on the frontlines assisting displaced persons facing severe injuries or war-related conditions. On December 1, MSF received eight injured people, including children as young as four years old. These patients faced conditions such as chest trauma and bone fractures.

MSF reports that thousands of children are currently being treated for malnutrition and starvation. A series of studies were conducted to assess the mortality rate of 400 households in the Zamzam camp. Out of 46,000 children, it is reported that approximately 30 percent are struggling with acute malnutrition, while 8 percent are facing severe malnutrition. Furthermore, 10 percent of children under five years old struggle with severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition.

The World Food Programme has called for a cessation in violence to allow humanitarian aid to reach affected communities. “We’ve been pushing for months to get to these communities. We have the food. We have the trucks. We have the staff on board to ensure this aid gets there. Now, we need all warring parties and armed groups to allow this vital food and nutrition to arrive safely,” said Alex Marianelli, WFP’s Operations Deputy Country Director in Sudan.

Additionally, gender-based violence remains a pervasive issue plaguing displaced communities all across Sudan. According to statistics from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), approximately 65 percent of all women and girls experience sexual, physical, and gender-based violence in their lifetime. Sudan also ranks as one of the nations with the highest number of reported cases of intimate partner violence.

“Every day countless South Sudanese women and girls endure unthinkable suffering due to gender-based violence and conflict-related sexual violence,” said South Sudanese Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare Aya Warille. “These acts are more than mere statistics. They are profound violations of human rights that fracture the very fabric of our society. They rob our mothers, sisters and daughters of their dignity and place an immense burden on our future. This is not just a women issue, it is a societal crisis that speaks to the core of our humanity.”

Sudanese civilians and humanitarian officials have described aid efforts as being inadequate, relative to the massive, nationwide scale of suffering. Twenty years ago, we had presidents and prime ministers engaged to stop atrocities in Darfur. There are today many times as many lives at stake – this is the world’s worst crisis — but we are met with deafening silence. We must wake up the world before famine engulfs a generation of children,” said Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Secretary General Jan Egeland.

Despite many believing that Sudan has been largely “ignored” by the international community, the UN reiterates that Sudan is a pressing concern for them. “This crisis is not invisible to the UN, to our humanitarians on the front-line risking and losing their lives to help the Sudanese people,” said Fletcher.

Reasons for the limited humanitarian response can be attributed to widespread social insecurity that has been exacerbated by violence and an overall lack of funding. Mobility and aid deliveries have experienced increasingly common restrictions and blockages. Additionally, the UN’s goal of 2.7 billion USD for the humanitarian response in Sudan has only been 57 percent funded. This poses significant challenges in sustaining life-saving aid efforts in the face of a crisis that deepens in severity on a daily basis.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa

Conservation Agriculture Transforming Farming in Southern Africa

Thu, 12/05/2024 - 08:32

Christian Thierfelder, Principal Scientist at CIMMYT, poses in a field that is being tested for conservation agriculture at Henderson Research Station, Harare, Zimbabwe. Credit, Busani Bafana/IPS

By Busani Bafana
BULAWAYO, Dec 5 2024 (IPS)

On the dusty plains of Shamva District in Zimbabwe, Wilfred Mudavanhu’s maize field defies drought.

With the El Niño-induced drought gripping several countries in Southern Africa, Mudavanhu’s maize crop is flourishing, thanks to an innovative farming method that helps keep moisture in the soil and promotes soil health.

Once harvesting just 1.5 tonnes of maize (30-50 kg bags) each season, Mudavanhu’s harvest jumped to 2.5 tonnes of maize (50 bags) in the 2023/2024 cropping season.

Mudavanhu is one of many farmers in Zimbabwe embracing conservation agriculture, a method that prioritizes minimal soil disturbance, crop rotation, and soil moisture conservation. The practice is complemented by other methods such as timely control of weeds, mulching, and farming on a small plot to gain high yields.

Researchers say the conservation agriculture method is proving a lifeline for farmers grappling with climate change.

For more than 20 years, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has promoted research on conservation agriculture in Southern Africa with the aim of getting farmers to increase their crop yields.

Under conventional farming, smallholder maize yields have often been below 1 tonne per hectare in Zimbabwe, according to researchers. Adopting CA practices has led to yield increases of up to 90 percent. While in Malawi farmers have experienced maize yields increased by up to 400 percent, crops are integrated with nitrogen-fixing trees such as Faidherbia albida. In Zambia, maize yields under conventional farming have been at 1.9 tonnes per hectare, and these have increased to 4.7 tonnes per hectare where farmers have used conservation agriculture practices.

But beyond high yields, conservation agriculture saves moisture and enhances soil health, offering farmers a long-term solution to the growing problem of soil degradation, a looming threat in the face of climate change, researchers said.

“As the climate crisis deepens, CA has become essential for Southern African farmers, offering a resilient, climate-smart approach to boost productivity and withstand climate change impacts, reinforcing sustainable food security,” Christian Thierfelder, a principal scientist at CIMMYT, told IPS, explaining that CA could be a game changer for the rainfed cropping system in the region.

About 3 million farmers in Southern Africa are practicing CA, Thierfelder said, adding: “The more climate change hits as seen in recent droughts, the more the farmers will adopt CA because the traditional way of doing agriculture will not always work anymore.”

The use of machines is attracting smallholder farmers to adopt conservation agriculture. CIMMYT has researched using machines suitable for smallholder CA systems.

The machines have been found to increase intercropping methods farmers use while addressing the challenges of high labour demands associated with conservation agriculture.

Traditionally, farmers spend hours digging planting basins, a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. The basin digger has mechanized the land preparation stage, reducing the number of people needed to dig the basins.

Thierfelder said CIMMYT has partnered with registered service providers in Zimbabwe and Zambia, who offer mechanization services that improve farming efficiency and reduce labour demands. One such innovation, the basin digger—a cost-effective, low-energy machine—reduces labour by up to 90 percent.

Cosmas Chari, a farmer and service provider in Shamva, used to spend a day digging basins for planting, but now he takes an hour using the basin digger.

Mudavanhu became a mechanization service provider after integrating CA with mechanization. As a service provider, Mudavanhu hires out a two-wheeled tractor, a sheller, and a ripper to other farmers practicing CA.

Similarly, another farmer, Advance Kandimiri, is also a service provider practicing CA.

“I started being a mechanization service provider in 2022 and adopted CA using mechanization,” said Kandimiri, who bought a tractor, a sheller, and a two-row planter.

“Conservation agriculture is more profitable than conventional farming that I was doing before I learned about CA,” said Kandimiri.

Data from CIMMYT’s research indicates that farmers adopting CA practices can earn extra income of approximately USD 368 per hectare as a result of getting higher yields and reduced input costs.

Conservation Agriculture in the Region

Farmers across Southern Africa have found success after adopting CA practices with remarkable results.

In 2011, during a visit to Monze in Zambia’s Southern Province, Gertrude Banda observed the significant benefits of CA firsthand. Farmers practicing CA for over seven years demonstrated how planting crops without tillage using an animal traction ripper led to reduced labour in land preparation and improved crop yields.

Banda says she was motivated by this experience to adopt CA on her own 9-hectare farm, where she grows cowpeas, groundnuts, and soybeans. She practices crop rotation, alternating maize with various legumes to enhance soil fertility and improve crop yields. Additionally, she uses groundnut and cowpea residues for livestock feed. She earned about USD 5,000 from selling her soya crop.

“Today, my entire farm follows CA principles,” Banda said. “All my crops are planted in rip lines, and I rotate maize with various legumes to maintain soil health.”

Over 65,000 farmers in Malawi and 50,000 in Zambia have adopted CA, according to CIMMYT, whose research shows that farmer education, training, and technical guidance are vital for farmers to make the shift.

However, widespread adoption of conservation agriculture has remained low despite its acknowledged advantages. Smallholder farmers face challenges in accessing inputs and equipment, said Hambulo Ngoma, an agricultural economist at CIMMYT.

Besides, farmers have limited knowledge of effective weed control and struggle with short-term yield uncertainties, which can discourage consistent practice, Ngoma said.

“While CA has proven its worth, adoption rates are still relatively low across Southern Africa,” Ngoma said, adding, “Many farmers lack the resources to invest in the tools and training required for effective implementation.”

Fruitful Partnerships to Promote Conservation Agriculture

Blessing Mhlanga, a cropping systems agronomist with CIMMYT’s Sustainable Agrifood Systems program, said the success of CA goes beyond technology and techniques but is hinged on education and including CA principles in national policies. In Zambia, for instance, CIMMYT, in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), helped design a mechanization strategy that has paved the way for mechanized CA to be incorporated into government-led agricultural programs.

“Technologies like intensification with Gliricidia, a fast-growing nitrogen fixing tree, strip cropping, and permanently raised beds are now part of Zambia’s national agriculture agenda,” explained Mhlanga, who noted that the adoption of CA by smallholder farmers can be transformative, particularly in regions reliant on rainfed cropping.

Mhlanga said with more than 250 million hectares of land currently under CA globally and adoption rates of the CA practices increasing by 10 million hectares annually, the future of CA is promising. However, much work remains to be done in providing smallholder farmers like Mudavanhu with the right tools and knowledge to adopt conservation agriculture fully.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa

COP29 Outcomes – A Call to Action for the World’s Most Vulnerable Nations

Thu, 12/05/2024 - 08:05

By Rabab Fatima
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 5 2024 (IPS)

The conclusion of the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) brings with it a blend of urgency, frustration, and a glimmer of hope for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

These nations, responsible for only a fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, suffer disproportionally from the devastating impacts of climate change.

Yet, for these vulnerable countries, the outcomes of COP29 fell short. While there was progress in certain areas, the agreements reached do not match the scale of the challenges. As the UN Secretary-General António Guterres rightly underlined, COP29 provides a foundation, but it demands urgent and ambitious action to build upon it.

Rabab Fatima

Climate Finance: The Lifeline for vulnerable nations

One of the COP29’s pivotal outcome was the agreement to achieve a global climate finance goal of at least USD 300 billion annually by 2035. While this amount does not address the needs of the most vulnerable nations, we must ensure it is delivered in full.

While COP29 left ambiguity in the exact source of these funds, between now and 2035, we should seek to establish aspirational targets for amounts flowing from the established financial instruments under the UNFCCC-such as the Adaptation Fund, the Least Developed Countries Fund, and the Special Climate Change Fund.

We must also closely track the amounts for adaptation, and to the extent possible ensure that these finance flows are from public sources, and grant-based resources or highly concessional means.

While COP29 did not set targets for the most vulnerable nations, systematic reporting will be critical to ensuring that resources reach those who need them most.

The formulation and implementation of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) are critical for LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS to respond to escalating climate threats. COP29’s establishment of a support programme for NAP implementation in LDCs is a positive step. However, swift and efficient operationalization is essential.

Loss and Damage: From promises to reality

Progress on the Loss and Damage Fund was a key highlight of COP29. Turning pledges into tangible contributions is now the priority. Stepping up capitalization and rapid and effective operationalization of this Fund are critical to addressing irreversible losses in lives and livelihoods caused by climate change.

Mitigation and Energy Transition

While COP29’s mitigation outcomes were modest, the urgency for emissions reductions cannot be overstated. According to the 2024 UNEP Emissions Gap Report, emissions must fall by 42 percent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels to stay on track for the 1.5°C target.

For LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS, achieving this requires unprecedented support to ensure access to renewable energy and investments in sustainable energy. A just energy transition is integral not only for climate goals but also for economic growth and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A Call to Action

COP29’s results remind us that incremental steps are insufficient. The world’s most vulnerable countries are facing a climate emergency that demands bold and immediate actions. This includes:

Article 6* market mechanisms

The survival of LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS is not just a litmus test for global climate commitments -it is a matter of justice, not charity.

As we look toward COP30 and beyond, let COP29 be a catalyst for greater ambition and unity. The time for half-hearted measures is over; the world must deliver on its promises to secure a just and sustainable future for all.

Rabab Fatima is Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).

Prior to her appointment, she was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York. In that role, she co-chaired the preparatory committee meetings of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the LDC (2021). She also served as the President of the Executive Boards of UNICEF (2020) and UN-Women (2022) as well as Vice-President of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board.

She was the first women to be elected as the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission in 2022. She also led other inter-governmental processes, including the facilitation of the progress declaration of the first International Migration Review Forum.

https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/article-64-mechanism

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa

New Approaches Urgently Needed to Tackle Resurgent Social Crises

Thu, 12/05/2024 - 07:46

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec 5 2024 (IPS)

Despite uneven economic recovery since the pandemic, poverty, inequality, and food insecurity continue to worsen, including in the Asia-Pacific region, which used to fare better than the rest of the Global South.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Food matters
These trends are not new but have been around for some time. Food security has deteriorated worldwide for a decade and will likely worsen.

Food security measures are more indicative of well-being than traditional poverty measures, which reflect cash incomes subject to inflation and spatial variations. After all, over half of the poor’s incomes worldwide are spent on food.

Due to global heating and rising sea levels, seawater is entering rice fields in Vietnam, Bangladesh, and other countries. Over ten Vietnamese provinces are affected, and less rice production will raise prices, worsening food insecurity.

There have been uneven and modest improvements in health indicators for the Asia-Pacific region, home to three-fifths of the world population. More is needed for preventive health instead of the typical focus on curative services.

In this connection, governments should realise that revenue-financed health systems are more equitable and efficient than either private or social insurance systems touted by all too many consultants.

Grim trends
Today’s macroeconomic situation differs from the Great Stagnation of the 1980s, which especially set back Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Unlike then, recent downturns have also hit many Asian economies. Recent ostensibly counter-inflationary measures have deepened stagnation in much of the world.

Geopolitics increasingly redirects trade and investments as economic measures are increasingly weaponised. The most vulnerable are most likely to suffer.

The Sri Lankan and Pakistani economies have been in crisis recently as others struggle to avoid similar fates. Debt distress demands attention, but international cooperation is crucial.

After two and a half years of unnecessarily raised interest rates, the US Federal Reserve recently started lowering them at the end of the Northern Hemisphere summer.

Why were those interest rates raised in the first place? Ostensibly due to inflation. But higher prices in recent years have been mainly due to supply-side disruptions, not ‘excessive’ demand.

Raising interest rates has not helped much, as demand-side contraction cannot address supply-side disruptions but only worsens macroeconomic stresses.

Exceptions
Higher interest rates have adversely affected the whole world, including Europe. But unlike other central banks, only the US Fed is committed to achieving full employment.

Such US exceptionalism is part of the problem. However, most economies worldwide have suffered from higher interest rates, which have deepened economic stagnation.

The US has maintained full employment through fiscal policy and has borrowed cheaply from the rest of the world due to its ‘exorbitant privilege’, which is denied to others.

However, Japan’s and China’s central banks have refused to follow the West in raising interest rates. Hence, the pain in economies following their lead has been less severe.

Many governments’ fiscal and debt problems have constrained social expenditures, typically the first victims of budget austerity measures.

Financialization
In recent decades, the Bretton Woods institutions have promoted financialization, often by invoking UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate financing slogans.

With the West’s ‘quantitative easing’ after the 2008 global financial crisis, slogans like ‘from billions to trillions’ encouraged more government borrowing on commercial terms.

Rising interest rates from early 2022 have hit developing countries, forcing macroeconomic authorities to increase debt servicing.

Many countries struggle to service debt worldwide by cutting social spending. This has hit nations facing debt crises and governments trying to avoid more debt distress.

New lessons
During the pandemic, some macroeconomic authorities resorted to policies previously eschewed. Two Southeast Asian nations turned to ‘monetary financing’ of pandemic spending: central banks lent directly to finance ministries, bypassing markets.

The International Monetary Fund also issued special drawing rights (SDRs). Such extraordinary measures are necessary to meet the SDGs and keep temperatures from rising over 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels.

The Banks of Canada and England former Governor Mark Carney, now UN Special Envoy for Climate Finance and Action, has warned that the 1.5oC threshold will likely be exceeded in under a decade.

The world cannot count on some miraculous future invention to reverse irreversible planetary heating processes and their many ramifications.

New realism
Pragmatism demands addressing realities faced. Many such problems are beyond the scope of the ministries responsible for social spending, policy and protection.

Due to ‘reshoring’ and digitalisation, new investment fads will not create enough jobs. New types of socially valuable employment are needed, with many touting the commercialisation of care work.

However, most of our society’s less well-off will be unable to afford commercial care work unless their incomes rise dramatically, which seems unlikely soon.

An ‘all-of-government’ approach remains relevant for developing countries to better cope with and reverse some of the worst social trends.

Trying to do better with the limited resources available for social spending will only be adequate if the ministries responsible for macroeconomic policy, finance, and other related matters cooperate much better than ever.

Improved all-of-government cooperation and coordination work much better with a ‘whole-of-society’ approach to better tackle the social challenges of our times.

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa

States Individually Accountable For Contributions to Climate Change—Fiji

Thu, 12/05/2024 - 06:55

Debris left after Cyclone Winston in 2016. At least 44 people died, and any villages were completely destroyed. Credit: Vlad Sokhin / Climate Visuals

By Tanka Dhakal
THE HAGUE, Dec 5 2024 (IPS)

At The Hague, the United Nation’s highest court heard Fiji, a small island nation, lay out its arguments on the threat posed by climate change and the legal obligations, especially those of developed nations.

On Wednesday, December 4, 2024, Fiji argued that the failure to act on climate change is a violation of international law and that nations have a duty to prevent harm, protect human rights, and secure a livable future for all.

Luke Daunivalu, Permanent Representative of Fiji to the UN in Geneva, laid out the background of suffering caused by sea level rise and worsening hazards on people who bear the brunt of climate impacts.

“Fiji stands before here, not only for our people but also for future generations and ecosystems,” Daunivalu said.

“Our people in climate vulnerable countries are unfairly and unjustly footing the bill for a crisis they did not create. They look to this court for clarity, for decisiveness, and for justice.”

Daunivalu was addressing the International Court of Justice (ICJ). At the request of Vanuatu, the UN General Assembly asked the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion on the obligations of UN member states in preventing climate change and ensuring the protection of the environment for present and future generations. While its advisory opinion will not be enforceable, the court will advise on the legal consequences for member states who have caused significant harm, particularly to small island developing states.

Graham Leung, Fiji’s Attorney General, argued that international law imposes clear obligations on states to address climate change.

“We are not here to create new laws, but to ensure compliance with existing international laws.”

Citing the European Court of Human Rights precedent-setting judgment in April this year, which held that Switzerland has a responsibility under the European Convention for Human Rights (ECHR) to combat climate change effectively to protect the human rights of their citizens, Leung said, “States can be held individually accountable for their contributions to climate change. Similarly, it was affirmed that states failing to meet the obligations bear responsibility for their actions.”

U.S. Opposed Creation of New Legal Obligations

While Fiji was demanding more action from the nations who are largely responsible for the human-caused climate change impacts, countries like the United States argued against the creation of new legal obligations or determined reparations and stressed the importance of due diligence in addressing transboundary harm.

Margaret Taylor, an attorney at the Department of State who represented the U.S., said her country “recognizes the climate crisis as one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced.

However, climate change was an issue for the entire planet.

“It is global in its causes, resulting from a wide variety of human activities worldwide that emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, including super pollutants such as methane. Such activities include not only the burning of fossil fuels for energy production but also agriculture, deforestation, and industrial processes.”

Taylor emphasized that there was already a framework for climate action initiated by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 2015 Paris Agreement and asked the court to preserve and promote the centrality of the UN climate change regime.

The U.S. argued advisory proceeding is not the means to litigate past violations or determine reparations but rather to guide future conduct.

“I want to underscore that there is no basis to apply any bifurcated or other categorical differentiation of duties among states, such as between those characterized as developed and those sometimes characterized as developing. There is simply no legal foundation for such an approach,” Taylor said.

She repeatedly brought up the concept of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, reflecting the principle that obligations should be interpreted according to national circumstances.

The U.S. also emphasized its commitment to addressing the climate crisis, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and achieve net zero not later than 2050. She focused on the Paris Agreement’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the UNFCCC framework highlighted as central to international cooperation.

Russia Says 1.5°C is Not Binding

At the ICJ, Russia also supported the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, emphasizing national differentiation in climate efforts and the non-binding nature of the 1.5°C temperature goal. Like the US, Russia also underscored the need for international cooperation and the role of human rights in climate action.

Representing Russia, Maxim Musikhin, Director of the Foreign Ministry Legal Department, said, “There is no basis to consider the States are obligated to adopt measures to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C for similar reasons; the transition from fossil fuels is not a legal obligation but rather a political appeal to states.”

Russia argued that the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is discussed in the climate change framework, but it has not crystallized in customary international law.

But Spain, who addressed the ICJ before the U.S. and Russia, argued the need for a human rights-based approach to climate change, highlighting the link between environmental degradation and human rights violations. It highlighted the environmental crisis as a global social crisis with a direct impact on the protection and enjoyment of human rights.

Vanuatu’s Disappointment

After the ICJ’s proceeding on Wednesday, Vanuatu expressed its disappointment. Ralph Regenvanu, Special Envoy for Climate Change and Environment for the Republic of Vanuatu, stressed that destruction of the climate system is unlawful, and big polluters must be held accountable.

“We are obviously disappointed by the statements made by the governments of Australia, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and China during the ICJ proceedings. These nations, some of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, have pointed to existing treaties and commitments that have regrettably failed to motivate substantial reductions in emissions.”

Regenvanu said in a statement, “Let me be clear: these treaties are essential, but they cannot be a veil for inaction or a substitute for legal accountability.”

At the court, frontline counties are pushing for clarification of the legal obligations of nations responsible for anthropogenic climate change. On Wednesday, Fiji urged the court to declare the failure to act on climate change a violation of international law and affirmed that states have a duty to prevent harm, protect human rights, and secure a livable future for all.

Leung urged the court, “Let this be the moment when the cries of the vulnerable are heard.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

Excerpt:

The International Court of Justice in the Hague has heard differing interpretations of the obligations of UN member states to preserve the environment for present and future generations. Fiji, a small island state, urged the court to listen to the cries of the vulnerable.

Categories: Africa

After Gaps in UN Agreement, National Laws Must Step Up To Protect Community Land Rights

Wed, 12/04/2024 - 19:50

The international carbon markets need recognition of community rights to be integrated in the national and international supporting regulations and guidance. Credit: Charles Mpaka/IPS

By Rebecca Iwerks and Alain Frechette
WASHINGTON DC, Dec 4 2024 (IPS)

This time last year, the forestry space was abuzz with news of the big Blue Carbon deals. The deals set a staggering amount of land in Sub-Saharan Africa – 20% of the land in Zimbabwe, 10% of Liberia and Zambia, 8% of Tanzania, and an undisclosed amount of land in Kenya – to be managed by a firm in the United Arab Emirates.

Without involvement of communities impacted by the projects, countries across Africa were strapped into memorandums of agreement with 30 years of commitments. Reports suggested that Blue Carbon was retaining upwards of 70% of the project revenues while impacting the livelihoods of millions. The audacious scale of the project shocked the conscience.

Carbon projects have run afoul of community land rights throughout the Global South, from Brazil to Laos to Malaysia. In many places, communities have not received revenue – or, worse, have been removed from their land – after keeping the landscapes intact for generations

One year later, among the jumble of headlines coming out of the recent UN climate change talks in Baku was the adoption of new rules intended to jumpstart the carbon credit markets.

These financial initiatives were included in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to provide incentives for efforts that reduce carbon emissions. The new UN rules, however, have already been criticized for not providing sufficient guardrails to avoid transactions like the Blue Carbon deals from happening elsewhere.

With the new rules, it won’t be clear whether communities who have lived on and worked their territories for generations should be consulted as part of a project. If things go well, it won’t be clear that they are entitled to benefits and if things go poorly, it won’t be clear that they should be able to claim remedies.

The repeated headlines have impacted market confidence – volume and value have decreased for two consecutive years. Unfortunately, policy makers have yet to make changes that would reduce the risks.

Governments and companies have repeatedly asserted the important link between community land rights and better outcomes for the planet.

At the start of November, at the UN talks on biodiversity, the governments emphasized the critical importance of tenure security to protect biodiversity.

Ten days later, leaders from 12 countries joined with Indigenous leaders to stress the importance of land tenure to protect forests as part of the Forest Climate Leaders Partnership.

Governments are saying this because study after study shows that when Indigenous Peoples and local communities have clear tenure over their forest, the forest is better protected.

National legislation is murky, however. Most countries do not recognize the rights of people living on the land impacted by carbon projects.

We collaborated with experts at McGill University to study the legal frameworks of 33 countries and found only three countries recognized community-based carbon rights.

The lack of national legal guidelines for the carbon markets is alarming. More than half of the countries we studied do not have regulations for carbon trading.

Almost two-thirds have no evidence of a registry of carbon projects and, of those that do, only six have this information publicly available. Only seven have designed or implemented benefit-sharing policies that apply to carbon market projects and only four of the seven have established a minimum allocation requirement for affected communities.

Policy makers at the global level had the opportunity to fix this problem. But now, all eyes turn to national governments. Before they rush to create new carbon policies after Baku, they can make their countries a place where carbon projects are more secure by making community land rights front and center.

This is still a story that has yet to end. Just a few months ago, the Liberian National Climate Change Steering Committee (NCCSC) put a moratorium on all carbon credit projects until they have proper carbon regulations in place.

Liberia had two things going for it: strong land laws and strong organizing. Now it needs regulations to handle carbon trading.

The international carbon markets need recognition of community rights to be integrated in the national and international supporting regulations and guidance. The markets are like any other financial market – transparency, guardrails, and enforcement measures are needed to bring about confidence, and at this point, they’re needed very quickly.

Alain Frechette, PhD, is Rights, Climate & Conservation Director at Rights and Resources Initiative. Rebecca Iwerks is Director of Global Land and Environmental Justice Initiative at Namati.

Categories: Africa

Rural Laboratory Innovates in Northeastern Brazil

Wed, 12/04/2024 - 19:45

Professor Rossino Almeida, from the Federal University of Campina Grande (I), explains to ninth grade students at the Gurjão municipal school, northeastern Brazil, how the biodigester installed by the EcoProductive Pilot Project at the Tapera Farm works. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

By Carlos Müller
CONGO, Brazil, Dec 4 2024 (IPS)

In the municipality of Congo, in the state of Paraiba, in the driest territory of Brazil’s semi-arid region, an original initiative seeks to prove it is possible to overcome several challenges concerning family farming. It is the EcoProductive Pilot Project.

This project shares innovations that support family farming production, combat the region’s desertification process and encourage young people to stay in the territory, learning to coexist with adverse conditions through agroecology, which includes biodigesters, photovoltaic energy and technical assistance.“I bought this land for US$1,750. That was in 2006, when the national minimum wage was US$61 and at that time the Paraíba river didn't have water all year round”: José Roberto da Silva

The municipality of Congo has an area of 333 square kilometres, 4,692 inhabitants, 37.25% of whom live in rural areas, where there are 415 farms. Its Human Development Index (HDI) is low, 0.581, ranked 116th among the 223 municipalities in the state of Paraíba, according to official data.

Its average annual rainfall is 610 millimetres (mm) per square metre, which in the four dry months of the year drops to 5 mm, and its average annual temperature is 23.7°C.

EcoProductivo is a cooperation between the Paraíba state government, the Federal University of Campina Grande, about 140 kilometres from Congo, and the Community Association of Farmers, Beekeepers and Breeders of the Tatú, Tapera, Poso Cumprido and Barro Branco Communities, which goes by the unpronounceable acronym Acapcac-Ttpcbb.

The association was founded in 2022 and has 140 members (96 families), including 34 women and 15 young people.

Procase consultant Felipe Leal talks about the genetic improvement of animals at the Community Association of Farmers, Beekeepers and Breeders of the Tatú, Tapera, Poso Cumprido and Barro Branco Communities in the state of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

A solutions lab

What is known as the Open Air Laboratory is located in the community of Tapera, part of the village of Congo. There, a small family farm was chosen where 30 strategic actions will be carried out and shared with the other members of the association.

The farms and the location of the Ecoproductive Pilot Project were chosen by a technical committee with the participation of association representatives, according to their moderate to high risk of desertification, their socio-economic profile and the presence of the Paraíba Sustainable Rural Development Project (Procase).

Sítio Tapera, the establishment that became the headquarters of the ‘laboratory’, belongs to José Roberto da Silva and his wife Marlene.

“I was a cowboy all my life and when I decided to stop, the rancher I worked for gave me a bonus. With that money I bought this land for 10,000 reais (US$1,750). That was in 2006, when the national minimum wage was 350 reais (US$61) and at that time the Paraíba river didn’t have water all year round,” Silva told IPS.

The 29.5 hectare site is crossed by the Paraíba River, which, despite being the largest river in the state, was not perennial until recently. Its flow was normalized through one of the São Francisco river diversion canals.

The prickly pear palm, widely used northeastern Brazil to feed livestock during droughts, is grown in the EcoProductive Pilot Project in the state of Paraíba, where a species resistant to the pest known as the Cochineal is being planted. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Water from the diversion

The São Francisco is the largest river entirely within the borders of Brazil and flows through several states. Work to divert between 1% and 3% of its flow began in 2007 amidst much criticism.

At a cost of US$2,450 million, the works have not been completed yet, but its two main canals, totalling 480 kilometres, in addition to making several rivers permanent, feed many dams in several states in northeastern Brazil.

The subsoil of the Northeast region contains important water tables, but they are brackish. The flow of the São Francisco represents 70% of all freshwater in the Northeast, where 28% of Brazil’s 212 million people live.

The Paraíba River, which has become a perennial river, allows farmers from the association to maintain dams in order to raise tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fish. Two were built on the site used as the headquarters of the ‘laboratory’, which received 3,500 fingerlings donated by the state government.

The water drawn from the river is also used to irrigate the new fruit trees and the prickly pear (Mauritia flexuosa) of a species resistant to the pest known as Cochineal (Dactylopius coccus).

EcoProductivo was launched in April 2023. Among its goals are the genetic improvement of 400 cows, 1,800 goats and 1,800 sheep; the installation of a solar energy generation system and a biodigester to replace the use of liquefied gas; ponds for fish farming, and the production of seedlings of various species.

It also seeks to implement sustainable soil management practices, with the aim of conserving fertility and reducing erosion, and reforest degraded areas and plant fruits compatible with the conditions of the region, such as cashew, guava and passion fruit, irrigated with solar energy.

In the first year of project implementation, in addition to the fish ponds, a biodigester, a photovoltaic energy generation system, a corral that houses animals for the improvement of the community’s herds, and nurseries for fruit seedlings and reforestation were installed at Sitio Tapera.

The total cost of the project was budgeted at US$55,087, and Felipe Leal, a consultant for Procase, told IPS about its main components: the photovoltaic system, corrals, irrigation system, excavated tanks and the weather station installed by a state government agency at a cost of more than US$21,000.

Ana Carla Ramos da Silva’s farm is building the community’s second biodigester and the benefits of genetic improvement of her goat herd are already paying off. She sells 150 litres of goat milk a week and will soon supply 190 kilos of cheese to the Brazilian government’s Food Procurement Programme. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Gas of their own

The biodigester, explained Professor Rossino Almeida of the Federal University of Capina Grande, who is providing technical assistance to the project, “costs US$ 1,400. Of this, 70% is financed by public resources and 30% by the landowner, divided in 10 instalments”.

“Bottled gas is expensive and I can’t fetch firewood because I had heart surgery. Now, with the biodigester, I only used the gas from the cylinder to make food for the whole family on Mother’s Day. The last cylinder we bought was last year,” said Marlene da Silva with a satisfied smile.

According to Leal, thanks to the project’s improvements and technical assistance, José Roberto da Silva’s family has already earned the equivalent of US$5,606 this year from the sale of cassava, lettuce, sweet potatoes, and is about to sell a tonne of fish grown in their two ponds. They have also sold three litres of honey.

The loan of breeding animals, the supply of seedlings and technical assistance is already benefiting the other families of the Association, even if they have not made investments like those made in Sítio Tapera.

Each pond in the Eco-Productive Pilot Project received 3,500 fingerlings donated by the government of the state of Paraíba, in northeastern Brazil. In the first harvest, the Da Silva family, owner of Sítio Tapera, aims to sell a tonne of tilapia for just over US$3,600. Credit: Carlos Müller / IPS

Markets for increased production

On Ana Carla Ramos da Silva’s property, a second biodigester is being built. But with the genetic improvement of her goat herd, she already sells 150 litres of goat milk a week and is preparing to sell 190 kilograms of cheese, as well as expanding honey production.

One of the farmers’ main concerns was what to do to market a larger production. Procase technicians and Professor Almeida have been assisting in contacts with traders and in seeking access to public and private markets.

One of the priority channels is the Brazilian federal government’s Food Acquisition Programme (PAA), which buys products from family farming for distribution to welfare institutions.

“We finished the consultancy with a total of 15 EcoProdutivo beneficiaries enrolled in the PAA. We helped in the organisation of documentation and estimations of the products to be delivered, among other demands. It is worth noting that of 15 enrolled, 12 are women,” Leal said in a message sent to IPS.

On the day IPS learned about the experience, Sítio Tapera was also visited by a group of ninth-graders, mostly 15 years old, from the Inácio Caluete municipal school in Gurjão, a nearby municipality of about 4,500 inhabitants and even drier than Congo.

These teenagers, most of them farmers’ sons and daughters, have, in addition to their regular subjects, elective classes in the Rural Entrepreneurship Education and Sustainable Agricultural Practices Programme, which are not only theoretical. That day was dedicated to field work.

Categories: Africa

Turning To Regenerative Practices and Soil Microbes To Fight Effects of Climate Change

Wed, 12/04/2024 - 15:51

Regenerative agricultural practices are a set of rejuvenating farming and agricultural sustainable practices that seek to boost soil health, water resources, soil organic carbon sequestration and soils biological diversity. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

By Esther Ngumbi
URBANA, Illinois, US, Dec 4 2024 (IPS)

Recently, at the UN climate conference COP29, countries agreed to do everything necessary to invest in climate solutions to protect lives and livelihoods from worsening climate change impacts and to build a prosperous world. This is necessary. Indeed, every effort must be made by our leaders to protect lives and livelihoods.

One of the best investments possible is in agricultural climate solutions. In particular, investments in solutions that seek to protect soils and agricultural crops that we depend upon to meet food security.

Otherwise, these soils and crops are vulnerable to the effects of climate change in the form of droughts, flooding, pest outbreaks, and elevated temperatures.

Although it is a daunting task, protecting livelihoods and agricultural crops from the detrimental impacts of climate change is achievable.

Adopting regenerative practices has been documented to bring multiple benefits including building soil health and quality, improving biodiversity, all while helping to mitigate the effects of climate change

Preventing crop failures and cascading impacts including food insecurity, hunger, and famines can be achieved by rolling out and adopting multiple climate solution strategies ranging from the use of microbial solutions and beneficial soil microbes and the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices and integrated pest management strategies.

Microbial solutions, including soil microbial inoculants, leverage beneficial soil microbes and natural soil microbiome capabilities to create fertile and resilient environments for agricultural plants, including processes like suppression of soil pathogens, fixing soil nitrogen and making other important plant nutrients such as phosphorus available.

Accumulating evidence has revealed that beneficial soil microbes can deliver many benefits including improving the growth and yields of agricultural crops like maize, tomatoes and wheat that are important for meeting food security needs.

Additionally, these microbes have been shown to shield agricultural crop plants from drought and enhance crops’ ability to tolerate elevated temperatures, salinity, insects and many other stressors associated with climate change. Beneficial soil microbes are critical in mitigating the effects of climate-change associated stressors.

These sustainable practices include cover cropping, crop rotation, planting diverse crops, minimizing soil disturbance, using less fertilizers, agricultural inputs and chemical pesticides and incorporating livestock.

Adopting regenerative practices has been documented to bring multiple benefits including building soil health and quality, improving biodiversity, all while helping to mitigate the effects of climate change. For example, research has revealed that cover crops can improve soil health and increase the abundance of beneficial insect communities.

Integrated pest management is an approach that doesn’t rule out the use of pesticides, but uses them as little as possible and only for strong reasons.

It promotes the use of safer alternatives, like biocontrol, which uses natural enemies to control pests, and cultural control practices which modify the growing environment to reduce unwanted pests.

Integrated pest management approaches include the use of resistant plant varieties that have been bred to resist insect damage, and crop rotation which changes the crops planted every season or year, to break the life-cycle of insect pests and discourage pests from staying on the farm.

Ultimately, strategies being released to help deal with the climate crisis must fundamentally pay attention to improving soil and its health. Soil is the basis of healthy and nutritious food, income and economy.

Initiatives rolled out to build soil health must be rooted in science and adhere to the several science-based soil health building principles and practices including mulching, conservation agriculture, reduced tillage and cover cropping.

Smart investments in the soil must be based on a scientific assessment of the state of the soil, making soil testing initiatives a good place to start. Knowing what soils need allows for precise interventions and is a win for climate resillience and environmental protection.

Building soil health will build back life-giving soil nutrients, diverse soil microbial communities and soil organic matter. Soil organic matter is associated with other benefits, such as improvements to plant health and yields; increased soil water retention, which increases the ability of crops to tolerate drought; and expansion of biological diversity within the soil.

Diverse biological organisms in soils turn play critical roles in soil ecosystems, including decomposition, breaking down pollutants, and cycling essential plant nutrients., life-giving nutrients, and diverse soil microbial communities, and in turn boost climate resillience.

Importantly, as we roll out these initiatives, we must remember that the ability of communities and citizens of different countries to adapt and employ these strategies will vary enormously, depending on financial capabilities.

Financial investments to support rolling out of these agricultural climate solutions and practices can be channeled through governments departments and ministry of agriculture.

Protecting lives, livelihoods, and agricultural crops from the catastrophic impacts of climate change is an urgent task that will require the rolling out of multiple initiatives-from regenerative farming practices to using microbial inoculants and adopting integrated pest management strategies. We must continue to encourage countries to invest in these initiatives. It is a win- win.

Esther Ngumbi, PhD is Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, African American Studies Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Categories: Africa

How an App Transformed Farming for Rural Tanzanian Women

Wed, 12/04/2024 - 11:07

Women in Kilema village harvest orange sweet potatoes. Credit: Kizito Makoye/IPS

By Kizito Makoye
KILIMANJARO, Tanzania , Dec 4 2024 (IPS)

In the sun-scorched soils of Moshi, where every drop of rain counts, two female farmers have defied the odds through technology. Mwajuma Rashid Njau and Mumii Rajab, once locked in a daily struggle to survive, have found a mobile phone their best ally.

For years, farming was a way of life they struggled to master. Their fields, a patchwork of red earth and wilting crops, symbolized hardship rather than prosperity. Pests came with the seasons, the soil quality deteriorated, and their harvests barely provided enough to feed their families. But now, a simple app—Kiazi Bora—has changed everything.

On a sweltering afternoon, Njau was out in the field, staring helplessly at the rows of wilting sweet potatoes ravaged by pests, when he realized things could be different. She had no idea how to stop it—until she opened the Kiazi Bora app on her phone.

“This app has changed everything,” Njau, 38, says with a tired but hopeful smile. “I didn’t know where to start, but now I can check my phone, and it tells me exactly what to do.”

The Kiazi Bora app, designed specifically for small-scale farmers like Njau and Rashid, focuses on helping them grow nutritious orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) to feed their families and earn income. The app offers simple instructions on planting and pest control to farmers with little education.

The app, Kiazi Bora (“quality potatoes” in Kiswahili), wasn’t just another farming tool—it was powered by cutting-edge AI voice technology. And for the first time, it spoke their language.

Creating Kiazi Bora wasn’t easy. Kiswahili, a language spoken by over 200 million people, presented unique challenges for AI developers. The problem? There simply wasn’t enough high-quality voice data to train the technology.

“One of the biggest challenges has been the availability of diverse, high-quality data,” said EM Lewis-Jong, Director of Mozilla Common Voice, a global project dedicated to making AI accessible to speakers of underrepresented languages.

“Kiswahili is a diverse language with many regional variants, and our tools are primarily designed for English, which complicates things further.”

To solve this issue, SEE Africa, the nonprofit behind Kiazi Bora, turned to Mozilla’s Common Voice platform. Unlike other AI data collection methods, which often rely on scraping the web or underpaid gig workers, Common Voice harnesses the power of community. “We use a crowd-sourced model where people voluntarily contribute their voice data,” explained Lewis-Jong. “This ensures that the data reflects the true diversity of the language, including different accents and dialects.”

This community-driven approach has already seen tremendous success. In Tanzania, the Kiazi Bora app is now used by over 300 women, empowering them with knowledge on how to grow and market their crops. “These women are learning in Kiswahili, their first language, which makes a huge difference,” noted Gina Moape, Community Manager for Common Voice. “We’ve seen firsthand how access to information in their own language improves both their nutrition and their ability to participate in economic activities.”

But Kiazi Bora is just one example of how voice-enabled technology can make a real impact.

For Mozilla, these projects reflect a broader vision: democratizing AI so that it serves everyone, not just speakers of dominant languages. “If data creation is left to for-profit companies, many of the world’s languages will be left behind,” said Lewis-Jong. “We want a world where people can create the data they need, capturing their language as they experience it.”

That’s why Mozilla’s Common Voice is not just a tool but a movement. Its open-source platform allows communities to collect and contribute voice data that anyone can use, fostering local innovation across Africa. “We’re particularly excited about the potential for African languages,” Lewis-Jong added. “Our long-term vision is to integrate more African languages into global voice recognition technologies, and Common Voice is a critical part of making that happen.”

For Rashid, 42, who had once lived in uncertainty, the app was a useful tool. “Before, I felt powerless,” she recalls. “When pests attacked, I would just watch as my crops withered. Now, I can fight back. I know what to do.”

Both women have honed their skills and improved crop yields. The app taught them how to manage soil health, optimize planting schedules, and handle pest outbreaks.

Their orange-fleshed sweet potatoes stand out in contrast to the dusty earth, a sign of resilience and renewal.

The duo, who were entangled in a cycle of poverty, now speak with pride about their success.

“We’ve learned to control our future,” Njau says.

Through Kiazi Bora, Njau and Rajabu have unlocked opportunities to improve their livelihoods and break free from poverty.

Njau, who had to drop out of school when her family moved to a remote village, calls the app her “teacher.” She explains, “I never completed school, but this app has taught me everything I need to know about farming. It’s like a teacher that’s always there when I need it.”

The voice-enabled Kiswahili features make it user-friendly. “The app speaks to me in a language I clearly understand,” Njau says.

Through the app, Njau and Rajabu learned how to process potatoes into flour and pastries, which fetch a higher market price.

Rajabu explains, “I didn’t know you could make flour from sweet potatoes or that you could sell it for more money. Now, I have customers who buy the flour because it lasts longer than fresh potatoes.” This new skill has allowed them to diversify their income.

In just a year, their income increased from zero to USD 127 per month. The extra income has enabled them to take care of their families, reinvest in their farms, and secure a better future. “With the money I’ve made, I’ve been able to send my children to school and even save some for emergencies,” says Njau.

The potatoes, which are rich in vitamins, have helped them fight malnutrition in their communities. While neither Njau nor Rajabu had children with malnutrition, they both knew families who struggled with it. Thanks to the app, they now understand the importance of incorporating OFSP into their daily meals to ensure their children stay healthy.

Rajabu was quick to share the app with her relatives. “I told my sister about it, and now she’s also growing OFSP. Her children are healthier, and she’s even making money from selling sweet potato flour,” she says proudly.

For both women, the app has empowered them as farmers, businesswomen and community leaders. “I feel confident now,” Rajabu says. “This app has changed my life, and I know it can help other women like me.”

Both Njau and Rajabu see immense potential for Kiazi Bora to help other rural women. They advocate for expanding the app beyond OFSP farming to include other crops like vegetables and edible roots, as this could further diversify their income streams and enhance food security in their communities.

“Women in rural areas need this technology,” Rajabu emphasizes. “We need to make sure that we can feed our families and earn better incomes.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa

Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Uncertain Amid Repeated Violations

Wed, 12/04/2024 - 09:44

Two Lebanese children residing in a school-turned-shelter in Beirut following an escalation of hostilities in Lebanon. Credit: UNICEF/Fouad Choufany

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4 2024 (IPS)

On November 27, Israel, Lebanon, and a host of mediating states agreed upon a ceasefire agreement that would establish a permanent cessation of warfare between the two parties. As of December 3, there have been no reported instances of Hezbollah directing attacks toward Israel that resulted in any casualties. Despite this, there have been numerous reported violations committed by Israel, causing extensive harm to civilian lives and local infrastructure. Many parties have warned for the international community to hold Israel accountable for these violations.

The ceasefire agreement mandates both Israel and Hezbollah withdraw their forces from each other’s territories and report any and all violations of peace to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the committee of mediating nations. Israel has been given a 60-day period to retreat the entirety of its troops from southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah must withdraw its forces north of the Litani River.

According to a December 1 report released by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 578,641 internally displaced persons began moving back to their place of origin in Lebanon. It is also stated that further airstrikes and military restrictions imposed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have left many unable to return to their communities.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor issued a press release on December 2, reporting that Israel had violated the terms of the agreement at least 18 times in southern Lebanon alone. As of December 1, there have been 62 reported violations committed by Israel that have targeted civilians and infrastructure in Lebanon. It’s been reported that Lebanese civilians were killed through the IDF opening fire on them and commanding drone strikes. Additionally, the IDF have issued further restrictions of movement south of the Litani River.

December 2 marked the deadliest day of hostilities in Lebanon since the ceasefire came into effect. It began when Hezbollah launched two projectiles toward Israel, responding to a series of violations committed by Israel over the past week. The attack, described as a “defensive warning strike”, landed in an open area and caused no injuries.

In a statement posted to X (formerly known as Twitter), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed plans to retaliate against Hezbollah, describing the attack as “a serious violation of the ceasefire”, adding that Israel will “respond to any violation by Hezbollah-minor or serious.”

Israeli Minister of Military Affairs Israel Katz urged Lebanon to uphold their conditions of the ceasefire. “If the ceasefire collapses, there will be no more exemption for the state of Lebanon. We will enforce the agreement with maximum impact and zero tolerance. If until now we have differentiated between Lebanon and Hezbollah, that will no longer be the case,” Katz said. He did not address Israel’s numerous reported violations.

The IDF responded by launching a series of strikes on two southern Lebanese towns, Talousa and Haris, killing at least eleven civilians and causing considerable damage to local infrastructure.

In a statement issued on X, the IDF stated that they struck Hezbollah terrorists, dozens of launchers, and terrorist infrastructure throughout Lebanon in response to several acts by Hezbollah in Lebanon that posed a threat to Israeli civilians, in violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon They added that the state of Israel remains allegiant to the conditions laid out in the ceasefire agreement but will continue to defend itself.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar denied Israel’s reported violations of the agreement, adding that Israel would “not accept a return to the situation as it stood [prior to the escalation of hostilities].” French Foreign Minster Jean-Noël Barrot was reported speaking to Saar over a phone call noting that it was urgent “for all sides to respect the ceasefire in Lebanon”.

Despite this, the Biden administration has expressed concern that the “fragile” ceasefire agreement might unravel due to repeated violations of the agreement. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that the U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein issued a warning to Israel over its ongoing violations.

An Israeli official informed news publications that Hochstein believes that Israel is enforcing the ceasefire “too aggressively”. Hochstein also reportedly expressed uncertainty over the endurance of the ceasefire, opining that the situation is dependent on how Hezbollah responds to the recent attacks.

Officials from the United States have confirmed that despite sporadic strikes from both sides of the border, they remain confident that the ceasefire agreement will not waver.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters; “Obviously, when you have any ceasefire, you can see violations of it. Broadly speaking, it is our assessment that despite some of these incidents that we are seeing, the ceasefire is holding.” White House spokesperson John Kirby added that “there has been a dramatic reduction in the violence. The monitoring mechanism is in full force and is working”.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa

Courage, not Compromise? A Rallying Cry that Failed at Deadlocked COP Meetings

Wed, 12/04/2024 - 09:24

Negotiations on a future global drought regime got underway at UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 2-13.

By Simone Galimberti
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Dec 4 2024 (IPS)

Courage and not compromise. That was the motto desperately launched by members of the civil society in the twilight of the negotiations of the Plastic Pollution Treaty in Busan, South Korea last week.

As we now know, the negotiations did not yield the results that would have helped Planet Earth set a groundbreaking target to reduce the amount of plastic being produced.

Meanwhile, the international community is onto another crucial meeting in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia to discuss global efforts against desertification. It is going to be another COP process, what is formally known as the 16th Session of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification or UNCCD. (COP16, December 2-13).

Apparently, this time, the host, Saudi Arabia, is going to lead a tremendous effort to ensure a strong outcome. Over the last two and half months, Riyadh, rather than being a global leader to ensure the survivability of our planet, a champion of sustainability, has been a disruptor.

The Saudis were among those who have been undermining the recently concluded Climate COP 29 in Baku and, to a lesser extent, the COP 16 on Biodiversity in Cali, Colombia.

But a review of what unfolded over the last two and half months, would also bring an indictment for act of omission not only to the Petro states but also to all developed nations.

Indeed, the eleventh-hour rallying cry– “courage, not compromise”– should have been embraced as the North Star by all those nations who were ready to take bold steps in the three recently concluded COP processes.

In Busan, as explained by the Center for International Environmental Law, CIEL, ” negotiators had several procedural options available, including voting or making a treaty among the willing”. Yet the most progressive nations, around 100 countries, including the EU and 38 African nations and South American countries, did not dare to go beyond the traditional approach of seeking a consensus at any cost.

Ironically what happened at COP 16 and COP 29 was equally a travesty of justice as developed nations did not budge from their positions. At the end, the final deals on biodiversity and climate financing, were in both cases extremely disappointing especially in relation to the former.

Indeed. in Cali, there was no agreement at all in finding the resources needed to implement the ambitious Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

According to BloombergNEF (BNEF), in its Biodiversity Finance Factbook, ” the gap between current biodiversity finance and future needs have widened to $ 942 billion”.

The Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), the financial vehicle to implement the Framework, is still very far from becoming a true game changer.

The millions of dollars that a small group of European nations have pledged during the negotiations in Cali, are still a miniscule contribution in relation to what was agreed two years ago in Montreal where the second leg of the COP 15 was held.

There, the final outcome underpinning the Framework, required the mobilisation of financial resources for biodiversity of at least US$200 billion per year by 2030 from public and private sources and identifying and eliminating at least US$500 billion of annual subsidies harmful to biodiversity.

What unfolded in Baku at the climate COP was also, in terms of financing, embarrassing for developed nations. The hardly negotiated agreement of tripling the US$ 100 billion per year by 2035 with a commitment to reach up to US$ 1.3 trillion by the same year through different sources of money, including difficult to negotiate levies, is far from what is required.

On this front, the embarrassment was not only on the traditional developed nations but also on countries like China and the Gulf Nations who stubbornly rejected their responsibility to play their part in climate financing.

At least, as part of a last minute compromise, the developed nations (G7 and few others like Australia) will now co-lead the responsibility of finding the resources. China and others wealthy nations that, according to an outdated UN classification are still officially considered as “developing”, will contribute but only on voluntary basis.

As we see, the final outcomes of these three COPs were far from being courageous. Compromising, epitomized by concepts like ” constructive ambiguity”, agreeing on something that can be interpreted differently by the nations at the negotiating tables, instead dominated.

At this point, considering the frustrations of these mega gatherings, what could be done? Is the existing model of the COP with its complexities and endless delays and bickering, still viable?

The influential Club of Rome, on the last days of COP 29, had released a strongly worded press release asking for a major reform of the ways negotiations were carried out. “The COP process must be strengthened with mechanisms to hold countries accountable”. The document went even further with calls to implement robust tracking of climate financing.

Also, with each COP, a series of new initiatives are always launched, often just for the sake of visibility and prestige.

The risk is having a multitude of exercises and mechanisms that drains resources that, are at the end, are neither productive nor meaningful but rather duplicative and ultimately, a waste of money.

We should be even more radical, I would say. For example, the international community should introduce the same peer to peer review process in place in the Human Rights Council that, frankly speaking, is hardly a revolutionary tool.

And yet, despite the fact that nations with a solid track record in human rights abuses remain unscathed in the Council, such a change would represent some forms of accountability in the areas of biodiversity and climate.

This could be envisioned as a reform that should accompany the implementation of the upcoming 3rd wave of Nationally Determined Contributions due by 2025. Getting rid of the consensus model is also something that should truly be considered.

Why not holding votes that would break the vetoes of even one single nation? Why being so attached to unanimity when we do know that it is not working at all?

As show in Busan, it is the traditionally developed nations that lack courage and farsightedness in pursuing a procedure that might backfire against them. This is, instead, a cause that at least the EU, Canada and Australia should embrace. Yet we are still very far from reaching this level of audacity.

Another fanciful thinking relates to tie nations’ actions to the possibility of hosting prestigious sports tournament. Why not forcing international sport bodies like FIFA to reward the hosting rights for its mega events only to nations which are climate and biodiversity leaders in practice rather than through empty but lofty declarations?

Unfortunately, there will never be consensus within the football federations that run FIFA governing body or say, within the International Olympic Committee. A more promising area, though also not easy to put into practice, would be to find ways in which non state actors would have a real say in the negotiations.

Both the COP 16 and the COP 29 reached some breakthroughs in relation to giving more voice, for example, to indigenous people. In Cali, it was decided to establish a new body that will more power to indigenous people.

It is what is formally known, in reference to the provision related to the rights of indigenous people of the International Convention on Biodiversity, as the Permanent Subsidiary Body on Article 8(j).

The details of this new body will be object of intense negotiations but at least a pathway has been created to better channel the demands of a key constituency who, so far, has struggled to gain its due recognition.

Also at COP 29 saw some wins for indigenous people with the adaption of the Baku Workplan and the renewal of the mandate of the Facilitative Working Group (FWG) of local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platforms.

Surely there can be some creative solutions to strengthen what was supposed to be the platform to incorporate and engage non state actors, the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Action.

The members of civil society could come up with new ideas on how to formally have a role in the negotiations. While it is impossible to have non state actors at the par of member states party to the conventions around which the COPs are held, surely the latter should be in a better place and have some forms of decision power.

Lastly one of the best ways to simplify these complex and independent from each other negotiations, would be to work towards a unifying framework in relation to the implementation of the biodiversity and climate conventions.

On this, the Colombian Presidency of the COP 16 broke some important grounds with Susana Muhammad, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia who chaired the proceedings in Cali, pushing for bridging the gap between biodiversity and climate negotiations.

None of the propositions listed here are going to be easy to implement. What we need is simple to understand but also extremely hard to reach.

Only more pressure from the below, from the global civil society can push governments to make the right choice: setting aside, at least for once, the word compromise and instead chose another one that instead can make the difference while instilling hope.

This word is called courage.

Simone Galimberti writes about the SDGs, youth-centered policy-making and a stronger and better United Nations

IPS UN Bureau

Categories: Africa

‘Quilombola Communities Live in Fear Because the Laws That Are Supposed to Protect Them Are Ignored’

Wed, 12/04/2024 - 08:55

By CIVICUS
Dec 4 2024 (IPS)

CIVICUS discusses threats to the security, rights and ancestral lands of Brazil’s quilombola communities with Wellington Gabriel de Jesus dos Santos, leader and activist of the Pitanga dos Palmares Quilombola community in Bahia state.

Founded by formerly enslaved Africans, quilombola communities represent a legacy of resilience and freedom. But their way of life is increasingly disrupted by harmful infrastructure projects and their members face constant threats from land grabbers and speculators. Community leaders demanding justice and reparations are met with intimidation and violence while public institutions look the other way. The National Coordination of Rural Black Quilombola Communities urges the Brazilian government to grant them protection and ensure accountability.

Wellington Gabriel de Jesus dos Santos

What are quilombola communities, and what’s the focus of their struggle?

Quilombola communities were born out of resistance to slavery. My community, Quilombo Pitanga, was founded by the descendants of those who fought for freedom when slavery was officially abolished in 1888. Even after slavery ended, the struggles continued because former slave owners and landowners continued to exploit and persecute our people.

Today, quilombola communities continue to fight for our land and culture. It’s important to us to preserve our heritage for future generations because it’s a testament to the strength of our ancestors, our survival and our resilience.

We advocate for justice and land rights through a combination of local and international strategies. We work with organisations such as the National Articulation of Quilombola Communities, which brings together quilombo leaders from across Brazil. We also hold protests, develop public awareness campaigns and work with international organisations to draw attention to our struggles.

What threats does your community face and who’s responsible?

My community faces significant threats, particularly from drug traffickers and powerful business interests. These threats became very real when my great-grandmother, María Bernadete Pacífico, was murdered by drug traffickers last year. She fought for the preservation of our culture and the wellbeing of younger generations, and I believe that’s what got her killed. She was part of a human rights protection programme, but the promised protection failed when she needed it most. My father was also murdered in 2017, during a battle against the construction of a landfill near our territory.

After my great-grandmother was killed, I haven’t been able to visit my family or enter the community. I live in constant fear, watching over the community and its heritage from afar.

Our community also faces institutional racism, reflected in the fact that the state built a prison on our land but fails to provide basic services such as schools and hospitals. We lack any public security, as a result of which some believe they can act with impunity. The prison, which was inaugurated in 2007, was supposed to be a shoe factory that would bring prosperity to the community. Suddenly, it was announced that it would be a prison, and it brought rising criminality and contamination of water resources and wetlands. Quilombo Pitanga dos Palmares hasn’t been the same since.

The bigger problem is that many quilombola communities, including ours, own valuable land. My community has a large territory, so we’ve been targeted by powerful interests that view our land as prime real estate for expansion. In 2012 we fought against the construction of an industrial road that would have cut through our land. There were large corporations involved, which made this fight particularly hard.

How do authorities respond?

The state not only turns a blind eye, leaving us vulnerable to exploitation, but it’s also complicit in these attacks because it protects the interests of big business rather than people. INEMA, the agency responsible for granting environmental licences to companies, has been investigated for corruption that has led to the approval of projects that harm communities like ours.

The authorities say they care about our safety, but the reality is different. The laws that are supposed to protect us are ignored and often the government is either unconcerned or in collusion with those causing harm.

What support do quilombola communities need?

Several issues need immediate attention, including securing our land rights, gaining access to basic services such as health and education and preserving our cultural heritage. A practical issue that needs attention is the toll we are forced to pay to enter the city, which constitutes arbitrary discrimination and isolates us from the wider community.

We are fighting the prison built on our land and the expansion of harmful companies that threaten our environment. We need more than words; we need tangible action, including stronger laws to protect us.

We need international support because local and national authorities often ignore or dismiss our struggles. Financial support is crucial, particularly for community leaders under threat. Many of us, including myself, face death threats. Our lives are far from normal and we need resources to ensure the safety of our families and communities.

United Nations human rights agencies could play a vital role in protecting our rights and securing the support we need. Unfortunately, despite local efforts to raise awareness, we often feel isolated in our struggles.

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Categories: Africa

Climate Change’s Dire Consequences Laid Bare at International Court of Justice Hearings

Wed, 12/04/2024 - 05:29

The International Court of Justice is hearing 10 days of testimony in order to give an advisory opinion on climate change obligations. Credit: ICJ

By Umar Manzoor Shah
THE HAGUE & SRINAGAR, Dec 4 2024 (IPS)

At the International Court of Justice on Tuesday, December 4, 2024, Brazil called for climate justice, and Canada urged swift action on the world’s “greatest challenge,” while China advocated for equity and development rights. These countries are among the 98 that will make presentations during the fortnight of hearings, after which the court will give an advisory opinion.

The court’s forthcoming advisory opinion, expected in 2025, is seen as a critical step in delineating states’ responsibilities for addressing climate change and addressing the consequences of inaction.

The proceedings draw on international environmental law, human rights treaties, and multilateral agreements. On December 3, representatives from Brazil, Canada, and China presented their arguments emphasizing the urgency of collective action and climate justice.

Brazil’s Vision of Inclusivity Where No One is Left Behind

Representing Brazil, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, the nation’s Ambassador for Climate Change, highlighted Brazil’s vulnerability to climate change and its leadership in global climate governance. Figueiredo underscored Brazil’s proactive measures, including a revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) that pledges to cut emissions by up to 67 percent by 2035 relative to 2005 levels.

“Brazil has consistently championed international cooperation in addressing climate challenges. Our efforts, despite socio-economic constraints, reflect a vision of inclusivity where no one is left behind,” said Figueiredo.

He emphasized Brazil’s exposure to climate-induced disasters such as severe droughts, floods, and wildfires, disproportionately affecting marginalized groups, including Indigenous communities. Advocating for climate justice, he urged global actors to consider the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDRRC), which assigns greater responsibility to historically high-emitting nations.

Legal Arguments for Climate Equity

Brazil’s legal advisor, Professor Jorge Galindo, reinforced the CBDRRC principle as a legal mechanism for ensuring fairness in climate governance. Citing precedents from the Paris Agreement and advisory opinions from international tribunals, he called for developed nations to lead by achieving net-zero emissions sooner, investing in clean technologies, and offering financial support to developing countries.

Galindo also urged the ICJ to recognize the legal value of decisions made by the Conferences of the Parties (COPs) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). “COP decisions reflect genuine interpretations of treaty obligations and must guide the court’s opinion,” he said.

Galindo further stressed the importance of balancing climate policies with trade obligations, warning against the misuse of environmental measures as trade barriers. “Free trade and climate goals must coexist,” he added.

Canada committed to unified treaty-based approach

Canada’s representative, Louis Martel, described climate change as a profound threat, with the Arctic warming three times faster than the global average. Martel highlighted its cascading effects, including permafrost thaw, increased forest fires, and food insecurity for Indigenous communities.

Reaffirming Canada’s commitment to international climate instruments like the Paris Agreement, Martel emphasized the importance of collective and individual state responsibilities. He called attention to the global stocktake and enhanced transparency framework as essential mechanisms for ensuring accountability.

While supporting the “no harm” principle obligating states to prevent cross-border environmental harm, Martel expressed reservations about its consistent application to climate change under customary international law. He also questioned whether principles like “polluter pays” and “intergenerational equity” have achieved the status of binding legal norms.

“Canada remains committed to a unified treaty-based approach that strengthens global climate governance,” Martel said.

China Plea For Fair and Inclusive International Approach

China, represented by Ma Xinmin, advocated for equitable climate action, highlighting the principle of CBDRRC as fundamental to balancing responsibilities between developed and developing nations. Ma underscored the disproportionate vulnerabilities of developing countries and the necessity of recognizing their right to sustainable development.

China criticized unilateral measures by developed nations, such as trade restrictions targeting developing countries’ green industries, describing them as counterproductive to global climate goals. Instead, Ma urged collaboration that accounts for historical emissions and respects nations’ varied capacities to combat climate change.

“Addressing climate change involves not only emission reductions but also ensuring sustainable development and poverty eradication,” Ma argued. Highlighting China’s contributions, he reaffirmed the country’s commitment to climate action while calling for a fair and inclusive international approach.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Excerpt:

The International Court of Justice in the Hague heard about the cascading effects of climate change, including its impact for Indigenous communities, during day two of ten days of hearings. The court is deliberating on the obligations under international law of UN member states to protect people and ecosystems from climate change.

Categories: Africa

Focus on Africa: IPBES Plenary Session Makes Inaugural Visit to Biodiverse Continent

Tue, 12/03/2024 - 09:24

Springbok in Sossusvlei, Namibia. IPBES 11 is scheduled to be held in Windhoek, Namibia from December 10-16. Credit: Gregory Brown/Unsplash

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Dec 3 2024 (IPS)

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES) first Plenary session in Africa is a “crucial acknowledgement of Africa’s important contribution to biodiversity conservation, which is a global public good, a heritage that Africa has the privilege to share with the peoples of the world,” says Dr. Luthando Dziba, from South Africa, co-chair of the IPBES Multidisciplinary Expert Panel.

The eleventh session of the IPBES Plenary—IPBES 11—is scheduled to be held in Windhoek, Namibia, from December 10-16, 2024.

Africa is one of the most ecologically diverse continents on Earth and is home to eight of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots. Its unique ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity thrive in a wide range of spectacular landscapes and seascapes, including wide-open plains, deserts, mountains, forested cliffs, coral reefs, mangrove forests and the Great Rift Valley.

This rich biodiversity offers significant benefits to people but also presents a number of challenges and opportunities amid a spiralling global biodiversity crisis.

Dziba told IPS that the Plenary is the governing body of IPBES, made up of the representatives of IPBES member States—currently 147 from around the world—who meet annually to “either consider requests from countries for new scientific assessments or consider reports of assessments that have been conducted by IPBES experts, and to consider work related to the other functions of IPBES of knowledge generation, policy support and capacity-building.”

“The IPBES members approve the summaries for policymakers of the IPBES assessment reports and also accept the full reports as well. IPBES Plenary sessions are spaces for the co-production of science-policy relevant information by both scientists and policymakers.”

Dr. David Obura, IPBES Chairperson. Credit: IPBES

Role of Biodiversity in Human Well-Being, Economy

IPBES primarily seeks to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being, and sustainable development.

IPBES plays a unique role in harnessing the best expertise from across all disciplines and knowledge communities—to provide policy-relevant knowledge and to catalyze the implementation of knowledge-based policies at all levels in government, the private sector, and civil society.

Dr. David Obura, IPBES Chair, says he is fortunate to be chairing his first Plenary in Africa as the first ever African Chair of the platform.

“The African continent still has some of the most intact biodiversity remaining. But it is not just about biodiversity for itself; it is also how society and the economy depend on nature,” Obura says.

“We, therefore, need to deepen our understanding of this connection, and this knowledge should in turn reflect within our policy processes across our countries. The importance of healthy nature and biodiversity in supporting our economies cannot be overstated, particularly because a large proportion of Africa’s population is rural. These are farmers, pastoralists, and fishers who directly rely on productive and healthy ecosystems.”

Dr. Luthando Dziba, co-chair of the IPBES Multidisciplinary Expert Panel. Credit: IPBES

Obura added that it is crucial to understand that ecosystems can only provide security for people if they are healthy, and that the IPBES work in Namibia over the next two weeks can help to propel continental and global ambitions in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which seeks to halt and reverse the decline of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.

Obura also referenced the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the urgent need to halt further losses in Africa in ways that are good for people as well. “It is all about supporting people while securing biodiversity,” he said

Amplify African Voice on Science-Policy Through IPBES

Dziba agrees. He says this first ever African Plenary session for IPBES gives African countries an even louder voice as part of an important science-policy platform. The IPBES member States make requests for new scientific assessments that respond to or address their specific policy priorities.

The governments that are IPBES members essentially have “first access to scientific products that help guide policy on various topics such as invasive alien species, pollination and management of pollinators to support agriculture production, or other areas such as sustainable use of wild species, including Africa’s biodiversity.”

Dziba says that the eleventh session of the Plenary will be an opportunity to also raise the profile of IPBES with African experts, enabling a wider diversity of African researchers and knowledge-holders to see firsthand the value of IPBES as an intergovernmental science policy platform.

Even though Africa and its natural heritage have been a subject of scientific research for centuries, Dziba speaks of an ongoing struggle to improve participation by African experts in IPBES work. “The importance of bringing them on board is to leverage their extensive knowledge of the continent, the knowledge gaps they see and the opportunity to contribute from an African perspective. This inclusion will also give IPBES a stronger, more inclusive voice and help shape positive global narratives about Africa.”

A majority of the newest members of IPBES over the past two years are governments from the African continent. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure universal IPBES membership of all governments so that no region is left behind, towards a healthy and sustainable planet suitable for all life on Earth.

Obura speaks of the untenable state of lives and livelihoods—of large populations living hand-to-mouth—and the disconnect between people and nature as people migrate to cities where disconnection from nature increases.

Black-backed jackal on a misty beach, Hentiesbaai, Namibia. The IPBES-11 host country has five of the 13 biomes on the African continent and a wide biodiversity. Credit: Ria Truter/Unsplash

Rich Biodiversity Supports Health, Water, and Food Systems

Obura explains that among the most important business of this first African Plenary session will be the consideration of two new landmark IPBES reports. The ‘nexus assessment’ will explore the critical interlinkages among crises in biodiversity, water, food and health—in the context of climate change. It will also explore dozens of specific options for action to address these crises sustainably together, rather than in single-issue silos, with a focus on ensuring the conservation and restoration of biodiversity for people and nature.

Dziba says there are lessons that member States can take from Africa too, as “the IPBES Regional Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for Africa found the African continent is the last continent with a largely intact assemblage of megaherbivores (animals larger than 1,000 kilograms) such as elephants, giraffes, buffalo, rhino, and hippos.”

He emphasized that this signifies that Africa “has done well in conserving its biodiversity. Africa also has the largest diversity of large carnivores, such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, and hyenas. And so, as a continent, we are the last bastion of biodiversity conservation, and this is both a privilege and an immense responsibility to continue to protect that biodiversity.” But that assessment also showed that Africa, like other regions of the world, is losing biodiversity at a rate unprecedented in human history.

The second assessment to be considered and launched at the upcoming session looks at transformative change—what it is, why it is so necessary, and how to achieve it for more just and sustainable futures, especially amid the ongoing global crises that are “expanding rapidly in their impacts on people. Africa is particularly vulnerable to these crises for many historical and current reasons. The question for all countries is how to initiate the deep positive changes needed across societies, economies, technology and governance to move in these nature-positive directions. The report will help lay out building blocks and tools to achieve that.”

Ultimately, Obura says, the aim is to have the two reports accepted by the IPBES members in the Plenary to better inform and serve global and African stakeholders and governments in their decisions and actions.

“No effort will be spared to make the reports accessible to enable people to find what they need to make better decisions and choices towards a healthy and sustainable coexistence with nature.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa

UN ECOSOC Special Meeting Highlights the Urgent Scale of Needs in Haiti

Tue, 12/03/2024 - 08:26

A group of women and children cook and chat in a displacement shelter in Léogâne. Credit: UNICEF/Maxime Le Lijour

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 3 2024 (IPS)

As a result of the ongoing hostilities from gang violence in Haiti, children continue to bear the brunt of the humanitarian crisis. Armed gangs have committed various human rights violations, many of which compound issues surrounding food insecurity, displacement, and social instability for millions of children in Haiti. Children have also lost their access to education and continue to be recruited into gangs. It is crucial for the international community to prioritize the multifaceted crisis facing Haitian children in order to avoid losing an entire generation to violence.

According to the latest estimates from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than 1.3 million children have been affected by gang violence over the course of this crisis. More than 700,000 people have been displaced, with over 50 percent of that population being children. These figures are predicted to have increased in the recent weeks due to the intensification of violence across capital city Port-Au-Prince and its surrounding areas.

On December 2, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) held a special meeting at UN Headquarters to discuss the deepening social insecurity that is unfolding in Haiti and how children have been hit the hardest. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell addressed the council to stress the urgency of the current situation.

“Armed groups are regularly committing grave rights violations against children, including killing and maiming. So far this year, we have seen a staggering one-thousand percent increase in reported incidents of sexual violence against children,” said Russell.

Due to accelerating violence, particularly in the capital, access to education for thousands of children has been greatly compromised. According to Russell, over 1.5 million children have lost access to education. Additionally, armed groups are actively recruiting children for use in gang operations. Current estimates indicate that 50 percent of all gang members in Haiti are children, marking a 70 percent increase in child recruitment over the past year. These children are being used as cooks, informants, and sex slaves, with many forced to commit violent acts themselves.

María Isabel Salvador, Head of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) adds, “Across Haiti, gang violence has turned schools into battlegrounds, disrupted healthcare, and left thousands of children malnourished and traumatized. Alarmingly, children are increasingly being recruited into gangs, robbing them of their innocence and turning them into tools of violence.”

Across Haiti, approximately 5.5 million people, including 3 million children, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. According to the latest statement released by the World Food Programme (WFP), more than 700,000 people, including 365,000 children, are internally displaced and living in overcrowded shelters. Additional data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) suggests that one-in-two Haitians do not have enough to eat, with roughly two million people facing emergency levels of hunger. At least 6,000 internally displaced Haitians are facing catastrophic hunger, which is the most severe form.

“Food security and the nutrition situation continues to be a challenge. The highest levels (of hunger) were reported this year, with a record level of 5.4 million people being acutely food insecure, which is close to half of the population in Haiti. Half of that number is children. 125,000 children are acutely malnourished,” said Wanja Kaaria, Representative for WFP.

Additionally, the collapse of the healthcare and water sanitation systems continues to put the lives of children and families in Haiti in grave danger. This has given way to the rampant spread of illness and infectious disease, with cholera being a major concern.

According to a statement from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), it is estimated that there are “87,616 total suspected cases, 4,858 confirmed cases, 85,071 hospitalized cases, 1005 institutional deaths and 314 community deaths.” Much of these cases are attributed to the dwindling supply of clean water, failing water systems that have been damaged from ongoing hostilities, and a severely strained healthcare system due to an influx of injured persons.

Haitians continue to face medical emergencies and deaths caused by gang violence, with limited access to healthcare. Since the escalation of violence in Port-Au-Prince began on November 11, medical facilities have been greatly overwhelmed by the sheer scale of needs. According to PAHO, the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the capital has created significant difficulties in accessing medical services for patients with chronic illnesses and pregnant women, leading to an increase in dire medical emergencies and complications.

“Hundreds of thousands of children and families living in besieged communities are largely cut off from humanitarian aid,” stated Russell in the recent ECOSOC conference. This is largely due to persisting access challenges caused by social insecurity. Despite these issues, the United Nations is on the frontlines of this crisis, distributing essential resources to affected communities.

With conditions continuously deteriorating, it is urgent that humanitarian responses are scaled up. The 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan for Haiti is currently only 43 percent funded. The UN urges member states and donors to contribute to meet the growing needs.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Categories: Africa

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