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Social concerns around the introduction of a carbon price for transport and heating fuels (ETS2) are legitimate. But the EU Parliament overshot the mark in its aspiration to cushion households, which becomes apparent in its request for changes to the Social Climate Fund (SCF), write Michael Pahle, Nils aus dem Moore and Benjamin Görlach.

Die Regierung von Premierminister Boris Johnson wird am Montag (27. Juni) ein Gesetz verabschieden, das die Abschaffung der Regeln für den Handel mit Nordirland nach dem Brexit vorsieht. Der Streit mit der Euräpischen Union um Zollvorschriften geht damit weiter.

Les acteurs politiques et économiques de l’agroalimentaire européens et africains se sont réunis jeudi (23 juin) pour trouver des solutions face à la crise alimentaire que traversent les deux continents.

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
BANGKOK, Thailand, Jun 27 2022 (IPS)

As the Second Global Ocean Conference opens today in Lisbon, governments in Asia and the Pacific must seize the opportunity to enhance cooperation and solidarity to address a host of challenges that endanger what is a lifeline for millions of people in the region.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

If done right ocean action will also be climate action but this will require working in concert on a few fronts.

First, we must invest in and support science and technology to produce key solutions. Strengthening science-policy interfaces to bridge practitioners and policymakers contributes to a sound understanding of ocean-climate synergies, thereby enabling better policy design, an important priority of the Indonesian Presidency of the G20 process. Additionally policy support tools can assist governments in identifying and prioritizing actions through policy and SDG tracking and scenarios development.

We must also make the invisible visible through ocean data: just three of ten targets for the goal on life below water are measurable in Asia and the Pacific. Better data is the foundation of better policies and collective action. The Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) is an innovative multi-stakeholder collective established to enable countries and other stakeholders to go beyond GDP and to measure and manage progress towards ocean sustainable development.

Solutions for low-carbon maritime transport are also a key part of the transition to decarbonization by the middle of the century. Countries in Asia and the Pacific recognized this when adopting a new Regional Action Programme last December, putting more emphasis on such concrete steps as innovative shipping technologies, cooperation on green shipping corridors and more efficient use of existing port infrastructure and facilities to make this ambition a reality.

Finally, aligning finance with our ocean, climate and broader SDG aspirations provides a crucial foundation for all of our action. Blue bonds are an attractive instrument both for governments interested in raising funds for ocean conservation and for investors interested in contributing to sustainable development in addition to obtaining a return for their investment.

These actions and others are steps towards ensuring the viability of several of the region’s key ocean-based economic sectors, such as seaborne trade, tourism and fisheries. An estimated 50 to 80 per cent of all life on Earth is found under the ocean surface. Seven of every 10 fish caught around the globe comes from Pacific waters. And we know that the oceans and coasts are also vital allies in the fight against climate change, with coastal systems such as mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows at the frontline of climate change, absorbing carbon at rates of up to 50 times those of the same area of tropical forest.

But the health of the oceans in Asia and the Pacific is in serious decline: rampant pollution, destructive and illegal fishing practices, inadequate marine governance and continued urbanization along coastlines have destroyed 40 per cent of the coral reefs and approximately 60 per cent of the coastal mangroves, while fish stocks continue to decline and consumption patterns remain unsustainable.

These and other pressures exacerbate climate-induced ocean acidification and warming and weaken the capacity of oceans to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Global climate change is also contributing to sea-level rise, which affects coastal and island communities severely, resulting in greater disaster risk, internal displacement and international migration.

To promote concerted action, ESCAP, in collaboration with partner UN agencies, provides a regional platform in support of SDG14, aligned within the framework of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). Through four editions so far of the Asia-Pacific Day for the Ocean, we also support countries in identifying and putting in place solutions and accelerated actions through regional dialogue and cooperation.

It is abundantly clear there can be no healthy planet without a healthy ocean. Our leaders meeting in Lisbon must step up efforts to protect the ocean and its precious resources and to build sustainable blue economies.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Sania Farooqui
NEW DELHI, India, Jun 27 2022 (IPS)

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted lives all over the world. According to this report, gender is emerging as a significant factor in the social, economic and health effects of Covid-19. Women have been hit much harder socially and economically than men. The greatest and most persistent gender gap was seen in employment and uncompensated labour, with 26% of women reporting loss of work compared with 20% of men globally in September 2021.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

UNESCO has projected almost 11 million girls might not return to school due to Covid-19’s unprecedented education disruption. This alarming number not only threatens “decades of progress made towards gender equality, but also puts girls around the world at risk of adolescent pregnancy, early and forced marriage and violence,” states this report. As almost 90% of the world’s countries have shut their schools in efforts to slow the transmission, this study estimates that 20 million more secondary school-aged girls could be out of school after the crisis has passed.

“The world has changed, and these changes are impacting women. Poverty has deepened, the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women are under attack, climate change is upon us, and changes in technology are also disproportionately impacting women. The world is facing a gender divide,” says Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Chair of the Board at Women Deliver and former United Nations (UN) Under Secretary General and Executive Director of UN Women in an exclusive interview given to IPS News.

The impact of Covid-19 pandemic has threatened to reverse decades of progress made towards gender equality. Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka says, in the last decade the world was heading in the right direction including addressing extreme poverty, but now things have changed.

“The pandemic has hit women disproportionately and young women, women are now facing food insecurity in a significant way, and of course we’ve seen that the conflicts have not ended, they have escalated. We have the war in Ukraine, and as you may know any situation that creates a humanitarian crisis, women are always likely to be the ones that pay the price more than men bearing arms. Women and children tend to be affected much more and then of course an increase in gender-based violence in trafficking of women,” says Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Women have faced compounding burdens from being over-represented working in health systems, to facing increased risks of violence, exploitation, abuse or harassment during times of crisis and quarantine. Women have been at the forefront of the battle against the pandemic as they make up almost 70% of the health care workforce, exposing them to greater risk of infection, while they are under-represented in leadership and decision-making processes in the health care sector.

This crisis and its subsequent shutdown response resulted in dramatic increase in unpaid emotional and care burden on women and families, women were already doing most of the world’s unpaid care work prior to the onset of the pandemic, only to have it increased since 2020.

Worldwide, women lost more than 65 million jobs in 2020 alone, resulting in an estimated US$800 billion loss of income, an estimate which doesn’t even include wages lost by the millions of women working in the informal economy – domestic workers, market vendors and garment workers – who have been sent home or whose hours have been drastically cut. COVID-19 has dealt a striking blow to recent gains for women in the workforce.

“Honestly, my heart goes out to our young people today just because of the difficulties we are facing. I do want to challenge older people like myself to really open the space through collaborations and co-creations with younger people, their involvement and engagement should not be token, but real.

“It’s important for us to mobilize allies from the other side so that it is not always women who are knocking on doors, there must be someone inside who is trying to open the door for you. Working with men and pushing an agenda for men to stand for gender equality is also very important. I go back to emphasizing on the need to have policies, we always must open a door for more people to come in and be empowered,” says Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka.

However, one area where women stood out was where data supported the fact that countries led by women handled Covid-19 much better than their male counterparts. Countries with female leaders tend to have lower Covid-19 death rates and better economic performance, but the number of countries with women in executive government positions continues to remain low. As of 1 September 2021, there are only 26 women serving as Heads of State or government in 24 countries.

Whether it is balanced political participation, leadership roles in organizations or power-sharing between women and men, Dr. Mlambo-Gnuka believes the answer lies in setting targets, quotas and policies for effective participation and representation of women.

“We need to have mechanisms for accountability towards those who are responsible for implementing these measures, and we also need women themselves to continue making demands, we must balance what happens in boardrooms policy wise and outside through those who are carrying black cards.

“It’s hard to talk about progress but you cannot deny that there are more women leaders than before, that’s for sure there are more women in the labour force, more girls in schools, but our best is not good enough, there is still much more for us to do,” says Dr. Mlambo-Ngcuka.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Depuis quatre mois, la guerre fait rage en Ukraine, plongeant toute l'Europe, mais particulièrement les Balkans, dans la peur et la sidération. Toujours ballotée entre des influences géopolitiques contradictoires, très dépendantes du gaz et du pétrole russe, l'Europe du Sud-Est pourrait-elle devenir le théâtre d'un « second front » ?
Comment la Bulgarie, la Roumanie et les autres pays de la région accueillent-ils les réfugiés ukrainiens ? La Serbie parviendra-t-elle à tenir le cap de son improbable « (...)

Das serbische Mitglied der dreigliedrigen Präsidentschaft von Bosnien und Herzegowina, Milorad Dodik hat seine Pläne, die serbische Entität (Republika Srpska, RS) des Landes abzuspalten, nicht aufgegeben, sondern wartet nur auf den richtigen Zeitpunkt.

Die US-Regierung hat 14 Millionen Dollar für eine Entwicklungs- und Konstruktionsstudie bereitgestellt, die die Grundlage für den Einsatz von kleinen modularen Reaktoren (SMR) für ein neues Atomkraftwerk in Rumänien bilden soll.

Europa Kompakt ist EURACTIVs morgendlicher Newsletter. Sie können ihn hier abonnieren. Dass die Linke auf einen Waffenstillstand zwischen der Ukraine und Russland setzt, ist hierzulande nichts Neues. Erst im März hatte die Linke hierzu einen Beschluss verabschiedet und dafür reichlich Kritik geerntet. ...

La Bulle Pride 2022 a eu lieu durant tout le week-end dans le chef-lieu gruérien. Le comité d’organisation tire un bilan positif de l’événement.

The energy transition can only be implemented efficiently if it is planned and performed jointly at the European level, according to the power grid operator of Germany’s Baden-Württemberg region.

On Monday, MEPs will look into reports of human rights violations at the EU’s external border, in an exchange with Greek Minister Notis Mitarachi.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

On Monday, MEPs will look into reports of human rights violations at the EU’s external border, in an exchange with Greek Minister Notis Mitarachi.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

On Monday, MEPs will look into reports of human rights violations at the EU’s external border, in an exchange with Greek Minister Notis Mitarachi.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

On Monday, MEPs will look into reports of human rights violations at the EU’s external border, in an exchange with Greek Minister Notis Mitarachi.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2022 - EP

Tous les matins, Les Capitales décrypte pour vous l’info à travers l’Europe.

Die Auswirkungen des andauernden Krieges in der Ukraine würden insbesondere in den südlichen EU-Staaten eine soziale Krise verursachen, sagte der ehemalige griechische Ministerpräsident und derzeitige Oppositionsführer Alexis Tsipras im Interview mit EURACTIV und fordert deshalb einen schnellstmöglichen Waffenstillstand.

The recipe for independence from Russian gas is the acceleration of the clean energy transition; its success depends on the use of the right ingredients, write Megan Anderson, Bram Claeys and Jan Rosenow.

Sommet de Bruxelles : l'UE claque la porte au nez des Balkans occidentaux
Les Balkans occidentaux selon Emmanuel Macron : ensemble, mais pas dans l'UE
Les dirigeants de l'Union européenne veulent un élargissement au mérite
Podcast | Pierre Mirel, comment relancer l'intégration européenne des Balkans ?

/ Courrier des Balkans, Blocage UE, Elargissement UE, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Kosovo, Macédoine du Nord, Monténégro, Serbie

Sommet de Bruxelles : l'UE claque la porte au nez des Balkans occidentaux
Les Balkans occidentaux selon Emmanuel Macron : ensemble, mais pas dans l'UE
Les dirigeants de l'Union européenne veulent un élargissement au mérite
Podcast | Pierre Mirel, comment relancer l'intégration européenne des Balkans ?

/ Courrier des Balkans, Blocage UE, Elargissement UE, Bosnie-Herzégovine, Kosovo, Macédoine du Nord, Monténégro, Serbie