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Large groups of migrants tried to break through the border between Belarus and Poland on Monday, but Polish border guards forced them back using tear gas. Poland has so far rejected external help. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on Belarus to stop the "cynical instrumentalisation of migrants" and pushed for new sanctions. Commentators demand action instead of just words.

The Bishops' Conference of France that met in Lourdes this autumn has decided to set up working groups to combat systemic abuse and sexual violence by the clergy. The Church also committed to creating a reparations body to compensate victims, involving the sale of some of its real estate assets. Commentators are impressed.

North Macedonia settled its name dispute with Greece and joined Nato under his government, but now Zoran Zaev has announced his resignation as prime minister after his social democratic party SDSM suffered a bitter defeat in local elections at the end of October. It is still not clear whether snap elections will be held. Europe's press is saddened by the move.

A woman in Madagascar walks for up to 14km a day to find clean water. Credit: UNICEF/Safidy Andrianantenain

By Kumi Naidoo and Richard von Weizsäcker
GLASGOW, Scotland, Nov 9 2021 (IPS)

As the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) is swiftly moving to its conclusion on Friday, climate justice could not be more urgent or timely.

The health of our planet and our very survival are at stake. How can we ensure that this meeting achieves real action that improves people’s lives in rich and poor countries alike?

More than empty political rhetoric, what we need is a new social contract between decision-makers and people, one that achieves genuine mass support for climate action and connects people with their planet.

Leaders need to ensure that their climate action plans will tackle inequality, poverty, injustice, and promote the implementation of human rights above all.

After all, climate change threatens the enjoyment of a range of human rights, including food, health, housing, culture and development. And there is one human right in particular that is at risk from climate change and could have a domino effect on all the others: the human right to clean drinking water.

This is the most basic of all human rights (together with sanitation), and a key one in the fight against climate change.

90 % of climate change is happening through weather related events which have a profound impact on the hydrological cycle – often resulting in too much water or too little water.

All this in a world where two billion people, or 1 in 4, lack access to safe drinking water, nearly half the world’s population (3.6 billion people) don’t have adequate sanitation, and 2.3 billion people can’t wash their hands at home for lack of water or soap.

The most outrageous injustice is that the same people who lack access to water and sanitation are usually the ones most vulnerable to the effects of climate change – and the least responsible for causing it in the first place.

One report estimates that by 2040, almost 600 million children are projected to be living in areas of extremely high water stress. And the odds are against the most vulnerable, as under 1% of the billions pledged to address climate change goes to protect water services for poor communities.

In the end, those left furthest behind end up bearing the brunt of increasing water scarcity and poverty. These marginalized populations – women, children, and those living in extreme poverty – face a vicious and unjust cycle, in which a lack of access to water and sanitation is aggravated by extreme weather events, leading to more expensive, and unaffordable, services.

Connecting the Dots

But where the problem starts may also be where the solution begins. We need a radical approach that guarantees the human right to water by tackling inequalities and putting people’s needs front and center – especially the needs of those whose voices continue to be marginalized and disregarded.

This is both a necessary response, and a step toward ending the climate change crisis, as it offers benefits both for mitigation (stopping climate change) and adaptation (adjusting to the new normal).

The good news is that the solutions are well known and readily available. Well-managed water systems can protect access to reliable water supplies during times of drought. Strong sanitation systems can resist floods.

And protecting water and sanitation services from extreme weather is highly cost-effective – for every $1 spent upgrading flood-resistant infrastructure, $62 is saved in flood restoration costs.

If world leaders were to prioritize universal access to climate resilient water and sanitation infrastructure, it would be a long-term investment, yielding net benefits of US $37–86 billion per year and avoiding up to 6 billion cases of diarrhoea and 12 billion cases of parasitic worms, with significant implications for child health and nutrition over the next twenty makers understand the adaptation needs and mitigation opportunities of water and sanitation systems, as well as the risks that climate change poses to sustainable services.

And, they must align climate and water policies so that access to water is equitable, climate risks are reduced, and there is more money available for adaptation.

After all, ensuring effective climate action and sustainable access to water and sanitation are matters of human rights. This means that we must years.

Just Add Water

As we look to COP26, we need to ensure that climate decision- tackle the root causes of the water crisis globally and ensure prioritization of water for the realization of human rights, over other uses, such as large-scale agriculture and industries, including extractive industries.

To realize these rights, municipalities and villages also must be supported to improve their capacity to manage their water sources sustainably and efficiently.

Without urgent measures to slow climate change and adapt to the damage already done to our planet, there is a real risk that people’s access to water and sanitation will worsen rather than improve. And, without sanitation, we cannot guarantee the right to education; without hygiene, our health is diminished, and without reliable access to water, gender equality can never be achieved.

COP 26 is an opportunity for a reset, not only for the planet, but also for the social contract between governments and people. Eliminating inequalities, including in access to water and sanitation, is a foundational requirement for effective climate action. We hope that decision makers in Glasgow are champions for this vision of a better world.

Kumi Naidoo is a Global Leader for Sanitation and Water for All. He is also former Secretary-General of Amnesty International and former Executive Director of Greenpeace. Richard von Weizsäcker is Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy.

 

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Útnak indult az Egyesült Államokból Ukrajnába az a két járőrhajó, amelyeket Washington adott Kijevnek a katonai segítségnyújtás részeként – közölte az Egyesült Államok ukrajnai nagykövetsége.

Az “Island” osztályú hajók az egyesült államokbeli Baltimore-ból indultak el, és a dél-ukrajnai Odesszában fognak kikötni. A közlemény szerint a hajók részét képezik annak a 2,5 milliárd dollár értékű katonai segítségnek, amelyet az Egyesült Államok 2014 óta eddig nyújtott Ukrajnának. Az amerikai külképviselet megjegyezte, hogy a hajók növelik az ukrán haditengerészet és a NATO-erők kompatibilitását.

Az Ukrajinszka Pravda hírportál emlékeztetett arra, hogy szeptember 7-én ukrán haditengerészek érkeztek az Egyesült Államokba, hogy kiképzésen vegyenek részt ezeken a hajókon. Okszana Markarova, Ukrajna egyesült államokbeli nagykövete október 22-én a Facebookon azt írta, hogy várhatóan novemberben három ilyen típusú járőrhajó érkezik Ukrajnába.

Volodimir Zelenszkij ukrán elnök szeptember eleji egyesült államokbeli látogatása alatt született megállapodás arról, hogy Ukrajna – a már korábban egyeztetett 250 millió dolláros segítségen felül – további 60 millió dollár értékben kap kiegészítő katonai támogatást az amerikai kormánytól egyebek között “a határai mentén jelentősen megnövekedett orosz katonai tevékenység, a kelet-ukrajnai tűzszünet megsértése és egyéb provokációk miatt”. A két ország védelmi minisztere erről Washingtonban írt alá dokumentumot, amelyben újabb Javelin páncéltörő rakéták szállítása is szerepel. Októberben két – fegyvereket és orvosi felszereléseket tartalmazó – szállítmány érkezett meg Ukrajnába ennek a kiegészítő támogatásnak a részeként.

Moszkvában ugyanakkor nem nézik jó szemmel, hogy a Nyugat fegyverekkel és katonai eszközökkel látja el Ukrajnát. A múlt hónap végén Marija Zaharova orosz külügyi szóvivő egy tájékoztatóján kijelentette: az Ukrajnába érkező fegyverek és hadfelszerelés, valamint az ország területén a NATO-tagállamok által létrehozott kiképzőközpontok erősítik Kijevnek azt a meggyőződését, hogy lehetséges az erőszakos megoldás a Donyec-medencében. “Felszólítjuk a nyugati fővárosokat, amelyek fegyvert pumpálnak Ukrajnába – elsősorban Washingtont, de Berlint és Párizst is, mint a normandiai formátum tagjait -, hogy hagyjanak fel az ország militarizálásának ösztönzésével, és befolyásukat arra használják, hogy Kijevet politikai és diplomáciai eszközökkel tereljék vissza arra az útra, amely a Donyec-medencei tartós békéhez vezet” – hangoztatta az orosz külügyi szóvivő.

Ezt megelőzően Dmitrij Peszkov, a Kreml szóvivője mondta újságíróknak, hogy destabilizálódáshoz vezethet a Donyec-medencében, ha Törökország csapásmérő drónokat szállít Ukrajnának. Zelenszkij – miután az ukrán hadsereg először vetett be török gyártmányú, Bayraktar típusú csapásmérő drónt a Donyec-medencei konfliktusövezetben – válaszul kijelentette, hogy Ukrajna csak védelmi célokra használja ezeket a pilóta nélküli repülőgépeket.

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