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Das Energieunternehmen OMV hat im Rahmen eines Schiedsverfahren 230 Millionen Euro zugesprochen bekommen, nachdem Gazprom 2022 die Lieferungen eingestellt hatte. Diese Summe soll mit den Rechnungszahlungen an den staatlichen russischen Gaskonzern verrechnet werden.

Wir dämmern gemütlich vor uns hin und sind schon fast im Land der Träume – bis wir im Halbschlaf merken, dass wir doch noch mal aufs WC müssen. Der Weg ins Bad wird unvermeidbar, an Einschlafen ist nicht mehr zu denken. Aber warum muss man immer genau dann?

COP29 will need to build on COP16’s successes and mitigate its failures. Credit: COP16

By Yamide Dagnet, Amanda Maxwell, Zak Smith, and Jennifer Skene
BAKU, Nov 15 2024 (IPS)

The United States just went through its most consequential election. While the outcome raises questions about what the re-election of Trump means for U.S. engagement in global climate talks moving forward (in view of his previous stunt), the game is still on, with or without him. Despite the challenges, local communities, cities, states, private actors, and the public more broadly have embarked on an unstoppable journey—upholding the spirit of the Paris Agreement.

The world’s biodiversity agreement just faced its first big test in Cali, Colombia, at the United Nations’ 16th Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP16). The results were decidedly mixed, with some breakthroughs but also critical missed opportunities. Ultimately, it left the international community with a suite of urgent priorities to address our rapidly closing window to halt biodiversity collapse and to align the protection of nature with action on climate change.

With countries rapidly pivoting to the UN climate conference (COP29) this week, they will need to build on COP16’s successes and mitigate its failures, prioritizing the equitable delivery of main “AAA” objectives that are relevant to both: accountability, the alignment of biodiversity and climate plans, and the adequacy of resource mobilization and access to finance.

COP16 in Cali was the first Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP since the December 2022 adoption of the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF or, commonly, GBF). The GBF set forth a plan to reverse and halt biodiversity loss by 2030 through the achievement of 23 action-oriented targets and to live in harmony with nature by 2050 by meeting four overarching goals.

COP16 offered a chance to make progress on the AAA objectives, as they are essential to delivering on the GBF, while also ensuring equity is built into each of them. These objectives manifest in some of COP16’s most notable outcomes, including the adoption of a work program and the creation of a permanent subsidiary body on Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) under the CBD, with a recognition of the role of Afro-descendants. The outcomes also included decisions on a historic and long-overdue fund to foster equitable benefits sharing from their knowledge.

Overall, however, the international community left Cali with a long road ahead for meaningful, enduring, and equitable implementation.

Accountability
A long history of failed promises on biodiversity cast a broad shadow as the international community began negotiations at COP16. None of the biodiversity conservation targets set for 2010–2020 were fully met, making the challenge of halting and reversing biodiversity loss in the following decades much harder. While parties to the CBD have had two years since adopting the GBF to revise their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), which are supposed to detail how they will fulfill their GBF obligations, only about 22 percent of countries had done so by the conclusion of the COP.

Developed countries have been particularly notorious for sidestepping accountability, especially on forest commitments. For decades, international policy has largely focused on addressing deforestation in the tropics while allowing the wealthier countries of the Global North to evade scrutiny for their own forest degradation. As countries chart their ambition under the GBF and related commitments at the intersection of nature and climate, voices from the Global South, including the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment, have begun calling for frameworks to drive more equitable accountability.

The GBF’s monitoring framework presented an opportunity to begin correcting this imbalance through the adoption of concrete, shared indicators to guide biodiversity protection and restoration. Instead, in the months leading up to COP16, negotiators began building a monitoring framework that risks cloaking business as usual under the guise of progress. Ultimately, without additional revisions and willingness to strengthen the indicators, the monitoring framework will be subject to the same inequities and weaknesses that have plagued policies for decades.

As countries look to build accountability, the enhanced transparency framework and global stocktake under the UN climate convention can provide models for how to bring more teeth into the CBD process and foster responsibility for all parties. In addition, wealthy countries need to ensure their NBSAPs are action-oriented and to hold themselves to the same standards on deforestation and forest degradation that they expect in the tropics.

There may also be opportunities to channel success elsewhere into greater accountability on biodiversity conservation. One example is the progressing ratification of the new high seas treaty, which is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for biodiversity conservation at a global scale. The treaty must be ratified by 60 nations to come into force and then be effectively implemented, both of which saw progress at COP16 with the announcement of Panama’s ratification during the COP and several countries confirming the signing of the treaty and announcing intentions to start working on the first round of high seas marine protected areas.

Alignment of biodiversity and climate efforts
Biodiversity loss and climate change are inextricably linked, requiring aligned, synergistic action. The UN biodiversity and climate conventions have historically been siloed, resulting in disconnected, sometimes conflicting decision-making and ambition. Last December, at the UN climate conference in Dubai (COP28), countries agreed to the first global stocktake, which emphasized the need to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation by 2030 and to align with the GBF.

COP16 created an opening for fostering that alignment and ensuring coordination and complementarity. Parties agreed to establish a process, with submissions of views from all stakeholders by May 2025, for coordinating between the three Rio Conventions (addressing climate, biodiversity, and desertification). This creates a pathway for ensuring that climate mitigation and adaptation and biodiversity protection and restoration mutually reinforce each other’s priorities.

At COP29, negotiators should build off of this leadership, elevating the need to integrate climate and biodiversity commitments and reinforcing the importance of an efficient, robust collaboration process. Particularly given next year’s ocean and climate summits in France and Brazil, respectively, which will thrust oceans and forests to the forefront of the climate agenda, it is imperative that countries set the stage for the alignment between biodiversity and climate commitments, create opportunities for the exchange of lessons and best practices between the conventions, and deliver more robust and ambitious climate and biodiversity plans as soon as possible, and no later than in a year’s time in 2025.

Adequacy of finance
As at COP15, the issue causing the greatest rift at COP16 was the question of how to fund the biodiversity conservation called for in the GBF. Since the signing of the GBF, positions—particularly divisions between developed and developing countries—have only hardened. The European Union announced in September that it was opposed to a key demand of developing countries: the creation of a new finance mechanism to distribute biodiversity finance. At the same time, the Ministerial Alliance for Ambition on Nature Finance released a statement from 20 Global South countries calling on the Global North to meet the commitments it made in the GBF to ensure that at least $20 billion per year is delivered from developed to developing countries by 2025 and that at least $30 billion per year is delivered by 2030.

Unfortunately, discussions on these issues started too late in the negotiations and dragged into the last day of the COP, until the meeting ended abruptly for lack of a quorum. The aborted talks adjourned with no agreed-upon strategy for increasing funds to finance nature conservation. Countries will now continue talks next year at an interim meeting.

This result is unacceptable. The vast majority of countries in the Global South will not have the resources necessary to meet their obligations in the GBF if the Global North does not meet its funding commitments.

The problem is compounded given that some of the key sticking points of biodiversity finance echo discussions about climate finance. For example, under the UN climate convention, there have been similar disagreements around appropriate finance mechanisms, such as around the creation of the Loss and Damage Fund in 2022. During those and other discussions, diverging opinions around sources of finance, transparency, and access to funding have stymied progress. Now, with the inconclusive end of COP16 on these issues, there is even larger, more entrenched distrust between developed and developing countries.

At COP29, countries need to agree to a new, ambitious climate finance goal to build the needed confidence among governments and the private sector to pursue more ambitious climate action that also drives the protection of nature; the richest and most-polluting countries must therefore dramatically enhance their efforts.

This is not charity—it is investment for economic and social justice, a matter of national, food, and energy security, and it is essential to building a climate-safer world for all.

Ultimately, all countries will get hurt by climate impacts with billions’ worth of damages. The richest countries are not immune to this (as we saw most recently in the United States and Spain), and they all need to step up. A deal on finance cannot just hinge on the United States. That was true before, and it’s truer now.

Looking forward
For both climate and nature, 2030 is a deadline that will dictate our future. By then, the international community will need to have implemented transformative change across all sectors, establishing climate-safe, nature-positive economies while ensuring equity and human rights.

Government progress, including at the subnational level, on accountability, alignment, and adequacy of finance is particularly critical given the unprecedented attention from the private sector on biodiversity and climate risks and outcomes. Companies and investors had a major presence at COP16—they are paying close attention to these negotiations and to the growing risks of failing to take action. Signals from the government are critical to pushing money flows and supply chains toward sustainable, equitable outcomes and building the structures that will transform business practices.

COP16 made important strides but ultimately left far too much on the table. At COP29 and beyond, parties need to renew trust and pursue their resolve to rapidly scale up and invest in holistic, equitable, all-of-planet approaches that propel action at every level of society and government, finally turning global commitments into reality on the ground. COP29 needs to and can deliver.

Note: Yamide Dagnet, Senior Vice President of NRDC International, Amanda Maxwell, Managing Director of NRDC Global, Zak Smith, Senior Attorney of NRDC International, and Jennifer Skene, Director of NRDC Global Northern Forests Policy, International, wrote this article. It was republished with the permission of NRDC International.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Alors que la date des élections anticipées en Allemagne est fixée, les principaux candidats se lancent dans la campagne électorale, mais les premières promesses montrent que la priorité sera accordée aux préoccupations nationales plutôt qu’aux intérêts européens.

Florenz ächzt unter zu vielen Touristen. Die italienische Stadt hat deswegen zehn Massnahmen beschlossen, um einige Besucher fernzuhalten.

As expected, climate finance has taken center stage in Baku COP29 in a bid to renew the global focus on finance as a means to transform climate ambitions into tangible, sustainable action.  African countries are losing up to 5 per cent of their GDP, with many diverting as much as 9 per cent of their […]

Noch bevor die zuständige Behörde kommende Woche das Rahmenbewilligungsgesuch für ein geologisches Atom-Endlager einreichen wird, macht sich Widerstand breit: Ein Komitee fordert, dass nach dem Parlament auch das Volk zwingend grünes Licht für das Projekt geben muss.

Tragikus kimenetelű közlekedési baleset történt pénteken (11. 15.) reggel röviddel 7:00 óra után a D1-es autópályán a branyiszkói alagút után, ahol felborult egy személygépkocsi.

Die EU-Kommission hat gegen Meta eine Geldstrafe in Höhe von 797,72 Millionen Euro verhängt. Mit der Verknüpfung von Facebook Marketplace mit der gleichnamigen Social-Media-Plattform wird dem Unternehmen vorgeworfen, gegen das Kartellrecht zu verstoßen.

By CIVICUS
Nov 15 2024 (IPS)

 
CIVICUS discusses the gender dimensions of genocide in Gaza with Kifaya Khraim, International Advocacy Coordinator at the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC). Founded in 1991, WCLAC is a feminist organisation that documents Israeli violations against Palestinian women and uses this evidence for international advocacy.

The genocide that began following the attacks of 7 October 2023 has disproportionately affected Palestinian women, who face the general effects of extreme violence and displacement, and gender-based forms of violence, including sexual violence. To achieve sustainable peace, the international community must implement a ceasefire, uphold the decisions of the International Court of Justice, hold accountable those responsible for atrocities and ensure the active participation of women in the peace process.

Kifaya Khraim

How are Palestinian women affected by Israel’s current aggression?

The aggression has had a profound impact on Palestinian women, who face unique dangers because of their gender. Since 7 October, we have witnessed targeted killings of women and children and a rise in sexual violence by Israeli forces and illegal settlers.

Restrictions on reproductive healthcare exacerbate the situation. Most hospitals, including maternity wards in Gaza, were deliberately targeted by Israeli forces in the first three months of the aggression. As a result, according to local doctors. miscarriage rates have increased by over 300 per cent.

On top of this, around 400 Palestinian women are being held in Israeli administrative detention centres, meaning they are imprisoned without formal charges or access to legal representation. Systematic sexual abuse has become a disturbing trend in detention centres in various regions, including Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank. We’ve documented cases of soldiers conducting invasive strip searches on women, often in the presence of others. These women are subjected to torture and inhumane treatment without being informed of any charges or given a fair trial.

Is this violence new, or part of an older trend?

Palestinian women have long faced human rights violations. Since 1948, successive wars and attempts at ethnic cleansing have severely affected our lives.

Palestinian women have long suffered human rights abuses, but now the violence has escalated. We are no longer talking about violence but a crisis in which an occupying state is controlling our territories and committing genocide against our people.

In addition to the killing of over 12,000 women in Gaza, and on top of the direct violence against women, this context has devastated the livelihoods of many women, leading to early marriages as families hope to secure a safer life for their daughters outside frequently attacked areas.

There are currently over 900,000 Israeli settlers living illegally in the West Bank. They are illegal settlers because international law prohibits the transfer of a state’s population to occupied territory. Settlers use direct and indirect violence to remove us from our homes and confiscate our land. Direct violence often includes burning our crops, contaminating our water sources and destroying our homes. Indirect violence includes setting up factories that damage the sewage systems of Palestinian villages and pollute our air. These attacks disproportionately affect women, who are often the ones responsible for water use, cooking and household chores.

Palestinian women are also deprived of their right to travel to work or school on the basis of so-called ‘security concerns’. In Gaza, before the genocide, women faced obstacles in accessing healthcare, which is particularly critical for those with cancer or living with chronic diseases. Israel has blocked the import of medical equipment and often denies medical permits, leaving people in need of essential treatment such as chemotherapy unable to travel. When permits are granted, they often come with restrictions, such as the need to travel unaccompanied and return the same day, or being granted a travel permit to one chemotherapy session but denied another.

How is the violence suffered by women different from that suffered by men?

In discussing the gendered impact of human rights violations against Palestinians, we must begin by acknowledging that men are often the targets. But women also pay a heavy price.

If a man is accused of a crime under Israeli military law, the whole family is punished. Their home is searched and destroyed, and Israeli soldiers often harass, beat or sexually assault women and children. This is a form of collective punishment, which is a war crime under international law.

This is all the more serious because challenges of mobility, lack of jobs and violence at checkpoints mean women are often financially dependent on men. When their homes are demolished and they are left homeless, many are forced to move in with their in-laws and become their primary caregivers, which can lead to additional mental health problems.

So while men may be the primary targets of home invasions, arrests and killings, the indiscriminate violence is devastating entire communities and affecting women in specific ways.

How are Palestinian women working to support each other and respond to the crisis?

The occupation makes it incredibly difficult for Palestinians to unite. The West Bank is so fragmented that it is like living on archipelago. It is often impossible to simply travel between areas. This makes it difficult for us to form support groups.

Women who try to organise run the risk of being arrested. Take the case of Suhair Barghouthi. She’s a 62-year-old woman whose son was killed by Israeli forces. She couldn’t give him a proper burial because they wouldn’t give her his body. She looks after her grandson, who keeps asking if his father is alive. She tried to organise a group of families who have suffered similar losses to press for the return of their loved ones’ bodies. But this landed her in prison, where she was denied medicine, food and proper clothing. She was eventually released but continues to be harassed by Israeli officers. We have documented many cases like hers.

Palestinian women continue to support each other. For example, those who have lost children to violence organise visits to comfort others who have recently experienced a similar loss. But this is becoming increasingly difficult. Checkpoints add another layer of risk: if women are searched and Israeli soldiers discover they’re part of a human rights campaign, they may arrest them.

What should the international community do to ensure accountability for human rights violations against Palestinians?

As Palestinians, we rely heavily on international support, which is why we focus so much of our advocacy on engaging with global institutions.

One of our key strategies is to document and share evidence of violations with United Nations mechanisms. We document abuses to draw immediate attention to ongoing violations and help prevent further harm, and for future accountability. We hope that by proving Israel’s systematic violation of international law, we can persuade other states to end academic, diplomatic and economic relations. We are also calling for a boycott of companies that are complicit in human rights abuses. By showing a united front against violations, the international community could send a powerful message, challenge the status quo and push for change.

International legal bodies have confirmed that human rights violations are taking place and that they must stop. We urge states to heed the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the situation in Palestine.

Israel’s impunity for these crimes sets a precedent that risks becoming a global norm. The message seems to be that there are no real consequences for states that commit genocide or war crimes. The international community must take responsibility for ending this cycle of impunity. This would support Palestinians and strengthen global norms that protect all humanity.

What are the challenges facing activists seeking justice?

A major challenge is the lack of response from the international community. We warned of escalating violence long before 7 October, and while we are listened to, tangible action rarely follows. This has led to widespread disillusionment, both among activists and within Palestinian communities, where people tend to question the value of documentation and advocacy. People’s loss of faith in international mechanisms has made it harder to mobilise and document events, which is crucial for accountability.

Another challenge is direct retaliation by Israeli forces, who target and detain activists, often without charges or fair trials. Colleagues and lawyers working on detention cases are routinely arrested and sometimes held for months. This creates a climate of fear that limits advocacy.

The fact that our permits are often denied also obstructs cooperation and connection between Palestinian communities. Social media harassment adds to the risks, as settlers spread personal information about human rights defenders, particularly women, through platforms like Telegram.

This means real progress on key issues remains limited. Simple, achievable steps such as allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross to access detention centres could make a big difference, helping to restore trust in the system and provide safety for activists seeking justice.

Despite the challenges, I still believe in people power and women power. We shouldn’t underestimate the impact of sharing stories and raising awareness. Empathy can drive change. This is why I work at WCLAC: I know women will help accelerate progress towards justice, so future generations don’t have to endure what we’re facing today.

Get in touch with WCLAC through its website or Facebook and Instagram pages, and follow @WclacPalestine on Twitter.

 

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Experten empfehlen Maßnahmen zur Stabilisierung des Weinmarktes, darunter Rebenausreißprogramme und den Einsatz von Fungiziden im ökologischen Anbau. Auch die Förderung alkoholarmer Weine aus gesundheitlichen und marktstrategischen Gründen wird vorgeschlagen.

Le groupe hôtelier américain Hilton s'apprête à ouvrir un établissement de luxe à Cotonou. Ce sera sur le site de l'ex-hôtel Marriott à Cotonou.

Le groupe Hilton, l'une des chaînes hôtelières les plus renommées au monde ouvrira un établissement à Cotonou. Il va s'installer sur l'ex-hôtel Marriott et répondra aux standards internationaux tout en offrant toutes les commodités requises.

En s'implantant à Cotonou, Hilton contribuera à renforcer l'attractivité du Bénin en tant que destination de premier choix en Afrique de l'Ouest. Le projet va générer des emplois, dynamiser le secteur hôtelier et encourager d'autres investissements étrangers.

En Conseil des ministres le 11 septembre 2024, le gouvernement avait annoncé la rénovation de l'ex hôtel Marriott, un complexe hôtelier 5 étoiles. C'est dans le but de structurer durablement la dynamique de développement touristique en cours au Bénin.

RTL gibt den ersten «Golden Bachelor» bekannt: Mit 73 Jahren will Franz Stärk im Fernsehen die grosse Liebe finden. Bis zu seiner Pensionierung arbeitete er als stellvertretender Direktor einer Gesamtschule.

Julian P. tötete seine Freundin im Sommer 2021 mit 60 Messerstichen. Der Schweizer wurde in erster Instanz wegen Mordes verurteilt. Nun zeigt das schriftliche Urteil, wie aus dem eigentlich freundlichen Mann ein Killer wurde. P. zieht derweil vor die nächste Instanz.

580708 Communication and Media Relations Section

To mark the International Day for the Prevention of and Fight against all Forms of Transnational Organized Crime on 15 November, the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) held a webinar to discuss the role of women in organized criminal groups. The webinar brought together over 50 participants including policymakers, criminal justice practitioners, academia and civil society.   

OSCE research shows that women’s agency in organized crime is rarely recognized by criminal justice practitioners across the OSCE area, resulting in women being able to act with impunity within criminal networks and being underrepresented in – or absent from – prevention, exit and witness protection initiatives.  

Drawing on experience and good practices from the OSCE region, discussions focused on how gender-sensitive approaches are essential to recognize and address the different roles played by women and men in transnational organized crime.

“A cultural shift and a strong commitment to gender mainstreaming is needed to promote more targeted, systematic and impactful criminal justice responses to organized crime”, said Ambassador Alena Kupchyna, Co-ordinator of OSCE Activities to Address Transnational Threats, in her opening remarks. “The OSCE is proud to support its participating States to strengthen institutional and civil society capacities to implement gender-sensitive organized crime prevention, exit and witness protection initiatives,” she added.

Speakers highlighted that when prevention and exit initiatives are not gender-sensitive, they often fail to shield women and girls from becoming involved in criminal activity and reduce their opportunities to leave criminal groups. They also underlined the importance of engaging women as actors in their own right in prevention and exit programmes, and not just as the partners or family members of male organized crime members.

Implementing gender-sensitive approaches to prevent and fight organized crime is a cross-cutting priority of the OSCE’s overall strategy to address organized crime, which prioritizes better understanding the phenomenon through research, addressing illicit financial flows and confiscating criminal assets and strengthening prevention to foster resilience.

Eine Ärztin stellt Mails, SMS und Telefonate in Rechnung, obwohl die kaum einen medizinischen Inhalt hatten. Bis sich der Patient beschwert.

580702 Communication and Media Relations Section

The OSCE Troika convened the second Annual Meeting of the Expert Network on the OSCE on 11 and 12 November. The Network was launched in November 2023 in Skopje by the OSCE 2023 Chairpersonship of North Macedonia and former Secretary General Helga Schmid. The Network gathers experts, academics and think tanks from various participating States and aims to serve as a point of consultation and dialogue on the three dimensions of the OSCE.

Former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament of Finland Pekka Haavisto opened the Expert Network Event with a keynote speech on the topic Perspectives on European Security past, present and future, underlining the continued relevance of the OSCE acquis and their relevance for the future.

“The idea of comprehensive security is more important than ever. To address the security challenges of today, a whole of society response is needed,” Haavisto said.

The two-day event provided a platform for experts, officials and policy planners for substantial policy dialogue on trends and scenarios from across the OSCE region, focusing on lessons from the past and preparing for the future.

Discussions focused on a broad range of topics, including the importance of OSCE field operations’ work with local communities and civil society, the role of the Mediterranean region in European security, and the relevance and efficacy of OSCE’s different tools in addressing different stages of the conflict cycle.

During the concluding panel, representatives of the delegations of Finland, Malta and North Macedonia, representing the OSCE Troika, reflected on the challenges faced by the OSCE today and possible paths to address them.

Conclusions and recommendations from the event will be provided to OSCE participating States. They will also inform the work of the Expert Network on the OSCE in the upcoming year.

The OSCE Troika was established at the Helsinki Summit in 1992 to bring continuity to the Organization's leadership. It is a format of co-operation between the present, previous and incoming Chairpersonships.

Ihr Verlobter Mike Heiter musste Leyla Lahouar ins Spital bringen. Der Reality-Star klagte über starke Schmerzen im Unterleib und Rücken. Trotz dreistündiger Untersuchung konnte keine klare Diagnose gestellt werden. Die 28-Jährige muss nun einen Spezialisten aufsuchen.

Viele neue Elektroautos locken mit grossen Reichweiten. Meistens sind diese aber deutlich höher angegeben, als sie sich im Alltag erreichen lassen. Blick klärt auf, wieso beim Stromverbrauch Theorie und Alltagspraxis nicht übereinstimmen.

Die Stadt Luzern hat Massnahmen erarbeitet, um ihr Reisebusregime weiterzuentwickeln. Mit der Einführung einer Haltegebühr und einem Reservationssystem will sie den Reisebusverkehr besser lenken und die Belastung der Innenstadt reduzieren.