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This advisory provides practical information on the hearing of Wopke Hoekstra (Netherlands) taking place on 2 October from 18.30 to 21.30.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

This advisory provides practical information on the hearing of Wopke Hoekstra (Netherlands) taking place on 2 October from 18.30 to 21.30.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2023 - EP

553939 Communication and Media Relations Section Alexandra Taylor

From 25 to 29 September, the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, the Mobile Training Team and the OSCE Presence in Albania, conducted an intensive training programme in Tirana, Albania, focusing on behavioural analysis, interviewing techniques, and crisis management. It benefited twenty border and counter-terrorism officers, as well as representatives from the Security and Investigation Academy of the Albanian State Police.

Laureta Spirollari, Director of the Migration Directorate within the Border and Migration Department of the Albanian State Police, endorsed the pilot program. "This training equips us with the tools to successfully detect and identify both perpetrators and victims. I eagerly anticipate the OSCE's continued efforts to organize more of these invaluable training sessions, with the aim of reaching investigators and frontline officers alike. As always, the OSCE has proven to be an exceptional partner in ensuring that the training leaves a lasting impact on the participants, enriching their professional knowledge," she said.

Gertian Brovina, a Senior Investigator from the Counter Terrorism Department of the Albanian State Police, underscored the ever-evolving nature of terrorism. "The dynamic landscape of terrorism necessitates continuous learning, adaptation, and innovation in our counter-terrorism strategies. Therefore, we must promote close cooperation among all frontliners in the fight against terrorism, ultimately contributing to safer communities," he said.  

The participants learned how to assess travelers’ behavior at border crossings and identify suspected foreign terrorist fighters, cross-border crimes, as well as victims of such crimes. Through hands-on and scenario exercises, Albanian police officers practiced how to deploy effective interviewing techniques while upholding human rights and refraining from discriminatory profiling. They also discussed strategies to manage potential crises at borders while taking into account the unique needs of women, men, girls, and boys.

The event received funding support from the United States and Germany, which support deployment of the multi-national OSCE-led Mobile Training Team. The Mobile Training Team currently comprises sixteen border and counter-terrorism experts from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation.

Carbon credits in Africa can be generated by projects that curb emissions with a major focus on switching to renewable sources such as solar energy. Nasho solar power plant in Eastern Rwanda. Credit: Aimable Twahirwa/IPS

By Aimable Twahirwa
NAIROBI, Sep 29 2023 (IPS)

With current efforts to boost Africa’s carbon credit production by 2030, experts believe the commitments will require Governments to switch from a voluntary to a compliance market by generating renewable energy for a portion of national and regional electricity supplies.

The compliance market in Africa, according to experts, is critical for countries to establish a carbon price through regulations to control the supply of allowances that are then distributed by national and regional regimes.

“It is all about getting the business model right (…) the capability of African Governments is there very central to having the right kind of information and investing in local business models,” Mahua Acharya, the Chief Executive Officer of C-Quest Capital (CQC), one of the world-leading carbon finance company told IPS.

Currently, African leaders are pushing market-based financing instruments, such as carbon credits which can be generated by projects that curb emissions with a major focus on switching to renewable energy sources.

Carbon market initiative allows polluters to offset their greenhouse gas emissions by investing in development or initiatives such as tree-planting or renewable energies. Nevertheless, experts point out that they are still cheaper to purchase in Africa due to poor regulations and weak policies.

Renewable energy was at the heart of discussions at the 2023 Africa Climate Summit (ACS) in Nairobi, Kenya, and shifting away from centralized fossil fuel energy towards people-centred green energy sources is now seen as the single most effective way to expand the continent’s participation in voluntary carbon markets.

The African initiative’s goal is to produce 300 million new carbon credits annually by 2030, comparable to the number of credits issued globally in voluntary carbon offset markets in 2021.

Mahua Acharya, the Chief Executive Officer of C-Quest Capital, recommends Innovative business models for African Governments to unlock carbon markets.

“This is a very ambitious target and a fantastic opportunity for Africa to set the course,” Mahua said in an exclusive interview.

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement’s rulebook governing carbon markets gives countries a right to emit carbon dioxide at an agreed price per tonne, but one of the major challenges facing most African countries is the lack of appropriate strategies to earn money on these carbon markets.

The latest report on carbon markets and climate finance by the Eastern Africa Alliance shows that Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda are currently scaling up carbon credit production via voluntary carbon market activation plans.

Under the new move, internationally traded credits between governments and private sector players are acceptable under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

For example, Rwanda, as one of the few countries that expressed willingness to begin trading in voluntary carbon markets, is currently exploring key strategic sectors in which projects that reduce carbon emissions can be designed to sell credits on the carbon market. Officials emphasize that the major focus will be on renewable energy, the country leveraging on the carbon market as the source of climate finance.

However, some experts point out that such projects and programs need to be “authorized” to avoid the same carbon credit being sold twice.

“Voluntary approach is vulnerable to the decisions of corporate entities to meet their net zero goals – which is fine, but shaky if you think that countries should be basing economic planning decisions around this,” Acharya said.

Carbon finance – the revenue from the sale of carbon emission reduction linked with mitigation activities – is a green growth opportunity for many developing and emerging economy countries.

On the sidelines of the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi earlier this month, some activists rejected carbon markets, describing them as “false solutions and narratives that undermine African communities’ rights, interests and sovereignty.”

The Executive Director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), Mithika Mwenda, told IPS that he was disappointed that the principle of shared responsibility was a missing point.

“The initiative [of carbon market] seems to be promoted by powerful interests who benefit from maintaining the status quo of fossil fuel dependence,” he said.

While Mithika is convinced that, in most cases, these carbon market investments do not serve the climate justice imperatives for Africa, Acharya points out that different African countries are at different stages of preparedness and clarity towards putting carbon markets to work.

“These carbon finance transactions are very precious to many African countries because they are forex-based and provide a good degree of risk mitigation,” Acharya said.

The latest Africa Environment Outlook for Business by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows that Africa could become a trailblazer in renewable energy solutions, with abundant solar, wind, hydro, biomass, and geothermal resources that may contribute to a 6.4 per cent increase in GDP from 2021 to 2050.

Businesses in the energy efficiency sector can provide products and services, such as lighting systems, smart buildings, and efficient industrial processes on the continent, it said.

While Carbon markets are seen as an incredible opportunity to unlock billions for the climate finance needs of African economies while expanding energy access, some carbon credit experts stress the need for the African Union (AU) as a continental body to position itself economically on equal footings with other major economic blocks.

“There are thousands of billions of dollars are being allocated as loans on high-interest terms to poor countries seeking help to cope with climate change impacts,” said Adhel Kaboub, Associate Professor of economics at Denison University in Ohio, USA, and the president of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity.

“Through these schemes, Africa cannot continue to play the role of source of cheap raw materials while serving as a large consumer market for the Global North,” he said.

Rwanda is among the countries planning to use carbon markets to meet their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCS) to the Paris Agreement.

Currently, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) are the two operational mechanisms allowing the country to earn carbon credit units by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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553927

Fourteen members of the Albanian State Police (ASP) participated in a training programme titled “Synthetic Drugs Trafficking - A Global Growing Threat” from 27 to 29 September 2023. The training was organized by the OSCE Presence in Albania with the support of the US Justice Department International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP), US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Belgian Federal Judicial Police.

The training programme introduced the ASP investigators with the latest trends in production, illicit trafficking, and distribution of new synthetic drugs regionally and globally. It also provided them with the best international practices in investigating and dismantling organized crime groups involved in illicit trafficking of synthetic drugs.

The activity was part of the OSCE Presence’s projects “Supporting Albanian law enforcement to tackle serious and organized crime and improve regional co-operation” aiming to assist Albanian law enforcement agencies in developing capacities, improving professionalism, learn from best practices and supporting police development and reform.

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« Marrakech est prête », a déclaré mercredi dernier, la ministre de l'Economie et des Finances du Maroc lors d'un entretien avec le Président du Groupe de la Banque mondiale (GBM), Ajay Banga, et la Directrice générale du Fonds monétaire international (FMI), Kristalina Georgieva. Nadia Fettah s'était rendue à Washington, aux sièges respectifs des deux institutions, où elle a rassuré que tout est mis en place pour la bonne tenue des Assemblées annuelles du FMI et de la Banque mondiale à Marrakech.

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553915 Marina Živaljević

Ombudsperson offices have been playing a critical role in enforcing a better respect of human rights, international conventions and democratic values in the region, their landmark being the trust of citizens.  This was one of the conclusions of a regional conference organized on the occasion of 20 years of existence of the institution of the Montenegrin Ombudsman, with the support of the OSCE Mission.

On 28 and 29 September, representatives from 12 ombudspersons institutions and equality bodies from Belgrade, Pristina, Sarajevo, Skopje, Tirana and Zagreb exchanged their views and discussed the many common challenges that their institutions have to cope with, such as non-discrimination, countering hate speech,  free access to information, cooperation with courts, situation of migrants or minors, education of civil servants on Human Rights, preparation of public administration to crisis and the monitoring of implementation of their recommendations, among others.

The conference was opened by the President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović, through a video message, encouraging the Ombudsperson’s Office in Montenegro to continue protecting the principles of rule of law, legal certainty, legality and impartiality in the work of all state bodies.

Head of the OSCE Mission, Dominique Waag, praised the work of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, in supporting a democratic system where institutions have to be transparent and accountable. “The Protector for human rights and freedoms and the OSCE Mission share similar concerns. Together with the Protector’s Office, the Mission works to counter hate speech in the media. We encourage pluralistic debate and increased media attention to promote tolerance of ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural diversity. We encourage each of you to pay special attention to women who speak out in public, as politicians, civil society activists or journalists who face a continual barrage of hate speech,” said Ambassador Waag recalling some of the OSCE principles and commitments, such as the promotion tolerance towards people of other convictions and beliefs, and the prevention of aggressive nationalism, racism, chauvinism and xenophobia.

She added that gender-based violence and how it is dealt with by the courts is a shared concern. “Further, we expect the presumption of innocence to be fully respected not only by the media. The Mission shares the observations of the Ombudsman, based on complaints received, about the excessive delays of trials, and pays attention among others to the observations made concerning the security sector and police,” said Ambassador Waag.

The Protector Siniša Bjeković pointed out a very demanding period for the work of independent institutions, stating the importance of providing appropriate material, financial, spatial, personnel and normative capacities. “Without continuous tolerant dialogue, without understanding between people, every idea, no matter how good it is, carries the risk of being compromised, especially in situations when the echo of the irrational, such as hatred, silences the voices of reason, such as those who call on respect for human rights and freedoms and the innate dignity of people,” said Protector Bjeković.

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