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Le ministre russe des Affaires étrangères, Sergueï Lavrov, a exclu le déploiement de troupes étrangères en Ukraine dans le cadre d’un accord de paix — un refus qui pourrait faire échouer les efforts pour mettre fin à la guerre.

The post La Russie exclut tout déploiement militaire étranger en Ukraine appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Pour l'Ukraine, perdre l'ouest de Donetsk signifierait la chute d'un rempart contre toute future avancée russe.

Dans leur déclaration commune publiée jeudi 21 août, Bruxelles et Washington précisent certains aspects de l’accord commercial conclu en juillet. Cependant, plusieurs engagements dans le domaine numérique restent flous.

The post Accord UE-États-Unis : dans le domaine numérique, certains points restent flous appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Az Energiaügyi Minisztérium által a Nemzeti Kutatási, Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal, mint Lebonyolító útján meghirdetett „Energetikai kutatás-fejlesztési projektek támogatása” című pályázati felhívás célja, hogy a hazai piacról még hiányzó innovatív energiatechnológiai fejlesztéseket ösztönözze.

Un haut fonctionnaire de l’UE a confirmé jeudi 21 août qu’il fallait s’attendre à d’autres « exclusions » tarifaires, étant donné que les États-Unis s’intéressent à « certains systèmes d’armement » et aux semi-conducteurs.

The post La défense ne sera pas épargnée par les tarifs douaniers de Donald Trump appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaks at the Commemoration Ceremony for World Humanitarian Day 2025, held at Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Credit: UN Photo/Violaine Martin

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 22 2025 (IPS)

World Humanitarian Day (August 19) honors humanitarian aid workers, raises public awareness for humanitarian crises, and advocate for strengthened international cooperation. Through this year’s theme, A Call to #ActForHumanity, the United Nations underscored the need for increased funding for lifesaving humanitarian missions, stronger protections for aid personnel, and accountability for violations of international law.

“Humanitarian workers are the last lifeline for over 300 million people caught in conflict or disaster,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “Yet funding for that lifeline is drying up. And those who provide humanitarian aid are increasingly under attack…On this World Humanitarian Day, let’s honour the fallen with action: To protect every aid worker – and invest in their safety. To stop the lies that cost lives. To strengthen accountability and bring perpetrators to justice. To end arms flows to parties that violate international law”.

According to figures from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 2024 marked a record high for the number of humanitarian personnel deaths to date, with 383 killed while in the line of duty or in their homes. Another 308 workers were injured, 125 kidnapped, and 45 detained. Compared to the previous year, violence against aid workers rose significantly across 21 countries, with government forces being the most common perpetrators.

Humanitarian experts have expressed concern over the sharp rise in attacks targeting humanitarian workers in 2025, with an estimated 265 killed as of August 14. CARE International reports that this represents a 50 percent increase compared to the same period last year, warning that 2025 could surpass 2024’s record death toll if the trend continues.

“Even one attack against a humanitarian colleague is an attack on all of us and on the people we serve,” said Tom Fletcher, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. “Attacks on this scale, with zero accountability, are a shameful indictment of international inaction and apathy…Violence against aid workers is not inevitable. It must end.”

According to figures from CARE, in 2025, roughly 97 percent of the killed aid workers were national staff. Since 2022, the number of aid workers killed annually has doubled, with this being largely attributed to increased attacks from the Israeli military in Gaza. In 2025, approximately 180 aid workers were killed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory alone.

Palestinian aid workers have not only faced targeted attacks but, like the rest of the population, struggle to access essential services, such as food, water and healthcare. Olga Cherevko from OCHA stated that aid workers in Palestine have “lost everything and several times over”, and face exhaustion from being overstretched and maneuvering in dangerous conditions. Additionally, many aid workers have reported facing significant access challenges due to hostilities. Samah, a malnutrition expert working for CARE in Deir Al-Balah described being unable to commute to work due to the threat of sniper fire at critical checkpoints.

Yuliia Hladka, Programme Manager at Winds of Change in Ukraine, stated that aid workers in Ukraine face regular threats of kidnapping and torture, with many also experiencing “profound psychological exhaustion”. Hladka added that aid workers in Ukraine also face risks of shellings, limited evacuation options during attacks, and increased surveillance. Female aid workers in Ukraine face heightened risks of harassment, which greatly impedes their ability to help children and victims of gender-based violence.

“We are witnessing a disturbing trend of blatant violations of international humanitarian law,” said Deepmala Mahla, CARE’s Global Humanitarian Director. “The perpetrators must be held to account, as well as the world leaders who have consistently failed to take sufficient action to prevent these attacks… Attempts to prevent humanitarians from doing our jobs are not only death sentences for aid staff but also for the people we are trying to assist”.

The UN emphasizes the importance of humanitarian assistance today, with many countries facing critical turning points in their humanitarian crises. The efficacy of humanitarian assistance is often challenged by the unpredictability of conflict zones, as well as numerous funding cuts and a vast, expanding scale of needs.

“Everyone’s still showing up (to work), but courage alone and commitment alone isn’t going to feed people, isn’t going to save people,” said Cherevko on the crisis in Gaza. “What we need is, again, a permanent ceasefire. We need political solutions to this conflict and a resolution to this crisis.”

According to the 2025 edition of OCHA’s Global Humanitarian Overview, approximately 305.1 million people in 72 countries rely on humanitarian assistance for survival. Roughly 4 out of 5 of all civilian deaths in conflict hotspots occurred in countries that have submitted humanitarian appeals. With food insecurity, displacement, and disease running rampant in these regions, it is imperative that there is a coordinated and unimpeded humanitarian response. For 2025, the UN has appealed for over 47 billion USD to assist over 190 million people in 72 countries.

Due to severe funding shortfalls from budget cuts, many lifesaving programs have been forced to scale back their efforts or prioritize the most urgent populations, leaving significant gaps unattended. Additionally, the lack of funding severely restricts flexibility in humanitarian responses, with strategies for anticipated emergencies and flash appeals being the most affected.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Least Developed Countries account for less than 1 percent of world trade. Credit: Ali Mkumbwa/Unsplash

By Deodat Maharaj
GEBZE, Türkiye, Aug 22 2025 (IPS)

Artificial intelligence and the use of frontier technologies are already transforming trade and boosting prosperity, particularly for developed and some developing countries. This ranges from the digital exchange of documents, the digitalisation of trade processes and leveraging online platforms to fast-track cross-border trade.

The rapid adoption of new technologies will further consolidate the dominance of world trade by developed economies, which currently account for roughly 74 percent of global trade, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The world’s 44 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), with a population of an estimated 1.4 billion people, are seeing a different trajectory altogether. According to the World Trade Organisation, they account for less than 1 percent of the world’s merchandise trade. LDCs continue to reel from the relentless onslaught of bad news, including increased protectionist barriers.

Deodat Maharaj, Managing Director of the United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries.

UNCTAD has estimated that tariffs on LDCs will have a devastating consequence, possibly leading to an estimated 54 percent reduction in the exports from the world’s poorest countries.

In this dire situation, exacerbated by declining overseas development assistance, what does an LDC do to survive in this difficult trade environment?

To start with, they must continue to advocate globally for fairer terms of trade. At the same time, they need to be more aggressive in addressing matters for which they have control. Otherwise, the status quo will leave their people in a perpetually disadvantageous situation. Imagine paying three times more than your competitors just to ship a single crate of goods across a border. For millions of entrepreneurs in the world’s LDCs, it is the everyday cost of doing business. Technology offers a way out in reducing these high costs.

Indeed, when the international community gathered in Sevilla for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in July 2025, one truth stood out: Technology is no longer a luxury—it is a prerequisite for effective participation in global trade. The outcome document was clear that for the world’s 44 LDCs, bridging infrastructure gaps, building domestic technological capacity, and leveraging science, technology, and innovation are vital to unlocking trade opportunities.

So, given the challenges and opportunities, what forms the core elements of an action agenda for LDCs to leverage trade to generate jobs and opportunities for their people?

Firstly, there is a need to pivot to digital solutions, which can dramatically reduce trade costs and open new markets. According to the World Bank, paperless customs and single-window systems have been proven to cut clearance times by up to 50 percent, reducing bureaucracy that stifles commerce. In Benin, automating port procedures reduced processing time from 18 days to just three days (World Bank). E-commerce platforms, when paired with secure payment systems and targeted training, have shown remarkable potential.

Secondly, invest in digital infrastructure. The data suggest that LDCs still have a lot of catching up to do. The solution is for development partners and the international financial institutions to steer more resources in this area with a fixed percentage of resources, say, 15 percent of a country’s portfolio dedicated to boosting digital infrastructure.

Thirdly, focus on value addition and reduce transition away from the export of raw commodities. This in turn requires the human resource capacity to spur innovation and creativity. Boosting investment in research and development can pay rich dividends.

According to the World Economic Forum, LDCs invest less than 1 percent of GDP in research and development compared to developed countries. The Republic of Korea invests 4%.

Finally, for LDCs to enter the technological age, their businesses must lead the way. It is difficult to do so in some countries like Burundi, where internet penetration is a mere 5 percent of the population. The average internet penetration is around 38 percent. So, in addition to digital infrastructure, support must be provided to micro-, small and medium-scale enterprises to benefit from the opportunities provided by technology to boost trade, thereby creating jobs and opportunities. This includes the establishment of incubators to support this business sector, boosting their technological capacities to trade and profile their businesses on digital platforms, and helping them to deliver services created by the digital economy. Rwanda has been a pioneer in this regard.

Of course, technology alone will not address all the challenges faced by LDCs. However, by delivering cost-efficient solutions, it can help level the playing field and drive transformation. It is time for the international community and development partners to back their words with action in helping LDCs advance this agenda. Since LDCs represent an emerging market of 1.4 billion people, when they rise, everyone else will rise with them.

Deodat Maharaj, a national of Trinidad and Tobago is the Managing Director of the United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries and can be reached at: deodat.maharaj@un.org

 

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Credit: United Nations

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 22 2025 (IPS)

A system-wide UN survey of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), described as “grave violations of human rights”, has revealed that in 2024, there were 675 allegations reported.

A UN message to staffers last week says this is “widely believed” to be “significant underreporting” because the real numbers may be much higher.

In 2023, 758 allegations were received, compared to 534 the previous year and 265 in 2018.

Of the 2023 figure, more than half, 384, were related to UN staff and affiliated personnel. The remainder concerned personnel from partners and non-UN military forces not under UN authority.

Risks increased significantly last year, with the unprecedented rise in humanitarian crises along with significant reductions in funding, especially in high-risk and complex contexts where the UN operates, according to the UN.

The deadline for this year’s survey has been extended through September 5.

In a message to staffers, the UN Special Coordinator on Improving UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, says: “We would like to thank everyone who has completed the survey so far – your engagement reflects your strong commitment to our values ensuring a safe, respectful environment free from sexual misconduct”.

“Your voice matters. We encourage those who have yet to complete the survey to take advantage of this brief extension period to express your views. Your voice is important in identifying the challenges and in helping to strengthen our collective efforts to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse across the system.”

“Your feedback helps shape real change – last year’s inputs enabled targeted concrete actions to be taken to address specific instances of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment along with improvements to how we protect people from sexual misconduct.”

Why take part?

The UN says:

• “We use your input to make a difference in how we prevent and address sexual misconduct
• It’s confidential – all responses are anonymous
• It’s quick and easy – it takes just a few minutes of your time!
• It’s inclusive – once again, the survey is available in 7 languages (6 official UN languages and Portuguese), and we have updated survey language to ensure accessibility for both UN and NGO personnel.”

Although progress has been made since 2017 through the establishment of new frameworks, policies and procedures, says the UN, sexual exploitation and abuse continues to occur across the UN system, particularly with peacekeeping forces.

https://conduct.unmissions.org/resources

Asked for her comments, Shihana Mohamed, a founding member, and one of the Coordinators of the United Nations Asia Network for Diversity and Inclusion, told IPS UN-ANDI firmly opposes all forms of discrimination, abuse, racism, bias, and harassment – including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, and the abuse of power and authority.

“Sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN system are not isolated incidents—they are symptoms of deeper, intersecting patterns of racism, bias, and entrenched power imbalances that silence victims and erode institutional trust,” she pointed out.

The UN-ANDI survey revealed that 17% of staff of Asian origin experienced harassment or discrimination, including threats, emotional abuse, and even physical assault. When over 60% report experiences of racism and more than half feel invisible in their workplaces, the message is clear: systemic discrimination fuels a culture where abuse persists, and justice is out of reach.

These figures are not just statistics—they are a clear indictment of a system where systemic discrimination fosters a culture in which abuse is normalized, and justice is routinely denied, she argued.

“As a global norm-setting body, the United Nations cannot afford to merely uphold a stance of zero tolerance. It must actively pursue a reality of zero occurrence—embedding accountability into both its policies and the conduct of its personnel at every level”.

Protecting dignity requires confronting not only individual misconduct, but also the structures and cultures that enable sexual exploitation and other abuses to persist.

Justice, equity, and safety cannot be aspirational values—they must be lived, enforced, and institutionalized, declared Mohamed, a Sri Lankan national and recipient of the Public Voices Fellowship on Advancing the Rights of Women and Girls – Equality Now.

UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters: “Our approach, which is centered on the rights and needs of victims, continues.”

“We are intensifying efforts to uphold the rights of victims, and to end impunity. This also includes engagement with Member States to facilitate the resolution of paternity claims.”

Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, MBE, Founder and CEO of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), told IPS: It’s 25 years since the Windhoek conference and declaration, when member states and the UN pledged to end peacekeepers’ sexual abuse and exploitation of women and girls in the communities they are mandated to protect.

“We have had SCR 1325 (Security Council Resolution) and other security council resolutions. There have been countless practical recommendations to mitigate such abuses,” she said.

For example, there was a recommendation to take simple mouth swabs as DNA samples of any peacekeeping and UN personnel sent out. This way any allegations of SEA could be verified immediately. But the UN leadership rejected the recommendation at the time, citing the human rights and privacy concerns for the international staff, she pointed out.

Abusers are meant to be investigated and held accountable in their own home countries. But this rarely happens.

“Yet those countries continue to provide peacekeepers. Why? There should be a rule that any incidents of SEA prevents that member state from contributing troops – until the trainings and conditions are addressed nationally”.

“We in the WPS community have also long called for increased recruitment and deployment of women as peacekeepers. The evidence shows that having just 5% more women in missions, correlates with 50% reduction of SEA. But despite the Elsie Initiatives we still see too few women recruited or given the opportunity to serve.”

The bottom line: when there is no political will or leadership honor to address such issues, they stay unresolved.

The tragedy is two fold: On the one hand we have incidents of young women being subjected to exploitation, and longer term trauma and likely ostracism, with no recourse. Their protectors became their abusers.

On the other hand, by not preventing or holding accountable the few perpetrators, the system denigrates itself and the thousands of extraordinary men and women who have dedicated their lives to service and to the protection of others, she noted.

“It’s hard to understand. But it is indicative of the abrogation of care and responsibility. The UN needs to take a firmer stance with troop contributing countries. They need to shift the shame and fear away from victims and on to the perpetrators.”

Perhaps if the peacekeepers were told that in case of any allegations, their families– mothers, daughters, wives– back home would be informed, they would think twice about abusing or exploiting local residents during deployment to war torn countries.

In a February 2025 report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says since 2017, “we have continued to devote considerable attention and effort to improving the way the sector addresses the issue”.

System-wide coordination structures, global standards, technical tools, training, improved reporting mechanisms, and increased country-level support and capacity have all contributed to enhancing prevention, response, and transparency.

“However, challenges persist, and we remain committed to addressing these”.

“Our approach, which prioritizes the rights and dignity of victims, remains a key objective of our strategy. Efforts are ongoing to ensure victims have a voice and better access to assistance and support”.

While the Trust Fund for Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse has been invaluable, very little funding remains in it. The Secretary-General urges Member States to make available adequate and sustainable support for prevention efforts and for victims and their children. Addressing the underlying issues such as inequality, extreme poverty, and lack of rule of law is crucial to ending this scourge.

The report also highlights the UN’s efforts to end impunity and ensure justice for victims. The Secretary-General calls on Member States to address accountability robustly and resolve outstanding paternity cases without delay. He remains steadfast and committed to effectively tackling this issue with the support of Member States.

“We will keep pushing forwards on this important issue,” said Guterres.

https://docs.un.org/en/A/79/789

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Le Premier ministre Edi Rama a lancé une vaste opération visant à dégager les espaces publics des installations illégales. Cette « Renaissance urbaine 2.0 » ressemble surtout à une mise en scène au service d'un pouvoir de plus en plus autoritaire.

- Articles / Albanie, Courrier des Balkans, Société, Politique, PS Albanie

If there is an inner voice that makes you want to work while on holiday, you might be a workaholic

As the EU prepares to discuss its 2040 emissions reduction target and Spain's anti-blackout decree is voted down by the country's Congress, wildfires in Europe show again why climate policy must go beyond party lines

Nigerian-American Cheta Emba fell in love with rugby while studying for a degree in molecular and cellular biology at one of the world's most famous universities.

Eloy Alfaro de Alba (with gavel), Permanent Representative of Panama to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the Month of August, chairs the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

By IPS Correspondent
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 21 2025 (IPS)

Human rights groups have expressed alarm over the surge in unprecedented executions in Saudi Arabia in 2025. Humanitarian experts have underscored the Saudi Arabian monarchy’s use of the death penalty to silence peaceful dissent among civilians and impose justice for minor offenses, with little to no due process.

On August 11, Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised the alarm on the rise in executions of civilians and foreign nationals in Saudi Arabia. Their new report highlighted the June 14 execution of journalist Turki al-Jasser, who worked to expose corruption and human rights violations linked to the Saudi monarchy.

Following al-Jasser’s execution, Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry issued a statement in which it accused al-Jasser of committing “terrorist crimes” and “destabilizing the security of society and the stability of the state”. This follows the 2024 execution of Abdullah al-Shamri, a Saudi political analyst, after appearing as a political commentator on broadcast news for prominent media organizations.

“The June 2025 execution of Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser, after seven years of arbitrary imprisonment on fabricated charges over his online publications, is a chilling testament to the kingdom’s zero tolerance to peaceful dissent and criticism, and a grim reminder of the peril journalists face in Saudi Arabia,” said Sylvia Mbataru, a researcher of civic space at CIVICUS Global Alliance.

HRW reports that Saudi authorities are pursuing the death penalty against Islamic scholar Salman al-Odah and religious reformist activist Hassan Farhan al-Maliki on vague charges related to the peaceful and public expression of their beliefs.

“Behind closed doors, Saudi Arabia is executing peaceful activists and journalists following politicized trials,” said Abdullah Alaoudh, senior director of countering authoritarianism at the Middle East Democracy Center. “These state-sanctioned killings are an assault on basic human rights and dignity that the world cannot afford to ignore.”

Figures from HRW show that as of August 5, Saudi authorities had carried out over 241 executions in 2025. including 22 alone on the week of August 4. Amnesty International reports that 2024 set a new record for annual executions in Saudi Arabia, documenting at least 345. The human rights organization Reprieve projects that if executions are carried out at the same rate, 2025 could exceed all prior records.

“Saudi authorities have weaponized the country’s justice system to carry out a terrifying number of executions in 2025,” said Joey Shea, researcher for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates at Human Rights Watch. “The surge in executions is just the latest evidence of the brutally autocratic rule of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.”

Estimates from Reprieve show that roughly 162 of this year’s recorded executions were for minor drug-related offenses, with over half involving foreign nationals. HRW reports that none of these executions followed due process, making it highly unlikely that any of those executed received a fair trial.

“Saudi Arabia’s relentless and ruthless use of the death penalty after grossly unfair trials not only demonstrates a chilling disregard for human life; its application for drug-related offenses is also an egregious violation of international law and standards,” said Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“We are witnessing a truly horrifying trend, with foreign nationals being put to death at a startling rate for crimes that should never carry the death penalty. This report exposes the dark and deadly reality behind the progressive image that the authorities attempt to project globally.”

Earlier this year, Amnesty International, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, and Justice Project Pakistan documented the cases of 25 foreign nations who were on death row or have been executed in Saudi Arabia for drug-related offenses. The investigation found that the majority of individuals on death row were not afforded their fundamental human rights, such as access to a legal representative, interpretation services, and consular support. Additionally, Amnesty International reported that in many of these cases, individuals from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds faced heightened risks of discrimination in legal proceedings.

Furthermore, it was reported that at least four of these cases involved the use of torture and ill treatment in detention facilities to extract confessions from individuals charged with drug-related crimes. For many of these individuals, their families were not informed of the status of their convictions and were only notified of an execution the day prior. In all cases of execution, Amnesty International reported that the bodies of executed individuals were withheld by Saudi authorities.

The recent surge in executions has drawn immense criticism from human rights groups for violating international humanitarian law. Although Saudi Arabia has not acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a multilateral treaty adopted by the UN that promoted an inherent right to life and due process, it has ratified the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which obligates that Saudi Arabian security forces are only to use the death penalty for the “most serious crimes”.

Mandeep Tiwana, the Secretary-General of CIVICUS Global Alliance, informed IPS that the current civic space conditions in Saudi Arabia are listed as “closed”, indicating that civilians hold little to no power and are bereft of the ability to represent themselves in governmental affairs and peacefully dissent. “This means that those who criticize the authorities or engage in protests of any kind or seek to form associations that demand transformational change can face severe forms of persecution including imprisonment for long periods, physical abuse and even death.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Credit: Nacho Doce/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Aug 21 2025 (IPS)

It’s peak holiday season across Europe and North America, and people are hitting the beaches and crowding into city centres in ever-increasing numbers. They’re part of a huge industry: last year, travel and tourism’s share of the global economy stood at US$10.9 trillion, around 10 per cent of the world’s GDP.

But residents in tourist destinations are keenly aware of the downsides: overwhelming visitor numbers, permanent changes in their neighbourhoods, antisocial behaviour, strained local services, environmental impacts including litter and pollution, and soaring housing costs.

Overtourism occurs when the industry systematically impacts on residents’ quality of life. It’s a growing problem, reflected in recent protests in several countries, with grassroots civil society groups demanding more sustainable approaches.

Residents’ protests

June brought coordinated protests across Europe. In Barcelona, a city of 1.6 million people that receives 32 million visitors a year, the Neighbourhood Assembly for Tourism Degrowth organised a protest that saw people tape off hotel entrances, set off smoke bombs and fire water pistols. In Genoa, protesters dragged a replica cruise ship through the medieval centre’s maze of alleys to highlight the impacts of cruise tourism. Actions had been coordinated at a meeting in April between representatives from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, who formed the Southern European Network Against Touristification.

These weren’t the first protests. Thousands took to the streets in Spain’s Canary Islands in May, while last year people protested in several European cities. Most recently, residents of Montmartre in Paris hung banners outside their houses pointing out how overtourism is changing their neighbourhood.

Civil society groups are taking action beyond protests. In the Netherlands, residents’ group Amsterdam Has a Choice is threatening legal action against the city council. In 2021, following a civil society-led petition, the council set a limit of 20 million overnight tourist stays a year. But research shows this limit has consistently been exceeded. Now the group could take the city to court to enforce it.

People are protesting across multiple countries because they face the same problem: overtourism is changing their communities and, increasingly, driving them away.

Overtourism impacts

Tourism may create jobs, but these are often low-paid or seasonal jobs with few labour rights or opportunities for career progression. In places with intensive tourism, everyday businesses that residents rely on are often replaced by those oriented towards tourists, with established firms squeezed out by high rents.

Environmental impacts may hit residents while tourists are protected from them: campaigners in Ibiza complain that water shortages mean they’re subject to restrictions, but hotels face no such limitations. Common areas residents once relied on, such as beaches and parks, can become overcrowded and degraded. Ultimately, communities can be turned into stage sets and sites of extraction, impacting on crucial matters of identity and belonging. That’s why one movement in Spain calls itself ‘Less Tourism, More Life’.

Housing costs are a major concern in overtourism protests. In many countries, the costs of buying or renting somewhere to live are soaring, far outstripping wages. Young people are particularly hard hit, forced to hand over ever-higher proportions of their income in rent. Tourism is driving the increasing use of properties for short-term holiday rentals instead of permanent residences. People who live in tourist hotspots have seen once-viable homes bought as investments for short-term lets, causing a loss of available housing and driving up the price of what’s left.

People who live in apartment blocks that have largely become used for short-term rentals complain of their communities being hollowed out: they lack neighbours but frequently have to put up with antisocial behaviour. The sector is often underregulated, and landlords may find regulations easy to ignore and taxes easy to avoid. Spain alone has an estimated 66,000 illegal tourist apartments.

Action needed

Overtourism protests hit the headlines last year when a group sprayed water at tourists in Barcelona. But in the main, protesters are making clear they don’t want to target tourists and aren’t motivated by xenophobia. They want a fair balance between tourists enjoying their holidays and locals being able to live their lives. They want those who reap tourism’s profits to pay their fair share to fix the problems.

Protests are having an impact, with authorities taking steps to rein in holiday rentals. Last year a Spanish court ordered the removal of almost 5,000 Airbnb listings following a complaint that they breached tourism regulations. The mayor of Barcelona has announced plans to eliminate short-term tourist rentals within five years by refusing to renew licences as they expire. Authorities in Lisbon have paused the issuing of short-term rental licences, and those in Athens have introduced a one-year ban on new registrations. That still leaves plenty of regulatory gaps across many countries, and national and local governments should engage with campaigners to further develop regulations.

Many local authorities have also implemented tourist taxes, while Venice has started to charge a peak-season access fee for non-residents and Athens now assigns time slots as a way of managing numbers at the Parthenon. It’s important that taxes and charges aren’t used simply to extract more cash from tourists or dampen demand; money generated must directly help affected communities and mitigate the harm caused by overtourism.

Authorities also need to be more careful about the marketing choices they make and consider whether they’re promoting tourism too widely. Marketing campaigns should try to sensitise visitors about the impacts they can have, and to make choices that minimise them.

Movements campaigning against overtourism are sure to grow, connecting groups concerned about environmental, housing and labour issues as the problem worsens, and as climate change places even greater strain on scarce resources. Overtourism concerns are ultimately an expression of frustration with a bigger problem – that economies don’t work for the benefit of most people. States and the international community must urgently grapple with the question of how to make economies fairer, more sustainable and less extractive – and they must listen to the movements against overtourism that are helping sound the alarm.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 

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Russia's foreign minister said foreign troops in Ukraine "would be absolutely unacceptable" in a meeting with his Indian counterpart

Près de dix ans après la mort d’un joggeur sur la côte bretonne, empoisonné par des gaz toxiques issus d’une prolifération d’algues liées à la pollution agricole, la région affirme avoir pris des mesures. Mais les associations environnementales avertissent que la menace est loin d’être écartée.

The post Algues vertes toxiques : un fléau persistant pour les rivières et le littoral breton appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Ibrahim Traoré (IB) arrivé au pouvoir au Burkina Faso il y a trois ans, continue de cultiver les ressemblances avec l’ancien capitaine révolutionnaire Thomas Sankara.

La Croix-Rouge de Belgique a lancé mercredi 20 août un appel « super urgent » aux dons de sang, car la propagation du moustique tigre à travers l’Europe limite les possibilités de dons.

The post En Belgique, les réserves de sang fondent « comme neige au soleil » alors que le moustique tigre se propage appeared first on Euractiv FR.

However, the battle may not be over as neither Brussels nor the member states seem willing to abandon these key industries

Près d’un mois après avoir trouvé un compromis en Écosse, Bruxelles et Washington ont précisé jeudi 21 août les contours de leur accord commercial.

The post L’UE et les États-Unis finalisent l’accord commercial trouvé en juillet appeared first on Euractiv FR.