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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 14th, 2008 India’s humble rickshaw goes solar. Developed by the state-run Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), prototypes are receiving a baptism of fire by being road-tested in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk area. “The most important achievement will be improving the lot of rickshaw drivers,” said Pradip Kumar Sarmah, head of the non-profit Centre for Rural Development. “It will dignify the job and reduce the labour of pedalling. From rickshaw pullers, they will become rickshaw drivers,” Sarmah said. India has an estimated eight million cycle-rickshaws. The makeover includes FM radios and powerpoints for charging mobile phones during rides. Gone are the flimsy metal and wooden frames that give the regular Delhi rickshaws a tacky, sometimes dubious look. The “soleckshaw,” which has a top speed of 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) per hour, has a sturdier frame and sprung, foam seats for up to three people. The fully-charged solar battery will power the rickshaw for 50 to 70 kilometres (30 to 42 miles). Used batteries can be deposited at a centralised solar-powered charging station and replaced for a nominal fee. If the tests go well, the “soleckshaw” will be a key transport link between sporting venues at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. “Rickshaws were always environment friendly. Now this gives a totally new image that would be more acceptable to the middle-classes,” said Anumita Roychoudhary of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment. “Rickshaws have to be seen as a part of the solution for modern traffic woes and pollution. They have never been the problem. The problem is the proliferation of automobiles using fossil fuels,” she said. Initial public reaction to the “soleckshaw” has been generally favourable, and the rickshaw pullers have few doubts about its benefits. “Pedalling the rickshaw was very difficult for me,” said Bappa Chatterjee, 25, who migrated to the capital from West Bengal and is one of the 500,000 pullers in Delhi. “I used to suffer chest pains and shortage of breath going up inclines. This is so much easier. “Earlier, when people hailed us it was like, ‘Hey you rickshaw puller!’ Police used to harass us, slapping fines even abusing us for what they called wrong parking. Now people look at me with respect,” Chatterjee said. Mohammed Matin Ansari, another migrant from eastern Bihar state, said the new model offered parity with car, bus and scooter drivers. “Now we are as good as them,” he said. Indian authorities have big dreams for the “soleckshaw.” India’s Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal who hailed the invention for its “zero carbon foot print” said it should be used beyond the confines of Delhi. “Soleckshaws would be ideal for small families visiting the Taj Mahal,” he told AFP. At present battery-operated buses ferry people to the iconic monument in Agra — but their limited numbers cannot cope with the heavy tourist rush. CSIR director Sinha said he hoped an advanced version of the “soleckshaw” with a car-like body would become a viable alternative to the “small car” favoured by Indian middle class families. “Greenhouse gas emissions are showing an increasing trend year on year and 60 percent of this comes from the global transport sector. “In the age of global warming, the soleckshaw, with improvements, can be successfully developed as competition for all the petrol and diesel run small cars,” Sinha said. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 13th, 2008 Thanks to Timothy Gardner of Reuters, we have the important “Taxing or Trading Carbon” Yom Kippur discussion, October 9, 2008, at Columbia University, that we could not participate because of its timing. We knew that this was going to be a very important event designed to focus attention on the critical core elements of the global climate change negotiations’ financial methodology and ask the important question - will it be the Kyoto Mechanisms or some sort of Carbon Tax that can lead us to the desired result of reduction in Green House Gases? We had two postings related to the announcement of this event of October 3, 2008 - where we pointed out that somehow the UN manages to have important events exactly on Yom Kippur.
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The discussion was chaired by IISD (the Canadian based International Institute For Sustainable Development) Climate Change and Energy Director John Drexhage, and we are grateful to him for noting at the start of the meeting that unfortunate timing. Also, Professor Jeffrey Sachs told me that he was not involved in setting that date.
The two main discussants were: Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Two additional discussants were: Geneva-based International Emissions Trading Association President and CEO Henry Derwent, who was previously the UK negotiator at the climate change meetings, and Columbia University Ewing-Worzel Professor of Geophysics Klaus S. Lackner, whose work is on Carbon Sequestration and Storage (CCS).
Obviously, these days, the topic of discussion got even more complicated then originally anticipated because of the ongoing global financial crisis and market uncertainty presenting further critical questions for governments working to establish a framework to address climate change.
In addition to all of this, John Drexhage also took notice of the upcoming October 14, 2008 Canadian elections, where how to handle climate change and environment dangers has become a main topic of the political campaign.
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The Timothy Gardner reporting i titled “Carbon Tax Endorsed by Director of Earth Institute at Columbia University.” - and the essence - “Climate taxes, not cap and trade markets alone, will lead to the vast technological changes the world’s energy system needs to fight global warming, a top U.S. economist said on Thursday. Cap and trade has emerged as the dominant attempt to slow global warming. Global deals in permits to emit greenhouse gas emissions have hit nearly $65 billion a year. The European Union, under the Kyoto Protocol, has embraced cap and trade since 2005 and voluntary markets have developed in the United States, the developed world’s top carbon polluter. But a straight carbon tax on energy production — at an oil wellhead or refinery for instance — would be simpler and cheaper than putting a cap on tens of thousands of polluters, Jeffrey Sachs, a special advisor to the U.N. secretary general and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University told a panel on Thursday. As the world prepares to form a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol by the end of next year, focus is sharpening on how well cap and trade markets are fighting emissions. Carbon taxes would quickly cut emissions across all sectors of the economy, including vehicles and manufacturing, said Sachs. It could also be more efficient than spreading the trade of permits across the financial system.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7847667 Similarly, Kate Galbraith, of the New York Times, reported on New York Times online, October 9, 2008, “Debate over Climate Change at Columbia University“ and the essence - “In a wide-ranging debate at Columbia University on Thursday morning, Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia’s Earth Institute, faced off over how best to address climate change.” http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/climate-change/?ei=5070 A Webcast of the forum is available here.
In the meantime we present here the material as we collected it, so our readers can have access to this important exchange of ideas, but we will return and look up closer at the two hour long video recording of the meeting that provides a wealth of ideas for a possible alternative path to the one that was pushed by the US in 1997 at Kyoto, and then dropped as if it were a hot potato. The reality is that the world has lost 8 years - because of the fact that the US has lost 8 years - and when we start figuring out what to do with the present global recession - it is only reasonable to assume that we will not go back to the Kyoto route, but something new will have to emerge under new US leadership - in partnership with the emerging powers in the rest of the world, and the old industrialized States.
The fact that the UN was aiming at the Copenhagen December 2009 meeting as target date, was really not stressed at this discussion, I even heard from Professor Sachs that while before that date seemed to be too far in the future, now, with the world in need of stabilizing the economies, it seems too near.
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 11th, 2008
Paris Conference: Simone Veil, Holocaust Survivor and Ex-President of European Parliament, Voices Plea on Durban II
Paris — Speaking before a UN audience, Simone Veil, Holocaust survivor and former president of the European Parliament, urged the international community to prevent a recurrence of the 2001 Durban debacle, where a world conference on racism became a hatefest for demonstrators attacking Israel and praising the policies of Adolph Hitler. She addressed the UN’s recent annual conference of non-governmental organizations, assembled in Paris to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing there of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “In Geneva, we are now starting to look forward to the conference which will follow that of Durban in 2001. May I make an appeal? I would not like there to be the same form of overspill, the same events which occurred in the sidelines of Durban. I know that the international community would condemn that if it were to recur.” More… Paris Conference: French Human Rights Minister Slams Human Rights Council Censorship, Sides With Embattled NGO Activist
Speaking on the same podium as Veil, French secretary of state for human rights Rama Yade voiced the strongest international backing yet for the human rights activist who was silenced by the Human Rights Council for daring to mention Islamic Sharia law. Showing more courage and candor than any other European official to date, Yade said that “certain governments would like certain forms of slander to be acknowledged as criminal law offences which run counter to the principle of universality upon which human rights are predicated.” She added, “it is very saddening that within the UN Human Rights Council, last June, a speaker of an NGO was censored because he was talking about the stoning of women in countries applying Sharia law. We have to be very determined as to maintaining the universal nature of human rights even if they are mistreated by States who defend a view of things that they themselves describe as cultural.” More…. Paris Conference: UN Watch Director Heads Expert Panel on Human Rights Council, Urges Protection for Free Speech
As vice-president of the Geneva NGO Special Committee on Human Rights, UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer headed an expert panel at the UN’s recent annual conference of non-governmental organizations, assembled in Paris to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing there of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The conference gathered 1,700 NGOs associated with the United Nations for three days of debate. Neuer chaired a panel discussion on the UN Human Rights Council, co-sponsored by the Conference of NGOs and Pax Romana, featuring Willy Fautre of Human Rights Frontiers International, Peter Prove of the Lutheran World Federation, Paula Schriefer of Freedom House, and Lukas Machon of the International Commission of Jurists. More…
UN Watch Responds to UN Rights Chief, Iran, Egypt Addressing the matter of Durban II, the UN’s so-called “anti-racism” conference set for Geneva in April 2009, UN rights chief Navi Pillay suggested the West was solely to blame for the troubles plaguing the planned world gathering. Iran, Egypt and Pakistan echoed her remarks. Joining the debate, UN Watch pointed out the distortions of Durban II that give cause for legitimate concerns among Western states and proponents of human rights and the anti-racism cause. Protecting Human Rights UN Debate: “Free Jailed Bloggers,” says UN Watch
UN Watch Defends Expert Mandate for Darfur UN Watch called on all UN member states to honour the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declarartion of Human Rights by releasing jailed bloggers, writers and journalists. Even as UN investigator Sima Samar reported to the Human Rights Council of Sudan’s crimes on Darfur — mass killing, sexual violence against women and children, wholesale violation of human rights — Sudan, Egypt for the African group, and other states demanded the termination of her mandate. UN Watch rallied to the defense of the embattled human rights expert. UN Debate: Israel Under Assault Council Bans UN Chief’s Critique of Anti-Israel Bias, Raps UN Watch After Palestinian Envoy Compares Israelis to Nazis, UN Watch Recalls Haj Amin Al Husseini’s Alliance with Adolph Hitler
Under a September 18 ruling by the UN Human Rights Council, it is now prohibited to quote Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s critique of the council’s special agenda item targeting Israel, during debates held under that item. So ruled Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov of Azerbaijan, vice-president of the 47-nation body, after UN Watch quoted from Ban Ki-moon’s June 2007 statement. During a vitriolic session opened by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Amirbayov expressed no objections when governments and NGO speakers compared Israel to Nazi Germany, treating each with full parliamentary protocol. But after UN Watch responded, the council vice-president banged his gavel, declined to thank UN Watch, and prohibited any speaker “to put into question the agenda.” On previous occasions, UN Watch quoted Ban Ki-moon’s critique of the council’s biased agenda without incident. Click for Video
The Durban II Debates: UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer on Al Jazeera With Riz Khan
New York, Sept. 24, 2008 – In the first major TV debate on Durban II, the UN’s upcoming “anti-racism” parley, UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer debated Islamic Human Rights Commission Chair Massoud Shadjareh, the controversial leader of mass anti-Israel demonstrations at the original 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa. Leading Newspapers in the World Quote UN Watch on United Nations, Human Rights and Durban II…
“Navi Pillay tire dans la mauvaise direction’, a réagi l’ONG ‘UN Watch’. Et de se demander pourquoi la Haut Commissaire ne critique pas plutôt l’attitude du Soudan, de l’Iran et de la Libye ‘qui ont commencé à détourner la conférence’ de ses buts…” – “Reprise du Conseil des droits de l’homme Navi Pillay veut sauver la conférence de Genève contre le racisme,” Schweizerische Depeschenagentur AG, service de base francais, Sept 9, 2008.
“The threat of Western non-participation remains the only force with the slightest chance of preventing the conference from degenerating into an out-and-out fiasco…” — H. Neuer quoted in “UN rights official urge US, Canada, Israel to join anti-racism meeting,” Agence France Presse, Sept. 8, 2008.
“The threat of Western non-participation remains the only force with the slightest chance of preventing the conference (Durban-2) from degenerating into an out-and-out fiasco…” — H. Neuer quoted in L. Maclnnis “New UN human rights chief calls for racism debate,” Reuters, Sept. 9, 2008.
“…Ms. Pillay must denounce the proposal adopted last week by African states in Nigeria that attacks free speech, singles out Israel, and endorses a text calling for the elimination of Zionism and comparing it to apartheid…” — H. Neuer quoted in B. Avni, “Planned Conference on Racism Raises Concerns at the U.N.,’” The New York Sun, Sept. 5, 2008.
“Haute Commissaire Pillay a exhorté tous les Etats à participer à la Conférence d’avril, même ceux qui ont exprimé leur volonté de ne pas le faire. Cette déclaration a suscité l’ire d’UN Watch. L’ONG ne comprend pas pourquoi Navanetham Pillay fait allusion aux démocraties telles que le Canada, les Etats-Unis et Israël qui ont déjà promis de boycotter le sommet genevois. Pour UN Watch, la haut-commissaire se trompe de cible et devrait plutôt fustiger l’attitude d’Etats comme le Soudan ou l’Iran…” — “Droits humains: ce qui attend la haut-commissaire,” Le Temps, Sept. 9, 2008.
“…«Navi Pillay tire dans la mauvaise direction», a réagi l’ONG «UN Watch». Et de se demander pourquoi la haut-commissaire ne critique pas plutôt l’attitude du Soudan, de l’Iran et de la Libye «qui ont commencé à détourner la conférence» de ses buts….” — H. Neuer quoted in “Conférence sur le racisme: le premier défi de Navi Pillay,” La Tribune de Genève, Sept. 15, 2008.
“All of these African victims, and millions more in the future, are harmed by the [African Durban preparatory] conference’s failure to ensure accountability for crimes committed in African countries,’ said Hillel Neuer, executive director of Geneva-based UN Watch….” — “Africa states to raise Palestinian issue at UN forum,” Reuters, Aug. 26, 2008.
“…The text [the declaration adopted by an African regional meeting] according to UN-Watch’s executive director Hillel Neuer, ‘flouts international human rights principles, and breaches the red lines set by France, Britain, the Netherlands, and other Western states, which they have warned could trigger their boycott of the 2009 meeting in Geneva’….” — “Africa wants racism, xenophobia to be criminalized,” Agence France Presse, Aug. 26, 2008. Also published in The Herald (Zimbabwe).
“…More recently we were informed by Hillel Neuer, UN Watch executive director, and one of Canada’s unsung heroes, that a declaration adopted on Aug. 26, 2008, by an African regional meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, ‘fails to address racial and ethnic crimes committed by Sudan, tramples international human rights guarantees on free speech, places Islam above all other religions, and targets Israel alone, implying that it is uniquely racist.’…” — N. Emmanuel, “Darfur: Two Measures for Muslim Corpses,” The Suburban, Sept. 3, 2008.
“Portraying Israel’s conflict as racial is more than political mischief…It’s an attempt to dehumanize Israelis and their supporters as uniquely evil’…” — H. Neuer quoted in P. Goodenough, “African States Want to Condemn Israel While Ignoring Darfur,” CNS News, Aug. 29, 2008.
“…« La déclaration ne fait pas mention des crimes raciaux et ethniques commis au Soudan, piétine les droits internationaux garantissant la liberté d’expression, place l’Islam à une position supérieure aux autres religions et vise Israël comme étant un pays raciste » rapporte Hillel Neuer, directeur de l’organisation UN Watch, qui promeut les Droits de l’Hommes à travers le monde…” — Guysen International, “Durban II, le retour!”, Aug. 27, 2008.
“A draft document circulating at the United Nations suggests human rights violators will get off the hook at the upcoming Durban II anti-racism conference in Geneva while Israel will again come in for special opprobrium, and the West – including its fundamental respect for free speech – will come under attack, said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch…” — “Durban II prep conference called a concern,” The Canadian Jewish News, Sept. 18, 2008.
“…Pillay müsse ihr Amt vor allem dazu nutzen, politische Aufmerksamkeit auf die weltweit größten Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Sudan, in Burma, China und Simbabwe zu lenken, forderte die Organisation UN Watch nach der Ernennung der Südafrikanerin im Juli…” — UN Watch cited in “Neue UN-Kommissarin für Menschenrechte,” Kurier (Austria), Sept. 2, 2008.
“…The UN watch report on former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Arbour calls on the new Commissioner use her ‘bully pulpit’ to promote human rights everywhere. With a staff of almost a thousand and an annual budget (from the UN budget and donations) of $150 million, her office is a well-appointed pulpit, but the fact remains that her only weapon is persuasion. …” — “Human rights at the UN,” Oxford Analytica, Aug. 30 - Sept. 5, 2008. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 10th, 2008 SOUTH AFRICA – Musical Stars to Stage Concert Against Human Trafficking - South African musical stars will be taking to the stage in Newtown, Johannesburg to play their part in raising awareness of human trafficking on Saturday 11 October 2008. The Human Trafficking Awareness Concert will be a free open-air event rounding up a series of activities as part of the country’s annual Human Trafficking Awareness Week, which kicked off on 5 October. Thrilling performances are expected from artists such as MXO, Peggy, Sliq Angel, Wax and Ras, while top DJs such as Naked and Hudson will spin the decks for the audience. “Human trafficking is a problem that cannot be looked at in isolation. This week demonstrates what can be achieved when government, civil society, international organizations and the commercial sector work together towards the achievement of a common goal,” explains Malebo Kotu-Rammopo, of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), one of the key contributors to the Week. “By continuing to raise awareness of human trafficking through events such as these, we hope that other sectors of the South African community will come forward to lend their support. The more involvement there is in countering human trafficking, the more we are likely to succeed,” says IOM’s Regional Representative for Southern Africa, Hans-Petter Boe. In June 2007, South Africa’s Human Trafficking Awareness Week was named a “BEST GLOBAL PRACTICE TO COMBAT TRAFFICKING” by the US Department of State in its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. For more information: Contact Nde Ndifonka at IOM Pretoria on nndifonka at iom.int or +27 71 689 9966 METRO FM: matona at metrofm.co.za, 011 714 3485 NPA - tip-pcu at npa.gov.za, 012 8456153 Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 7th, 2008 Italy fingers Libya on immigration - Tripoli failing to keep its end of bilateral deal - says Roberto Savio of “Other News.” Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni on Tuesday condemned Libya for failing to keep its end of a bilateral deal, as dozens more migrants arrived by sea from north Africa. Three boats carrying 149 people were stopped near the southernmost Italian island of Lampedusa in the early hours of Tuesday, prompting angry comments from Maroni over an accord signed in August. ”Around 99.9% of illegals who arrive in Lampedusa set out from Libya,” he said in a radio interview. ”Libya promised more controls but these are not being carried out effectively as we requested”. Rome pledged to fund medical and infrastructure projects under August’s five-billion-dollar colonial compensation deal in exchange for Libya implementing previously agreed measures aimed at reducing migrant arrivals in Italy, such as joint patrols of the Libyan coast. But three weeks after the agreement was signed, it seemed headed for trouble, when Maroni announced there had been no drop in the number of migrants arriving from Libya and threatened to block certain projects. On Tuesday, Maroni accused Tripoli of refusing to accept the delivery of six high-speed motorboats for joint patrols off the Libyan coast. ”We are waiting hopefully for the Libyan government to give us clearance,” he said. Three boats were brought safely to Lampedusa on Tuesday morning although coast guards said others had also been sighted, probably as a result of the sudden improvement in weather. There were 61 women and 41 children among the 149 foreigners brought to the island’s reception centre for processing. Hundreds of migrants are stopped in Italian waters each year en route to Europe. Lampedusa, which is closer to Africa than Italy, is the first port of call for most of these migrants, and facilities on the tiny island are often strained to breaking point. AGREEMENT SIGNED AT THE END OF AUGUST. The agreement Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi signed with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi at the end of August has not yet been published or ratified in Italy. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the full text of the measure would be put to parliament within two weeks, along with a ratification bill. A deal to compensate Libya for Italy’s colonial occupation has been the subject of sporadic negotiations for over a decade. In 2004, Libya promised to stem the flow of migrants leaving its shores under a separate agreement. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 3rd, 2008
For Immediate Release: “Equality” at the United Nations October 8-9, 2008: The only two substantive planning sessions for the UN’s so-called “anti-racism” conference - known as Durban II - were deliberately planned over major Jewish holidays, including the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. The real double-standards:
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The Kyoto Mechanisms: Key to combating climate change? IISD Climate Change and Energy Director John Drexhage is the moderator of the event, designed to focus attention on a critical core element of the global climate change negotiations in the lead up to Copenhagen in December 2009. Other discussants are Geneva-based International Emissions Trading Association President and CEO Henry Derwent and Columbia University Ewing-Worzel Professor of Geophysics Klaus S. Lackner. Date: Thursday, October 9, 2008 Seating is limited. Register online at www.earth.columbia.edu/calendar This event will be webcast at http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/1775. Links to the webcast will also be available at www.iisd.org and www.unfccc.int Permalink | |
