Climate Rally Draws "Line in the Sand" on Canadian Pipeline

February 17, 2013 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

tar_sands-629x472

The tar sands in Alberta, Canada. Credit: howlmonteal/cc by 2.0

Stephen Leahy

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Feb 16 (IPS) – The largest climate rally in U.S. history is expected Sunday in Washington DC with the aim of pressuring President Barack Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.Activists are calling Keystone "the line in the sand" regarding dangerous climate change, prompting the Sierra Club to suspended its 120-year ban on civil disobedience. Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune was arrested in front of the White House during a small protest against Keystone on Wednesday.

"The Keystone XL pipeline is part of the carbon infrastructure that will take us to dangerous levels of climate change," said Simon Donner, a climate scientist at the University of British Columbia.[pullquote]3[/pullquote]

"By itself, Keystone won’t have much of an impact on the climate, but it is not happening on its own," Donner told IPS.

Carbon emissions are increasing elsewhere, and the International Energy Agency recently warned humanity is on a dangerous path to four degrees C of warming before the end of this century. Children born today will experience this. Preventing that dire future is inconsistent with expanding tar sands production, Donner said.

A new study released this week revealed that the volume of Arctic sea ice is declining rapidly. Ice volume has fallen 80 percent since 1980, according to the latest data from European Space Agency satellite, CryoSat-2. Summers with a sea ice-free Arctic are only a few years away, scientists now agree. This will have significant and permanent impacts on weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere.

"Keystone XL is the key to opening up the expansion of the tar sands industry," said Jim Murphy, senior counsel with the National Wildlife Federation.

"By rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, we can keep this toxic oil in the ground," Murphy said in a statement.

Keystone XL is intended to bring 700,000 to 800,000 barrels of a heavy, tar-like oil from the northern Alberta tar sands 2,400 kilometres south to the refineries on the Gulf Coast. Nearly all the resulting fuels are destined for export.

Since the seven-billion-dollar Keystone XL crosses national borders, it is up to President Obama to issue a permit declaring the pipeline serves the "national interest" in order for it to be approved.

"The only way Keystone XL could be considered in the national interest is if you equate that with profits for the oil industry," Steve Kretzman of Oil Change International previously told IPS. Oil Change is an NGO that researches the links between oil, gas, coal corporations and governments.

"It couldn’t be simpler: Either we leave at least two-thirds of the known fossil fuel reserves in the ground, or we destroy our planet as we know it," wrote Sierra Club’s Michael Brune in explaining the decision to engage in civil disobedience.

"That means rejecting the dangerous tar sands pipeline that would transport some of the dirtiest oil on the planet," said Brune.

Tar sands carbon emissions on a "well-to-tank" basis (i.e., production) result in emissions that are on average 72 to 111 percent higher than other U.S. transportation fuels, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

Canada’s tar sands aren’t really a "carbon bomb" from a scientific perspective, says Donner. The world’s coal deposits contain many times more carbon. However, the tar sands and Keystone have symbolic importance.

"Climate change is a complicated problem. Lots of things need to be done to address it. We’re at a point where changes need to happen soon," he says.

Writing in the Daily Kos Saturday, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of the environmental justice group Green For All, writes, "Hurricane Katrina taught us a lesson – and Superstorm Sandy reinforced it. People living in neighborhoods with the fewest resources have a harder time escaping, surviving, and recovering from disasters.

"And they’re more vulnerable to the extreme weather climate change will bring. For example, African-Americans living in Los Angeles are more than twice as likely to die during a heat wave than other residents of the city," she says in a piece titled "Why People of Color Should Care about the Keystone Pipeline".

"To permit the pipeline would represent a heartbreaking acquiescence to climate change on the part of President Obama and our national leaders. It would be throwing our hands up helplessly in the face of one of the biggest threats our country has ever faced. That’s not the kind of leadership we voted for.

"There are certain points in history, like the Civil Rights Movement, when the consequences of inaction are so great that we have to make bold choices," Ellis-Lamkins says. "This is one of those times."

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2013.

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Filed Under: Canada, Energy, Environment, Human Rights, Politics, Report Tagged With: , , , ,

Over 165,000 Students On Strike in Quebec Over Planned Tuition Hikes

April 16, 2012 by

The Real News Network

Students lead tens of thousands in protests against tuition hikes and neoliberal reforms of Quebec government


More at The Real News


Filed Under: Canada, Economy, Education, Politics, Unrest, Video Tagged With: ,

Peak Water Has Already Come and Gone

March 22, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Stephen Leahy

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Mar 22, 2011 (IPS) – Canadian Kevin Freedman is celebrating World Water Day Tuesday by living on 25 litres of water a day, instead of the North American average of 330 litres per day. And he has enlisted 31 others in his "Water Conservation Challenge" to go water- lean, using just 25 litres per day for cooking, drinking, cleaning, and sanitation for the entire month of March.

"People in Canada and the U.S. have no idea how much water they use or how much they waste," Freedman told IPS.

"Although people live on less, it is very difficult to use just 25 litres a day. You can’t shower or use a washing machine," he said. "I’m hoping to raise awareness that water is a finite resource."

Nearly a billion people don’t have good access to safe fresh water. In a single generation, that number could double as growing demands for water will exceed the available and sustainable supply by 40 percent, according a recent study. "Peak water" has already come and gone. Humanity uses more water than can be sustained, drawing on non-renewable reserves of water accumulated over thousands of years in deep aquifers.

"Water cannot be created, it can only by managed," said Margaret Catley-Carlson, a former senior official with both the Canadian government and at the United Nations, a renowned global authority on water issues, and a director at the Canadian Water Network.

In many countries and regions water scarcity is a fundamental challenge to development, Catley-Carlson told IPS. A lack of access to water can lead to starvation, disease, political instability and even armed conflict.

"Governments see their role as delivering water to the public and industry," she said. "This has to change to sustainably managing water resources for society and the natural environment."

Policy-makers haven’t treated water as a valuable resource and as a result water is wasted, with leaky water infrastructure losing 20 to 50 percent of the water it is supposed to deliver. Even water-poor countries in the global south don’t make water a top priority because water availability is mainly an issue for women and the poor and they are not well represented in government, she said. Instead limited public funds are spent on things like the military and other priorities.

"It is so frustrating," she said. "We can do without oil but we can’t do without water."

On Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged governments to make pro-poor investments in water and sanitation, particularly in urban areas where the need is acute and has grown by 20 percent in the last decade.

This is "a crisis of governance, weak policies and poor management, rather than one of scarcity," Ban said in a statement.

As the world population and economy grows, the water challenge becomes all the greater. By 2030 the global water demand will be 40 percent greater than today’s "accessible, reliable, environmentally sustainable supply" according to the U.S.-led study "Charting Our Water Future" by consultants McKinsey and Company.

About one-third of the population, concentrated in developing countries, will live in basins where this water deficit is larger than 50 percent, the report found.

Agriculture accounts for approximately 71 percent of global water withdrawals today and the water challenge is closely tied to food provision, the study notes. Inefficient and inappropriate irrigation accounts for much of this water use. Thirsty crops like maize are grown in dry places like Spain, requiring enormous amounts of irrigated water. Even a low-value crop like sugar cane is grown under irrigation in some places, which Catley-Carlson calls "ludicrous".

Poor policies, subsidies, such as those for biofuels, trade agreements and bad habits are collectively responsible for much of the world’s water misuse in food production, she says.

Domestic water use is just eight percent of overall water consumption. Industrial use is the other major user of water. All products have a water component, often called "virtual water", to describe the volume used to make something.

"A desktop computer, for example, requires 1.5 tonnes (1,500 litres) of water; a pair of denim jeans, up to six tonnes; a kilogramme of wheat, one tonne; a kilo of chicken, three to four tonnes; a kilo of beef, 15 to 30 tonnes," says Nicholas Parker, chairman of the Cleantech Group, an international firm that works to accelerate the development and market adoption of clean technologies.

The annual global trade in "virtual water" today is said to exceed 800 billion tonnes, the equivalent of 10 Nile Rivers.

"What people don’t often realise is how much water there is in everything we make and buy, from t-shirts to wine," says Parker.

Everyone can become a better steward of water no matter who they are, says Kevin Freedman. The lessons learned through the month-long 25-a-litre-a-day water diet can be applied all year round, he says.

"Everyone in North America can reduce their water use by at least 25 litres. I challenge people to make a pledge to do it," Parker says.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2011.

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Filed Under: Canada, Environment, Report Tagged With: ,

Banks’ Cheap Money is Economic ‘Poison’

March 10, 2011 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy
Read the article in its original form on alrroya.com

Thursday, 10 March 2011  at  09:39

By Ron Robins, Founder & Analyst – Investing for the Soul

Developed world bankers continue to proclaim that enforced low interest rates—cheap money—will lead their countries back to economic prosperity. But didn’t the same policies a few years ago help bring us to the precipice of financial and economic collapse? Do they still not understand that cheap easy money led to many large US and European banks becoming gambling institutions, eventually failing and bailed out at taxpayers’ expense?

And above all, that cheap easy money enticed people, companies and governments, to become horribly indebted, with many individuals and companies failing. Soon, even developed country governments may go bankrupt. As proof that cheap easy money is again causing extraordinary economic problems, just look at where some of it is now going—to the commodities’ markets. There, it helps inflate food prices, thus causing starvation and food riots around the world.

Do the bankers not read history and know that artificially induced cheap easy money can be economic poison?

Of course one simple reason that many bankers advocate cheap easy money is that it makes them a lot of money. When they can—as they did for many years and still seem able to do—‘leverage-up’ their assets in relation to their equity, they can make multiples of profits compared to before. And since, often courtesy of their benevolent central bank, they can frequently borrow at nearly free rates and ‘invest’ those proceeds in bonds/securities/commodities that often offer high potential returns, it is possible for them to make ever bigger profits.

For most large US and European banks, their assets frequently exceeded their equity by 20 to 60 times before the financial crises. That is, keeping it simple, they were somehow able to leverage every $1 of equity, usually by borrowing funds, to create $20 to $60 of assets! The risk in such high leverage is that a small loss in asset values of say, just five per cent, could wipe out their equity and cause insolvency and bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, very high leverage ratios continue in many developed countries’ banking and financial institutions. (Perhaps this is the real unspoken reason for cheap money: to inflate asset markets to keep the banks semi-solvent! Though, that topic is for another post.)

Therefore, the real story is the culture of leverage and risk that numerous developed world banks now embody as a result of easily available cheap money. This is in contrast to that during much of banking history when money was regularly relatively expensive (with higher rates of interest) than today and often difficult to obtain.

The easily available cheap money encourages enormous ‘moral hazard’ among bankers and all players in the financial system. Moral hazard denotes a lack of morality and a carefree greed mentality that produces excessive speculation. It is this attitude that promotes the creation of maximum leverage and the taking of big risks—and not caring too much about any potential losses as they are covered by others. Bankers under the influence of moral hazard are like addicted gamblers who cannot stop gambling. But the gambling is not at the card table. It takes place in their boardrooms and trading desks.

And fortunately for the bankers they can enjoy their moral hazard largely at the expense of taxpayers. As we know, much of the potential and accumulated massive losses in the US and European financial and banking systems have been transferred to governments and central banks. The US and European governments and central banks make light of these burdens saying that as their economies recover these losses will be greatly reduced. However, the ‘central bank of central banks,’ the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), has issued new global bank regulations (Basel III) that—if implemented—might reign in some of the excesses associated with moral hazard.

Of course not all banks speculate or gamble to the same extent. In Islamic banking, spiritual and ethical considerations greatly restrain speculation. Also, for instance, Canadian banks adhere to more conservative principles and are better regulated and so have not suffered the same fate as that of many of their US and European rivals.

For now though, cheap easy money is seen by bankers as our economic salvation. And it inflates global markets, including those related to food and energy. As their prices rise, the unforeseen repercussions of the bankers cheap easy money ‘poison’ assists in creating starvation, food riots, and political upheaval around the globe.

Furthermore, the continuing high leverage, moral hazard, and gambling tendencies within the banking and financial system assures that some of today’s ‘good’ investments will sour and suffer large losses. Will the taxpayers again assume those losses? If not, then what? Until the cheap easy money poison is banished it continues creating conditions for even bigger economic and social catastrophes in the years ahead.

E-mail the writer: r.robins@alrroya.com

© Copyright 2011 alrroya.com. All rights reserved.


Filed Under: Americas, Canada, Economic Policy, Finance, Opinion Tagged With:

CANADA: A Govt Versus Its People on Climate Change

November 20, 2010 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Stephen Leahy

UXBRIDGE, Nov 19, 2010 (IPS) – The Canadian public is completely at odds with its own government on climate change, a new survey revealed Friday.

A large majority of Canadians want urgent action on climate, including redirecting military expenditures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In sharp contrast, the Stephen Harper-led Conservative minority government used parliamentary trickery to kill pending legislation to reduce emissions that had already been passed by the majority of Canada’s elected representatives.

"This is a real low point in Canadian democracy," said Andrew Weaver, a climate scientist at the University of Victoria.

"It’s an abuse of democracy like we’ve never seen before in this country," Weaver told IPS.

Canada has a multi-party parliamentary system. In May, a majority of Canada’s elected members of parliament (MPs) passed Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act, committing the country to a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. The only reason Bill C-311 passed is that the anti-climate-action Harper government has just one-third of the votes.

After Bill C-311 was passed, unelected senators in the Canadian Senate were supposed to review and debate its merits and then pass the bill into law as per usual. The Senate’s role is to give pending legislation a second look, offer suggested changes, but not overturn what elected MPs have already voted for.

Instead, Conservative senators successfully engineered a snap vote Tuesday night to kill the bill without notice and without debate when many other senators were not present.

"Whether you supported the bill or not, they prevented any discussion, any debate about it. There should be an election over this," said an outraged Weaver.

Weaver also pointed out that global temperature measurements taken through the end of October show this year has been the warmest ever recorded. The latest climate science continues to show climate change is happening faster and with more impacts than previously projected.

Prime Minister Harper said Bill C-311 "sets irresponsible targets… throwing hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of people out of work".

Weaver scoffed at Harper’s exaggerated claim of millions of jobs at risk. "Does he think Canadians are morons?"

As for emissions reduction targets, scientists say a 25- percent reduction from 1990 levels by 2020 is not nearly enough to stabilise global temperatures at two degrees C above what they have been for tens of thousands of years. Canada’s reductions should be at least 45 percent by 2020 and reach zero by 2050, based on the latest science.

According to Weaver, the message the Harper government is sending to the upcoming United Nations climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico starting at the end of the month is that "Canada is a dinosaur…with a government controlled by the oil patch and the tar sands industry."

In contrast to the actions of its government, the Canadian public agrees industrialised countries like Canada have an international obligation to significantly reduce their emissions, according to the poll released Friday. Conducted by leading polling agency Environics Research Inc., it found that some 85 percent of Canadians surveyed agreed that "Industrialised countries … should be the most responsible for reducing current emissions."

"Canadians agree that rich countries must bear most of the responsibility for reducing emissions," says Andrea Harden- Donahue of Council of Canadians, a large Canadian NGO and one of the co-sponsors of the poll.

"If Canadians were deciding our climate policy we would be following a very different path," Harden-Donahue told IPS.

The vast majority (87 percent) of Canadians polled agreed that climate change results from too much focus on economic growth and consumerism. And they also overwhelmingly agreed with the statement that: "We need to have an economy that is in harmony with nature, which recognises and respects the planet."

The poll questions are based on those agreed to by participants at the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia earlier this year. The Canadian poll is one of several polls that are part of a Global Referendum on Climate Change that will document the views of the people of world. The final results will be presented at the U.N. climate conference in Cancun and present some context for what happens at the official negotiations.

The poll also found that over 70 percent of Canadians support redirecting military spending toward efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the idea of a World Climate and Justice Tribunal to judge and penalise countries and corporations whose actions have contributed climate change.

Over 80 percent of Canadians believe the Canadian government should invest in "green jobs" and transition programmes for workers and communities negatively affected by a shift away from fossil fuels.

"There is a real disconnect between the government and the public in Canada on climate change," said Harden-Donahue. That disconnect raises important questions about the state of democracy in Canada. And the killing of Bill C-3111 raises even more questions, she says.

Canadian media are complicit in their failure to cover events like the World’s People’s Conference and to consistently report on how climate change will impact Canadians and developing countries, she said.

Canada was widely criticised at the last climate meeting in Copenhagen for ignoring its international commitments to reduce emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, for refusing to agree to any mandatory emissions cuts and for defending the enormous emissions of greenhouse gases from Alberta tar sands.

"Canada’s international reputation is tarnished because of the Harper government’s failure to act on climate change," said Harden-Donahue.

Through manipulation of the media and pandering to the uninformed, the Harper government pretends to be taking action on climate while doing the opposite, said Weaver. "This government acts as if climate change is a big game."

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2010.

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Filed Under: Canada, Environment, Report Tagged With:

Canada’s Endorsement of Indigenous Rights Significant

November 16, 2010 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN

By J Chandler

IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis 
 
TORONTO (IDN) – Canada’s endorsement of the global treaty outlining the rights of the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous peoples has been welcomed by the head of a United Nations body dealing with the issue.

Carlos Mamani, Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), described it as reaffirmation of the country’s commitment to the principles of respect, non-discrimination and good faith enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Mamani said the endorsement by Canada of the UN Declaration is an "important step in the right direction towards building and strengthening the relationship between Canada and indigenous peoples within Canada and indeed with indigenous peoples throughout the world."

Canada, along with Australia, New Zealand and the United States, originally voted against the Declaration when it was adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2007 after more than two decades of debate.

Australia and New Zealand later endorsed the treaty — a non-binding text that sets out the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues.

Mamani said in a statement on November 12 that he looked forward to increased commitment by Canada and the world to working towards the full implementation of the Declaration, and encouraged other States that have not endorsed it to do so.

"I also congratulate the Canadian representatives of Indigenous Peoples who patiently exerted extraordinary efforts for this Declaration, which embodies the most important rights we and our ancestors have long fought for; our right of self-determination, our right to own and control our lands, territories and resources, our right to free, prior and informed consent, among others," UNPFII head said.

Mamani added: "I look forward to seeing increased commitment of Canada as well as the whole international community to work towards the full and effective implementation of the Declaration and to protect, respect and fulfil indigenous peoples collective and individual human rights."

He asked those states that have not yet done so, to endorse the Declaration.

ASPIRATIONS

The endorsement by Canada of the UN Declaration followed in the footsteps of a remarkable report by an independent United Nations expert, published on October 18, which revealed that a lot remains to be done to improve the situation of indigenous peoples.

The report says indigenous people are entitled to their own institutions and self-governing structures to enable them to manage their own affairs and ensure that the development process is aligned with their own cultural patterns, values and customs.

"In the light of the extreme disadvantages that indigenous peoples have typically faced across a range of social and economic indicators, there are particular concerns… that must be taken into account with regard to development initiatives that affect them," says James Anaya, the Special Rapporteur on the situation on the freedom of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people in a report to the General Assembly.

The report explains that policies and initiatives aimed at the development of the economy or infrastructure, which are apparently purported to benefit citizens on the whole, can have negative effects on indigenous peoples.

"These include, inter alia, development programmes involving the extraction of natural resources and mega-projects such as the construction of dams and transportation facilities on indigenous peoples’ territories.

"Such development programmes and projects, despite their specific effects on indigenous peoples and their territories, are often undertaken without adequate consultation with them or without their free, prior and informed consent," Anaya says in his report.

He also notes that development projects targeted specifically at reducing the disadvantages experienced by indigenous people and improving their social and economic well-being often fail to properly incorporate their specific needs to advance their self-determination and their rights to maintain their distinct cultural identities, languages and connections with their traditional lands.

"Within both of these areas of concern, there is a need for governments to decidedly fold into development programmes the goal of increasing indigenous self-determination," Anaya writes in his report.

According to UN News, the report calls for enhancing indigenous peoples’ education and skills to empower them to engage and participate in the various elements of development programmes and projects that affect them.

The independent expert says that the participation of indigenous peoples in the broader public life of the State is often inadequate and not proportional to their numbers, recommending special measures to ensure that they participate on equal footing in public and political life.

"It is evident that throughout the world, indigenous peoples are not adequately consulted, nor is their consent obtained, when decisions affecting their rights or interests are made," the UN Special Rapporteur writes.

On indigenous people’s participation in decision-making at the international level, Anaya points out that continued efforts need to be made to ensure their active involvement in the development of all international standards and programmes that concern them.

"Potential reforms within international institutions and platforms of decision-making that affect indigenous peoples’ lives should be closely examined, and measures should be taken or strengthened to provide financial and other support to enable indigenous peoples to participate effectively at the international level," Anaya writes.

He exhorts indigenous peoples to continue to strengthen their capacities to control and manage their own affairs and to participate effectively in all decisions affecting them, in a spirit of cooperation and partnership with government authorities at all levels.

Anaya welcomes the adoption by the General Assembly of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as recent statements of support or movement towards support, by the few States that originally voted against the adoption.

"Today, the Declaration serves more as a reminder of how far there is to go in bringing justice and dignity to the lives of indigenous peoples than a reflection of what has actually been achieved on the ground," he says.

Anaya’s was the first of many reports to be presented by independent UN experts to the 192-member Assembly over the following weeks. (IDN-InDepthNews/17.11.2010)
—–
Copyright © 2010 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

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Filed Under: Canada, Human Rights, Justice, Politics Tagged With:

Canada’s Parliament Buckles under Weight of Mining Industry

November 8, 2010 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Paul Weinberg

TORONTO, Nov 8, 2010 (IPS) – The corporate clout of the mining industry trumped political ideology in Canada when members of all political parties helped to narrowly defeat a bill late last month that would have imposed standards on Canadian mining companies operating in developing countries.

"We had an opportunity and we blew it," said the bill’s architect, John McKay. He faced 13 no-shows from colleagues in his own party, the Liberals, the largest of the opposition parties in the House of Commons. In the end, the Oct. 27 vote resulted in 140 against to 134 in favour.

"Both domestically and internationally, there is a huge amount of disappointment in the Parliament of Canada," McKay told Canadian reporters.

The opposition from the ruling free market-oriented Conservative minority government was not surprising. What caught the eye of some observers was the number of centrist and centre-left politicians – a total of 22 – who stayed away from the vote or voted against the bill.

Michael Ignatieff, the leader of the centrist Liberals, the largest of the opposition parties, did not show up for the vote. While he failed to explain his decision publicly, another senior Liberal MP, Martha Hall Findlay, complained about the lack of a financial mechanism to back up the mining reform bill. "C-300 was seriously flawed," she told the Ottawa-based Embassy Magazine.

At the heart of C300 was a provision that government assistance would be withdrawn from Canadian companies that failed to adhere to certain standards of behaviour.

Canadians are involved in three-quarters of the mining operations outside Canada, according to the Toronto-based Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC).

Canadian companies make up a third of the 171 mining and exploration companies where there have been reports of conflicts with local communities in developing countries, environmental degradation and unethical behaviour, stated a fall 2009 independent report commissioned by the PDAC and leaked to the media.

Community conflict included "significant negative cultural and economic disruption to a host community, as well as significant protests and physical violence," the report said.

Typically, "the hot spots" where Canadian companies figure prominently involve gold, copper and coal operations in countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Latin America provided the largest number of complaints in terms of region.

"You can literally do a world tour on issues involving Canadian mining companies which do not reflect well not only on the industry but what I worry about as much as anything, our own country [Canada]," McKay told IPS.

However, Dennis Jones, chair of corporate responsibility panel for PDAC, downplayed the leaked report.

"We recognise that we need to improve [corporate social responsibility] performance in the industry and that is what we are trying to. What we don’t agree with the NGOs is the extent to which Canadian mining companies are involved, in these incidents," he said.

Jones also told IPS that the bill’s provisions, in which foreign complaints would be lodged in Ottawa during a time- consuming quasi-judicial process, would be detrimental to the reputation of both the firm targeted and the Canadian industry as a whole.

But Catherine Coumans, research coordinator with Mining Watch Canada, countered that the Canadian mining industry is already receiving a black eye from a number of lawsuits launched against individual corporate players.

"What people need to understand is that this bill was not just about corporate accountability, it was about government accountability. It was about making sure that the Canadian government is not shoveling tax dollars to mining companies that are facing serious allegations of human rights and environmental abuses without being able to assure accountability and transparency about these operations to Canadian taxpayers," she told IPS.

Figures on how much money is forked over to the companies by various Canadian government agencies, including the Canada Pension Plan and Canadian International Development Agency, are not publicly available, she says.

The Financial Post recently estimated that the Canadian government’s Export Development Corporation alone provides Canadian mining companies more than $20 billion in subsidised financing and political risk insurance.

Mining is a big deal in the resource-oriented Canadian economy, and the industry’s overseas activity is backed by large Canadian banks, says Yves Engler, the author of the "Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy".

About 10 of the world’s largest mining companies are based on capital raised on the Toronto Stock Exchange, he said, adding, "There is no other example of an economic sector where Canada is dominant."

The result is a great deal of influence in Canadian politics. Engler cited the example of how the Canadian government successfully lobbied the support of G20 countries in an official statement at the Toronto summit this summer to apply the lever of debt relief to pressure the Democratic Republic of Congo – saddled with enormous debts incurred by the notorious dictator Joseph Desire Mobutu. The DRC had drawn Ottawa’s ire for withdrawing a controversial 1997 mining concession granted to a Vancouver mining company during a vicious civil war, he told IPS.

"The fact that [this company] was able to get the Conservative government to help them [shows] that the Canadian mining industry has immense influence," Engler said.

Both the mining and the business community ramped up their opposition in the days leading up to the vote on John McKay’s mining reform.

"If passed, Bill C-300 will undermine the competitive position of Canadian companies. It could cause an exodus of mining companies from Canada," Michael Bourassa, a partner and co-coordinator of the global mining group in the law firm of Fasken, Martineau, DuMoulin, warned in the Financial Post.

Catherine Coumans says what might have rattled Canadian politicians was the mining lobbyists’ new emphasis on the potential impact of the bill’s passage on the domestic operations of Canadian mining industry.

"The mining industry likely felt they weren’t getting enough traction with their campaign, arguing that they would be less competitive abroad if they had to live up to international environmental and human rights standards. So, they started to target members of parliament in Canada in ridings with mining constituencies in Canada and argued that the bill is going to kill mining jobs in Canada," she told IPS.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2010.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Canada, Economic Policy, Environment, Featured, Politics Tagged With: , ,

Canada Seeks to Drop Native Peoples from New Biodiversity Pact

October 21, 2010 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Stephen Leahy

NAGOYA, Japan, Oct 21, 2010 (IPS) – Blame Canada if countries fail to agree to a new binding treaty to curb the rapid loss of plant, animal and species that form the intricate web of life that sustains humanity. That is the view of indigenous representatives from Canada in response to a late night move by the Canadian delegation to strike a reference to indigenous peoples’ rights at the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) members’ conference here.

"Canada is stalling progress here, weakening our rights and fighting against a legally-binding protocol on access and benefit sharing," said Armand MacKenzie, executive director of the Innu Council of Nitassinan, the indigenous inhabitants in northeastern Canada.

"Their opposition threatens global biodiversity… people need to speak out," MacKenzie told IPS.

A protocol on access and benefit sharing (ABS) without a guarantee of the rights of indigenous people and local communities "would be totally void", said Paulino Franco de Carvalho, head of the Brazilian delegation.

"Brazil will not accept any agreement on biodiversity without a fair ABS protocol…. We are not bluffing on that, I must be very clear," Franco de Carvalho said in a press conference.

An ABS protocol is one of the three legs of the CBD "stool" – a new international agreement to halt the loss of biodiversity. The second leg is a strategic plan with 20 specific targets to be achieved by 2020, such as no net deforestation and the elimination of harmful subsidies. The third is the mobilisation of sufficient financial and other resources to support the other two.

ABS refers to way in which the genetic material in plants, animals and microbes can be used for food, medicines, industrial products, cosmetics and other goods. The use of such materials owes a great deal to the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples. Access refers to how such genetic material is obtained, and benefit sharing means how the benefits, financial and otherwise, of their use are distributed.

Indigenous peoples say they are holders or caretakers of much of the world’s biodiversity and traditional knowledge, and omitting references to that reality is a non-starter for them and most countries.

"The Canadian government has been undermining the human rights of the world’s indigenous peoples since 2006, at home and internationally," said Paul Joffe representing the Grand Council of the Crees, a large indigenous nation in central Canada.

Canadian indigenous representatives have expressed their views to the Canadian delegation but the Canadian government position is that there can be no reference to the rights of indigenous people in the final ABS protocol, Joffe told IPS.

"The government never consulted with us. It came as a complete surprise," he said.

Few indigenous representatives are in attendance because Canada and many other governments do not provide financial assistance so that they can attend the conference as observers. Indigenous peoples have no official role here and can only offer their views when requested.

"We are at the mercy of state governments," said Ellen Gabriel, president of the Quebec Native Women Association. "Indigenous people are utterly dependent on biodiversity for their livelihoods."

Gabriel calls what Canada is doing a "new form of colonialism".

"We are the peoples with the rights to the genetic resources of biodiversity," she said.

Canada’s position reflects an ideology and is a political decision made by the current government in the capital of Ottawa, says Joffe. At previous international meetings, Canada has been widely if quietly called "obstructionist". At the Copenhagen climate talks last December, international civil society gave Canada the "Colossal Fossil Award" for worst behaviour at those negotiations.

Not surprisingly, many United Nations member states declined to support Canada in its bid to get a highly prized seat at the Security Council earlier this month.

Joffe maintains this negotiation is simply politics for Canada’s government and it will take political and public pressure on the Stephen Harper government. However, at this point there are no Canadian media in Nagoya nor are any registered, according to organisers.

For his part, Brazil’s Franco de Carvalho is optimistic an ABS agreement can be reached by the end of next week at the conference conclusion when more than 120 ministers of the environment are expected to be in Nagoya to sign a new international agreement.

"I think we could find a good result," he said.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2010.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Canada, Environment, Report Tagged With:

Arctic Ice in Death Spiral

September 20, 2010 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Stephen Leahy

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Sep 20, 2010 (IPS) – The carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have melted the Arctic sea ice to its lowest volume since before the rise of human civilisation, dangerously upsetting the energy balance of the entire planet, climate scientists are reporting.

"The Arctic sea ice has reached its four lowest summer extents (area covered) in the last four years," said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the U.S. city of Boulder, Colorado.

The volume – extent and thickness – of ice left in the Arctic likely reached the lowest ever level this month, Serreze told IPS.

"I stand by my previous statements that the Arctic summer sea ice cover is in a death spiral. It’s not going to recover," he said.

There can be no recovery because tremendous amounts of extra heat are added every summer to the region as more than 2.5 million square kilometres of the Arctic Ocean have been opened up to the heat of the 24-hour summer sun. A warmer Arctic Ocean not only takes much longer to re-freeze, it emits huge volumes of additional heat energy into the atmosphere, disrupting the weather patterns of the northern hemisphere, scientists have now confirmed.

"The exceptional cold and snowy winter of 2009-2010 in Europe, eastern Asia and eastern North America is connected to unique physical processes in the Arctic," James Overland of the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in the United States told IPS in Oslo, Norway last June in an exclusive interview. ‘ Paradoxically, a warmer Arctic means "future cold and snowy winters will be the rule rather than the exception" in these regions, Overland told IPS.

There is growing evidence of widespread impacts from a warmer Arctic, agreed Serreze. "Trapping all that additional heat has to have impacts and those will grow in the future," he said.

One local impact underway is a rapid warming of the coastal regions of the Arctic, where average temperatures are now three to five degrees C warmer than they were 30 years ago. If the global average temperature increases from the present 0.8 C to two degrees C, as seems likely, the entire Arctic region will warm at least four to six degrees and possibly eight degrees due to a series of processes and feedbacks called Arctic amplification.

A similar feverish rise in our body temperatures would put us in hospital if it didn’t kill us outright.

"I hate to say it but I think we are committed to a four- to six-degree warmer Arctic," Serreze said.

If the Arctic becomes six degrees warmer, then half of the world’s permafrost will likely thaw, probably to a depth of a few metres, releasing most of the carbon and methane accumulated there over thousands of years, said Vladimir Romanovsky of the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and a world expert on permafrost.

Methane is a global warming gas approximately 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2).

That would be catastrophic for human civilisation, experts agree. The permafrost region spans 13 million square kilometres of the land in Alaska, Canada, Siberia and parts of Europe and contains at least twice as much carbon as is currently present in the atmosphere – 1,672 gigatonnes of carbon, according a paper published in Nature in 2009. That’s three times more carbon than all of the worlds’ forests contain.

"Permafrost thawing has been observed consistently across the entire region since the 1980s," Romanovsky said in an interview.

A Canadian study in 2009 documented that the southernmost permafrost limit had retreated 130 kilometres over the past 50 years in Quebec’s James Bay region. At the northern edge, for the first time in a decade, the heat from the Arctic Ocean pushed far inland this summer, Romanovsky said.

There are no good estimates of how much CO2 and methane is being released by the thawing permafrost or by the undersea permafrost that acts as a cap over unknown quantities of methane hydrates (a type of frozen methane) along the Arctic Ocean shelf, he said.

"Methane is always there anywhere you drill through the permafrost," Romanovsky noted.

Last spring , Romanovsky’s colleagues reported that an estimated eight million tonnes of methane emissions are bubbling to the surface from the shallow East Siberian Arctic shelf every year in what were the first-ever measurements taken there. If just one percent of the Arctic undersea methane reaches the atmosphere, it could quadruple the amount of methane currently in the atmosphere.

Abrupt releases of large amounts of CO2 and methane are certainly possible on a scale of decades, he said. The present relatively slow thaw of the permafrost could rapidly accelerate in a few decades, releasing huge amounts of global warming gases.

Another permafrost expert, Ted Schuur of the University of Florida, has come to the same conclusion. "In a matter of decades we could lose much of the permafrost," Shuur told IPS.

Those losses are more likely to come rapidly and upfront, he says. In other words, much of the permafrost thaw would happen at the beginning of a massive 50-year meltdown because of rapid feedbacks.

Emissions of CO2 and methane from thawing permafrost are not yet factored into the global climate models and it will be several years before this can be done reasonably well, Shuur said.

"Current mitigation targets are only based on anthropogenic (human) emissions," he explained.

Present pledges by governments to reduce emissions will still result in a global average temperature increase of 3.5 to 3.9 C by 2100, according to the latest analysis. That would result in an Arctic that’s 10 to 16 degrees C warmer, releasing most of the permafrost carbon and methane and unknown quantities of methane hydrates.

This why some climate scientists are calling for a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels, recommending that fossil fuel emissions peak by 2015 and decline three per cent per year. But even then there’s still a 50-percent probability of exceeding two degrees C current studies show. If the emissions peak is delayed until 2025, then global temperatures will rise to three degrees C, the Arctic will be eight to 10 degrees warmer and the world will lose most its permafrost.

Meanwhile, a new generation of low-cost, thin-film solar roof and outside wall coverings being made today has the potential to eliminate burning coal and oil to generate electricity, energy experts believe – if governments have the political will to fully embrace green technologies.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2010.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Canada, Environment, Featured Tagged With: ,

Canada and 19 Others Yet to Ban Foreign Bribery

August 2, 2010 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN

By Erna Wolf

IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN (IDN) – Countries representing more than half of world exports have taken appropriate action in the last six years to combat corruption and enforced a ban on foreign bribery. But 20 countries have yet to put into effect the convention. These include Canada, according to a new report by Transparency International (TI).

The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention establishes legally binding standards to criminalise bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions and provides for a host of related measures that make this effective.

It is the first and only international anti-corruption instrument focused on the ‘supply side’ of the bribery transaction. The 32 OECD member countries and seven non-member countries — Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Estonia, Israel, and South Africa — have adopted this Convention.

TI’s report shows that seven of the 36 countries evaluated are actively enforcing the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention to which they are party. These countries — Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States — represent approximately 30 per cent of world exports.

The increase from four to seven actively enforcing countries since TI’s 2009 report is seen as "a very positive development". The 2010 TI report also shows moderate enforcement in nine other countries — Argentina, Belgium, Finland, France, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden — which account for 21 per cent of exports.

The 20 countries with little or no enforcement represent about 15 per cent of world exports. These are: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa and Turkey

Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom have advanced from moderate to active enforcement. Argentina has advanced to moderate enforcement.

Canada, a member of the Group of 8 industrialised nations, has little or no enforcement.

In the six years since TI began reviewing implementation of the OECD ban on foreign bribery, enforcement has doubled from eight to sixteen countries. That represents important progress. "However, it is disturbing that 20 countries still show little or no enforcement," says the report authored by Fritz Heimann and Gillian Dell.

They add: "The difficult economic environment is no excuse for OECD governments to ignore their collective commitment to stop foreign bribery. To the contrary, cleaning up foreign bribery must be regarded as a key part of the reforms needed to overcome the worldwide recession."

The report points out that one-third of world exports come from countries that are not party to the OECD Convention. "The increasingly important role played by China, India and Russia in the global economy cannot be ignored. As their share of world trade is growing, it is essential that these countries play by the same rules as other major exporters."

TI urges the OECD to expedite its ongoing efforts for additional governments to join the convention.

The report emphasizes that, in order to make real gains in the fight against foreign bribery, the OECD must exert high-level political pressure on countries lagging behind, coupled with "peer pressure from the leaders of countries that are actively enforcing the convention".

Noting that the last few years have seen a substantial increase in the number of foreign bribery cases that have been resolved by negotiated settlements, the report says: "While settlements can avoid the long delays, high costs and unpredictable outcomes of litigation, it is essential that settlements be accompanied by full transparency."

TI urges OECD governments to adopt procedures for independent judicial reviews, the publication of settlement terms, evidence, and other measures to ensure satisfactory punishment of guilty corporations and individuals.

The 2010 Progress Report on the OECD Anti-bribery Convention is the sixth in a yearly series and examines the enforcement performance of 36 of the 38 countries that have ratified the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.

It is based on information provided by TI experts and includes detailed case studies of prominent foreign bribery cases involving multinational companies. The 2010 report also covers country performance in areas such as the adequacy of laws and systems, the requirements and enforcement of export credit agencies, and access to information on foreign bribery cases.

THE DISADVANTAGED

This is particularly important because corruption has a strong presence in the lives of disadvantaged groups of a society. They face it in the struggle for resources, justice or in a simple visit to a health care centre. Often, they find that their protest against corruption goes unheard or is met with force.

TI’s global and national surveys confirm how little faith is placed in politicians, public administrations and the police in addressing corruption. The lack of trust that comes with corruption has a lasting impact, undermining participation in democratic processes and increasing social and economic exclusion.

In fact, the UN Devlopment Programme (UNDP) says: In Kibera, Kenya, one of the world’s largest slums, water costs three times more than in Manhattan or London

According to Transparency, international and domestic investment to increase living standards and lift people out of poverty, have limited impact when fundamental failures in governance remain unaddressed.

But with increased democratisation around the world, there are more venues for the disadvantaged to be heard, to have choices and the means for sanctioning corruption. "There is more pressure than before to fulfil promises, more demands to participate in decisions and demands for corruption to be punished."

DEVELOPMENT PACTS

TI is partnering with other civil society organisations and disadvantaged populations to ensure that corruption is overcome and local needs are prioritised. It is the main victims of corruption, those already disadvantaged and excluded, that have the greatest stake in fighting corruption.

TI’s Development Pacts work to achieve just this. These voluntary agreements allow TI Chapters to work with committed public officials that are keen to demonstrate their integrity and deliver on promises.

The Pacts are based on local priorities, be it service delivery, infrastructure or greater participation in local planning. They bring together local politicians, public officials, service providers, service recipients and other citizens, who agree on a joint roadmap to prevent corruption and ensure tangible results.

The agreement is especially relevant to political representatives because their time in office is directly dependent on individual votes. The Pact offers them a means to providing credible evidence of their commitment to disadvantaged constituencies. At the same time, the Pact offers an opportunity to re-engage the general public disillusioned with political leadership.

The report says:"Based on the notion of a social contract, the pacts are used to ensure a just and fair society combined with the premise of a private sector contract that presumes clear deliverables and timelines. Development Pacts introduce greater contractual specificity, incentives and sanctions into the relationship between those that entrust power to the government and those that exercise it on their behalf."

AGAINST POVERTY

Disadvantaged populations, social movements and civil society increasingly demonstrate their power to shape public debates and influence the outcomes of elections. In engaging with Government, TI Chapters work closely with development NGOs, community level organisations, women’s movements, youth volunteers, and media.

The pacts provide a win-win situation for all parties. In addition to receiving improved services, citizens find that their needs are listened to and respected. An atmosphere of transparency and accountability allows the work of well-performing politicians and officials to be recognised, while problems can be quickly identified. Cutting corruption out of the chain is shown to be to everyone’s benefit.

Development Pacts
-Focus anti-corruption efforts on local development priorities
-Ensure greater inclusiveness and a transparent mediation of interests – preventing private gain at public cost
-Contribute to political competition based on concrete issues and
- Augment existing efforts towards development effectiveness and social accountability.

TI chapters and contact groups in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, India, Liberia, Uganda and Zambia are currently at the forefront of experimenting with Development Pacts. TI chapters in South Asia are approaching the Pacts as a regional effort.

SUCCESS STORIES

Bangladesh: A TI Bangladesh survey revealed that 53.4 per cent of households which had come into contact with local government bodies reported experiencing some form of corruption. In response, the chapter introduced the pacts at 18 local institutions.

The results have been dramatic, says TI. In participating schools incidences of bribery have stopped, the distribution of scholarships and text books is fair and transparent, the number of students dropping out has decreased, enrolment has increased and examination results have improved.

At the local government level, the quality of services provided has improved and humanitarian relief, pensions and birth/death certificates are now issued according to legal procedure.

The TI Bangladesh chapter has pioneered the Integrity Pledge, which builds on Development Pacts and has succeeded in committing entire local government bodies to greater integrity in decision-making on public service delivery.

India: When TI India’s surveys showed that poor rural households reported paying significant bribes each year to access free government services, the chapter started a grassroots initiative to help 8,000 rural families living in poverty access direly needed public services and state welfare schemes.

They began by raising awareness among the families, local politicians, officials and civil society groups, about local governance processes, right to information legislation and the citizen’s charter. The Development Pact is building on these efforts in a number of states, including challenging ones such as Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh where TI India can build on its existing engagement.

Africa: As part of a ‘Poverty & Corruption in Africa’ Project, TI chapters in Ghana, Liberia, Uganda and Zambia are working through local organizations to identify and engage committed public officials on the Development Pacts.

Using existing efforts in Government and the political leadership, concepts such as the ‘social contracts’and borrowing ideas from neighbouring countries such as Kenya, TI Chapters are developing strategies to make the Pacts a tool of choice of political and administrative representatives.

Civil society organizations that have been approached for a closer partnership on the Pacts see its advantage in the greater responsiveness to local priorities during budget preparation. TI Chapters are equipping local communities with video cameras and training to produce short films on the conditions they face — concrete evidence on which to base their demands for better services.

These videos also intend to accompany and support the dialogue between public officials and local communities. Through them, communities can easily demonstrate and widely disseminate the direct benefits of engaging public officials along with the development outcomes that can be expected when all parties act with integrity. (IDN-InDepthNews/01.08.2010)

Copyright © 2010 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission the original author or copyright holder.


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