With 16 million people in the UK unable to heat their homes, thousands of public spaces have been opened for people to warm up

Some 3,305 ‘warm banks’ have been opened across the UK, as millions of people face the prospect of fuel poverty this winter. The Met Office predicts that temperatures could drop to -10 degrees celsius in some locations over the next week.

Organized by a coalition of Christian groups, the Warm Welcome Campaign has seen community organizations, churches, libraries, and businesses open their doors to people desperate to come in from the cold. Some of these spaces offer free tea and a space to work, and according to a report by The National on Saturday, many are “a third or even half full.”

“There’s little doubt that we are heading towards a moment of crisis this winter in the face of energy and fuel inflation,” Christian minister Carl Beech stated on the campaign’s website. “People will be facing a stark choice between food and warmth. Creating warm and super welcoming spaces…is going to be an absolute necessity.”

According to figures from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, 16.4 million people in the UK will be unable to afford heating this winter. The Warm Welcome Campaign stated that one in ten excess deaths this winter will be attributable to fuel poverty, and that government assistance – despite adding billions of pounds to the national debt – will still come £800 ($980) per household short of making up for the increased cost of living.

Meanwhile, freezing weather hit the UK this weekend, with the Met Office predicting snow, ice, and temperatures in some locations as low as -10 degrees celsius. Freezing fog is predicted across southern England on Sunday and Monday, with sleet or snow potentially hitting the southeast on Sunday.

Energy costs and inflation – which were creeping upwards since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic – have skyrocketed since the UK decided to cut itself off from Russian fossil fuels earlier this year. The situation is much the same in the EU, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blaming the bloc’s leaders for pushing “Europe, in particular the European Union, towards a global energy collapse.”

RT 11/12/22

Dave C.

As usual, George Monbiot highlights the hypocrisy of American politics in his latest Guardian article.

“…the convention on biological diversity, whose members are meeting in Montreal now to discuss the global ecological crisis. The first is that, of the world’s 198 states, 196 are party to it. The second is the identity of those that aren’t. Take a guess. North Korea? Russia? Wrong. Both ratified the convention years ago. One is the Holy See (the Vatican). The other is the United States of America.

This is one of several major international treaties the US has refused to ratify. Among the others are crucial instruments such as the Rome statute on international crimes, the treaties banning cluster bombs and landmines, the convention on discrimination against women, the Basel convention on hazardous waste, the convention on the law of the sea, the nuclear test ban treaty, the employment policy convention and the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities…”

“…it is the only nation to sentence children to life imprisonment without parole, among many other brutal policies. While others play by the rules, the most powerful nation refuses. If this country were a person, we’d call it a psychopath. As it is not a person, we should call it what it is: a rogue state…”

“…the US makes the rules, to a greater extent than any other state. It also does more than any other to prevent both their implementation and their enforcement. Its refusal to ratify treaties such as the convention on biological diversity provides other nations with a permanent excuse to participate in name only…”

“… The lack of interest in resolving our existential crises, expressed by the US Senate in particular, is not a passive exceptionalism. It is an active, proud and furious refusal to care about the lives of others…”

The US is a rogue state leading the world towards ecological collapse | George Monbiot | The Guardian

Human rights goes back to 1946, when the first meeting took place of the UN Commission on Human Rights. Eleanor Roosevelt, widow of the late President of the United States, was in the chair.

The Commission was expected to draw up two documents: a Declaration of Human Rights and an International Covenant defining the principles of human rights and making them legally binding on all signatories. 

At the second session, at Geneva in November 1947, the Commission decided that three stages would be necessary — Declaration, Covenant, Implementation. The third session added a Preamble and eventually, in December 1948 in Paris the Declaration, and only the Declaration was accepted. The Covenant had to wait until 1966 for its adoption. And the Implementation? We still await its effective implementation across much of the world regardless of the signatures on treaties and protocols.

 Instead of bewailing the sad state of human rights, we should ask why they are so often violated. 

Sometimes it is simply a case of capitalism being unable to satisfy those rights. Thus although Article 25 of the Declaration states that everyone has the right “. .. . to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family including food, clothing and housing”. If the history of human rights proves anything, it is that they cannot be achieved within a property society. The private property system is itself a matter of privilege and therefore a denial of the right of equal standing to the vast majority of the world’s people.

What about the violations of human rights to liberty? The plain fact here is that a ruling class which suppresses opposition does so because it sees that opposition as a threat to its own position.  A privileged class will always struggle to keep its privileges—often by force and suppression.

Human rights are an outgrowth of both the competitive class and social division of society and the existence of the state. Just as people who do not keep lions do not need a set of written lion safety manuals, so a society of free individuals without a state will not need a written set of state safety manuals. Instead of rights on paper, we would have the practical fulfilment of human needs with the equal access to sufficient democratic power to secure those needs.

We should not let ourselves depend on these judges for our freedoms, though. We can defend ourselves and protect what freedoms and rights we have best by building our own movement for socialism and pursuing the class struggle. We can only ever have the rights we fight for and can defend.

 Natural resources like seeds, plants, animals and even chemical compounds found in bioresource-rich countries have long been extracted by wealthy nations during periods of colonisation when empires would steal from the territories they occupied. Patented and exported, such resources have led to breakthrough discoveries in medicine, agriculture, even cosmetics. Many of these discoveries wouldn’t have been possible without drawing on traditional knowledge from local indigenous communities, who have often been unaccredited and uncompensated.

At the heart of the debate around biopiracy is the question of ownership and benefit sharing. Why should wealthy, technology-rich countries get the lion’s share of benefits when extracting from less affluent lands?

Indian environmental activist Vandana Shiva spoke at Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation, explaining the problematic practice of seed patenting in layman’s terms.

“A patent is a right of an inventor to exclude anyone else from making, using, selling, distributing what is invented. The problem is that, when it comes to seed, seed is not an invention,” she said, going on to explain that seeds had been exchanged long before the arrival of patents.

“But then you come to me and you take the seed. And then you patent it and say, ‘I created it and now you pay me royalties.’ That’s biopiracy.”  

Biopiracy: The fight for fairness in the scientific exploitation of natural resources (france24.com)

 The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is an influential group that helps shape US food policy and steers consumers toward nutritional products. The Academy says it as an independent voice and “trusted educational resource for consumers”. It lobbies Congress and represents and provides information to over 110,000 US dietitians who help people make decisions about which foods to eat. Newly released documents show it has financial ties to the world’s largest processed food companies and has been controlled by former industry employees who have worked for companies like Monsanto.

 A recently published peer-reviewed study that examined a trove of financial documents and internal communications reveal it has a record of quid pro quos with a range of food giants, owns stock in ultra-processed food companies and has received millions in contributions from producers of sugar-heavy soft drinks, candy, and processed foods linked to diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other health problems.

The study for the first time reveals the depth of its financial ties. The Academy accepted at least $15m from corporate and organizational contributors from 2011-2017, and over $4.5m in additional funding went to the Academy’s foundation. Among the highest contributions came from companies like Nestle, PepsiCo, Hershey, Kellogg’s, General Mills, Conagra, the National Dairy Council, and baby formula producer Abbott Nutrition. The Academy and its foundation also received food industry fundings via sponsorships, which are effectively quid pro quos.

“It’s incredibly influential so if the Academy is corrupt then nutritional policy in the US is going to be corrupt,” said Gary Ruskin, executive director of US Right to Know, and a co-author of the study. “If we’re ever going to solve the problems of obesity and diabetes in the US and elsewhere, then we’re going to have to tackle the corruption in our health institutions.”

An email reveals the Academy in 2015 was in a sponsorship deal with Abbott and was discussing how the Academy could use its dietitians’ influence in pediatricians’ offices to push Pediasure, one of the pharmaceutical giant’s infant nutritional products. Abbott at the time had in place a two year, $300,000 sponsorship deal. The Academy also owned Abbott stock at the time of the deal and plan, records show. It also owned stock in companies with which it had a sponsorship deal, PepsiCo, as well as financial contributors, like Nestle.

 A 2015 email was also in discussion with Subway about how the Academy could “endorse” the fast food chain’s “healthier products”, the email shows, and discussed a partnership with the Mars candy bar company.

“That is astounding,” Ruskin said. “That belongs in the conflict of interest hall of fame – it is off the charts.”

The study also highlights the revolving door between the Academy and industry. Among its staff and board members are current and former public relations staff for companies that represent big food, as well as consultants or employees for large food entities like Monsanto, Sodexo, the Sugar Association, Bayer and the International Food Information Council, and industry front group.

Marion Nestle, a nutritionist and public health advocate who wrote about the ties in her 2002 book, Food Politics said the financial ties raise “fundamental questions about credibility”.

“How can the Academy advise the public to avoid ultra-processed foods, for example, if it is funded by the makers of those foods?” she asked. “The issue of trust is critical to nutrition advising. The Academy looks like it represents the food industry, not the public interest.”

Revealed: group shaping US nutrition receives millions from big food industry | Nutrition | The Guardian

 The World Trade Organization (WTO) has found that tariffs on steel and aluminium imports that were imposed by the US under Trump violate global trade rules. The WTO said the US should bring its trade policy into compliance. If the country does not abide by the decision, the countries who brought the complaints are entitled, under WTO rules, to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US.

 While some people there are forced to huddle in shelters, the army incurs heavy losses on the frontlines, and tens of millions have been displaced in and outside of Ukraine, according to media reports, certain Ukrainian oligarchs and billionaires fled Ukraine with their families before the Russian invasion of February 24.

Some 1,800 kilometers away on the French Riviera, locals say that there are more luxury cars with Ukrainian license plates than before. 

One Ukrainian blogger has posted a picture of several suitcases full of cash — reportedly amounting to over $17 million (€16.1 million) and €1 million, which were found by Hungarian customs officials. 

Ihor Abramovych lives in the seaside resort of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, which is particularly popular with the super-rich. Russians and Ukrainians have long had luxury properties there. 

Corruption expert Zaliskhenko said that Abramovych and other lawmakers continued to try to exert influence from abroad. “Some of them are also involved with legislation from a distance,” he said, adding that they had even tried to introduce bills digitally. The fact that they were not physically present in Ukraine was not grounds for losing a mandate, however, deputies working remotely did not receive a salary, he said.

The French-Ukrainian Association of the Cote d’Azur president , Iryna Bourdelles, said, “These people were not only part of a corrupt elite, but these people — and we are sure of this — are also responsible for this war in Ukraine because they called on Russia to come to Ukraine.”

Ukraine: Pro-Russian oligarchs flee to French Riviera – DW – 12/08/2022

A US House of Representatives committee has found some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies have internally dismissed the need to swiftly move to renewable energy and cut planet-heating emissions, despite publicly portraying themselves as concerned about the climate crisis.

Documents obtained from companies including Exxon, Shell, BP and Chevron show that the fossil fuel industry “has no real plans to clean up its act and is barreling ahead with plans to pump more dirty fuels for decades to come”, said Carolyn Maloney, the chair of the House oversight committee. Documents obtained from companies including Exxon, Shell, BP and Chevron show that the fossil fuel industry “has no real plans to clean up its act and is barreling ahead with plans to pump more dirty fuels for decades to come”, said Carolyn Maloney, the chair of the House oversight committee.

In reality, executives, the documents show, were derisive of the need to cut emissions, disparaged climate activists and worked to secure US government tax credits for carbon capture projects that would allow them to continue business as usual. 

Maloney said that “these companies know their climate pledges are inadequate, but are prioritizing big oil’s record profits over the human costs of climate change.”

Ro Khanna, who sits on the committee, said that the industry’s approach was one of “intimidation” towards critics, as part of a “cynical strategy” to avoid acting on the climate emergency. He added that the committee will pass on the documents to “other entities”, raising the possibility of charges laid by the US Department of Justice.

Khanna rejected allegations that the committee had engaged in a sort of corporate witch-hunt. “The industry was the one out there continuing to make false statements about climate change and climate legislation,” he said. “Our goal is to get them to stop engaging in climate misinformation.”

Climate campaigners said the committee’s work showed that the fossil fuel industry was continuing to lie over global heating by pretending to act on the issue.

“The key revelation in this report is that big oil has no intention of actually following through on its climate commitments,” said Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media. “It isn’t transitioning to clean energy, it’s doubling down on methane gas, and it’s actively lobbying against renewable energy solutions. This is the big tobacco playbook all over again: pretend you care about a problem, but continue your deadly business as usual.”

Oil firms have internally dismissed swift climate action, House panel says | Oil and gas companies | The Guardian

Pat Cullen the general secretary of Britain’s nurses’ union ,has accused the health secretary, Steve Barclay, of being a “bullyboy” who is unwilling to negotiate with her because she is a woman representing a largely female workforce. She said the government was displaying “particularly macho” behaviour towards the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) because she believes it sees nursing as “female work” that it does not value properly. She criticised ministers for portraying nurses as “greedy”.

“The more I think about it … I’m a woman negotiating for a 90% female profession that is trying to operate with a government that’s particularly macho and tends to operate with a bullyboy tactic. Perhaps that’s the reason why we can’t get moving forward. By refusing to negotiate Steve Barclay is ignoring nurses and ignoring me. I think there’s an issue here with us being female. I ask myself, would that [refusal to negotiate] be different if it was a 90% male profession and I was a male? I truly believe it would be. I think we’d be treated differently,” said Cullen, whose union represents 500,000 nurses across the UK.

She added: “And that links back to the value of caring and it being female work. Nurses showed the importance of care during the pandemic, the importance of being with a patient at their real hour of need, the importance of being there to hold their hand and see them leave this world and say: ‘It’s OK, we’ll be here.’ That’s all perceived by those people, by those men, as female jobs, female work, and that they can treat us like that.”

Barclay was treating nurses “with contempt and disrespect”, she said.

Tens of thousands of nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to stop work on 15 and 20 December in the profession’s first-ever NHS-wide strike action. Ambulance staff, teachers, university lecturers and Border Force officials are among the many groups of workers who intend to strike over the coming weeks.

Cullin warned nurses could keep staging stoppages at hospitals and other places of NHS care for the next six months in their pursuit of a “fair and decent” pay rise. However, she also suggested the RCN would ditch its demand for a 5% above-inflation increase if the health secretary abandoned his refusal to begin meaningful talks.

Unnamed senior NHS managers have told the Health Service Journal that they regard the health secretary as “a real nightmare, vindictive, arrogant, a bully and hostile to the NHS”.

More than 1.3 million workers intend to strike sometime in December. Royal Mail postal workers  have begun strikes as have the long on-going rail workers strikes.

Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has been condemned for using “disingenuous” figures after he repeated a claim that meeting union demands for public sector pay awards would cost every household £1,000 extra a year. The £1,000 figure, used by several ministers in recent days, is based on a government estimate that meeting an 11% pay rise for all public sector staff would cost a total of £28bn, spread around 28 million UK households.

The calculation has been called into question, however, given that not every part of the public sector is striking, and that awards recommended by pay review bodies and accepted by ministers average about 5% anyway.

Nurses’ union leader accuses Steve Barclay of ‘bullyboy’ tactics | Steve Barclay | The Guardian

  It is a fact that close to 4 billion people –or about half of the world’s total population of 8 billion– still live without access to a safe toilet and other sanitation facilities.

Nearly a full decade ago, the international community, represented in the United Nations General Assembly, decided to declare 19 November every single year, as a world day to address such a staggering problem.

And year after year, the UN continues to behave ‘politically correct’ by saying that progress and achievements were anyway made, however much would still be to do.

Despite such ‘correctness,’ the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, stated on the Day that the world is “seriously off track to keep our promise of safe toilets for all by 2030 – a crucial indicator in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Investment in sanitation systems is too low and progress remains too slow.”

 Every day, over 800 children under age five years old die from diarrhoea linked to unsafe water, sanitation and poor hygiene.

Poor sanitation is linked to the transmission of diarrhoeal diseases such as cholera and dysentery, as well as typhoid, intestinal worm infections and polio. It exacerbates stunting and contributes to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Globally, 1 in 3 schools do not have adequate toilets, and 23% of schools have no toilets at all. Schools without toilets can cause girls to miss out on their education. Without proper sanitation facilities, many are forced to miss school when they are on their period.

Open defecation: about 900 million people worldwide practice open defecation, meaning they go outside – on the side of the road, in bushes or rubbish heaps. It’s often a matter of where they live: 90% of people who practice open defecation live in rural areas. Of these, 494 million still defecate in the open, for example in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water.

Moreover, the lack of sanitation services, just in the year 2020, stood behind the fact that 45% of the household wastewater generated globally was discharged without safe treatment. Consequently, at least 10% of the world’s population is thought to consume food irrigated by wastewater.

Inadequate sanitation systems spread human waste into rivers, lakes and soil, polluting underground water resources. However, this problem seems to be invisible. Invisible because it happens underground. Invisible because it happens in the poorest and most marginalised communities. Groundwater is the world’s most abundant source of freshwater. It supports drinking water supplies, sanitation systems, farming, industry and ecosystems. As climate change worsens and populations grow, groundwater is vital for human survival. Safe sanitation protects groundwater. Toilets that are properly located and connected to safely managed sanitation systems, collect, treat and dispose of human waste, and help prevent human waste from spreading into groundwater.

Sanitation must withstand climate change. Toilets and sanitation systems must be built or adapted to cope with extreme weather events, so that services always function and groundwater is protected.

World Toilet Day – In Praise of Toilets | Inter Press Service (ipsnews.net)

Via RobertS