The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued a new Living Amazon Report, 2022 at COP27 . According to the report, 35% of the Amazon rainforest is either totally lost or highly degraded. 

“The situation has begun to show signs of nearing a point of no return: seasons are changing, surface water is being lost, rivers are becoming increasingly disconnected and polluted, and forests are under immense pressure from increasingly devastating waves of deforestation and fire. This could lead to irreversible change in the near future.”

According to the WWF report: There are (1) six-hundred (600) infrastructure projects in operation along Amazon rivers (2) twenty planned road projects, (3) four-hundred operating, or planned, dams; meanwhile, numerous mining operations continue to dump chemicals such as mercury into rivers. According to PRODES, a satellite monitoring system, the pace of commercialization of the Amazon trudges ahead as 4.2 million square miles of the rainforest was cleared for commercial development last year alone.

 In another recent report from Amazon Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information (RAISG) claiming that 26% of the forests have already “irreversibly transformed.”

 “The savannization of the Amazon is already visible in Brazil and Bolivia while Ecuador, Columbia and Peru seem to be heading in the same direction.” (Mongabay)

Amazon Rainforest Crisis Report at COP27 | Dissident Voice

Senate Armed Services Committee, Senators Jack Reed (D) and Jim Inhofe (R), have their way, Congress will soon invoke wartime emergency powers to build up even greater stockpiles of Pentagon weapons. The amendment is supposedly designed to facilitate replenishing the weapons the United States has sent to Ukraine, but a look at the wish list contemplated in this amendment reveals a different story.

Reed and Inhofe’s idea is to tuck their wartime amendment into the FY2023 National Defense Appropriation Act (NDAA) that will be passed during the lameduck session before the end of the year. The amendment sailed through the Armed Services Committee in mid-October and, if it becomes law, the Department of Defense will be allowed to lock in multi-year contracts and award non-competitive contracts to arms manufacturers for Ukraine-related weapons. 

If the Reed/Inhofe amendment is really aimed at replenishing the Pentagon’s supplies, then why do the quantities in its wish list vastly surpass those sent to Ukraine?

The current star of U.S. military aid to Ukraine is Lockheed Martin’s HIMARS rocket system, the same weapon U.S. Marines used to help reduce much of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, to rubble in 2017. The U.S. has only sent 38 HIMARS systems to Ukraine, but Senators Reed and Inhofe plan to “reorder” 700 of them, with 100,000 rockets, which could cost up to $4 billion.Another artillery weapon provided to Ukraine is the M777 155 mm howitzer. To “replace” the 142 M777s sent to Ukraine, the senators plan to order 1,000 of them, at an estimated cost of  $3.7 billion, from BAE Systems.HIMARS launchers can also fire Lockheed Martin’s long-range (up to 190 miles) MGM-140 ATACMS missiles, which the U.S. has not sent to Ukraine. In fact the U.S. has only ever fired 560 of them, mostly at Iraq in 2003. The even longer-range “Precision Strike Missile,” formerly prohibited under the INF Treaty renounced by Trump, will start replacing the ATACMS in 2023, yet the Reed-Inhofe Amendment would buy 6,000 ATACMS, 10 times more than the U.S. has ever used, at an estimated cost of $600 million.Reed and Inhofe plan to buy 20,000 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles from Raytheon. But Congress already spent $340 million for 2,800 Stingers to replace the 1,400 sent to Ukraine. Reed and Inhofe’s amendment will “re-replenish” the Pentagon’s stocks 14 times over, which could cost $2.4 billion.The United States has supplied Ukraine with only two Harpoon anti-ship missile systems—already a provocative escalation—but the amendment includes 1,000 Boeing Harpoon missiles (at about $1.4 billion) and 800 newer Kongsberg Naval Strike Missiles (about $1.8 billion), the Pentagon’s replacement for the Harpoon.The Patriot air defense system is another weapon the U.S. has not sent to Ukraine, because each system can cost a billion dollars and the basic training course for technicians to maintain and repair it takes more than a year to complete. And yet the Inhofe-Reed wish list includes 10,000 Patriot missiles, plus launchers, which could add up to $30 billion.

Opinion | Reed/Inhofe Amendment Would Open Floodgates for War Profiteers | Medea Benjamin (commondreams.org)

 November 15, 2022, is predicted to be the day that the global population reaches eight billion. 

UN projections suggest that the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050, before reaching a peak of around 10.4 billion people during the 2080s. The population is expected to remain at that level until 2100.

 UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said,  “Let us protect human rights and the ability of all individuals to make informed choices about whether and when to have children.” Guterres added that “eight billion people means eight billion opportunities to live dignified and fulfilled lives”. He urged everyone to contribute to a common future with greater equality and solidarity for the planet and future generations.

The annual 2022 World Population Prospect report notes that the global population is growing at its slowest rate since 1950, having fallen to less than one per cent in 2020.

Fertility rates has fallen markedly in recent decades for many countries: today, two-thirds of the global population lives in a country or area where lifetime fertility is below 2.1 births per woman, roughly the level required for zero growth in the long run, for a population with low mortality.

61 countries or regions, the population is expected to decrease by at least one per cent over the next three decades, as a result of sustained low levels of fertility and, in some cases, elevated rates of emigration.

More than half of the projected increase in the global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania. Countries of sub-Saharan Africa are expected to contribute more than half of the increase anticipated through 2050.

“Further actions by Governments aimed at reducing fertility would have little impact on the pace of population growth between now and mid-century, because of the youthful age structure of today’s global population,” said John Wilmoth, Director of the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). “Nevertheless, the cumulative effect of lower fertility, if maintained over several decades, could be a more substantial deceleration of global population growth in the second half of the century”.

The report said in most countries of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, recent reductions in fertility have led to a “demographic dividend”, with a rise in the share of the working-age population (25 to 64 years), providing an opportunity for accelerated economic growth per capita. The report argues that to make the most of this opportunity, countries should invest in the further development of their human capital, by ensuring access to health care and quality education at all ages, and by promoting opportunities for productive employment and decent work.

More Older People, Living Longer

By 2050 it is expected that the number of persons aged 65 years or over worldwide will be more than twice the number of children under the age of five,  and about the same as the number under age 12.

Further reductions in mortality are projected to result in an average global longevity of around 77.2 years in 2050. Yet in 2021, life expectancy for the least developed countries lagged seven years behind the global average.

The report recommends public programs for the growing numbers of older persons, establishing universal health care and long-term care systems, and by improving the sustainability of social security and pension systems.

The World Population Fund (UNFPA) upheld that we live in a world in which “higher shares of people are educated and live healthier lives than at any previous point in history”. It said,  “Societies that invest in their people, in their rights and choices, have proven time and again that this is the road to the prosperity and peace that everyone wants — and deserves.”

World Population To Reach 8 Billion Tomorrow, Growth Rate Slows| Countercurrents

 Diabetes—a disease that can wreak havoc on organs, eyesight, and limbs if left unmanaged—affects more than 37 million U.S. adults and is the country’s seventh leading cause of death.  The price of insulin, which is needed to treat diabetes, is so astronomical in the U.S. that experts have accused the federal government and pharmaceutical industry of violating human rights.

In a letter addressed to Senate and House leaders more than 50 organizations wrote: “World Diabetes Day marks the birthday of Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin and famously sold its patent for $1 and stated, ‘Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world.’ Despite its discovery more than 100 years ago and the generosity of Banting and the co-inventors, many people living in the United States still struggle to afford access to the insulin they need.”

“As people in the United States struggle to access affordable insulin, the big three drug corporations that manufacture insulin have repeatedly and sharply raised prices and aggressively sought to extend lucrative product monopolies, resulting in many billions of dollars in excessive spending,” states the letter. “Since the 1990s, insulin manufacturers have raised prices many times over for U.S. patients, as much as 1,100%, despite their products remaining largely unchanged, and low production costs.”

On Twitter last week, a user created an account posing as Eli Lilly’s official page. 

The user proceeded to tweet that “insulin is free now,” causing Eli Lilly’s share price to drop and drawing fresh attention to the sky-high price of the medicine in the U.S.

Although it costs a mere $10 to produce a vial of insulin, uninsured patients in the U.S. pay $300 to $400 per vial of the century-old drug because the three pharmaceutical corporations that control the nation’s lucrative insulin market charge excessive prices. 1.3 million people in the U.S. ration insulin, including an estimated 1 in 4 people with type 1 diabetes.

“Abusive pricing of insulin, which the very same corporations who sell insulin here sell for a fraction of the price in other wealthy countries, has led to immense profits for these corporations at the cost of preventable suffering and death of people who need insulin, in addition to billions of dollars drained from government coffers and consumers’ bank accounts,” the letter continues.

Amid Eli Lilly-Twitter Fiasco, Groups Call for End to Insulin Price Gouging (commondreams.org)

  Save the Children is warning that thousands of lives could be lost to starvation and cholera, especially children from the poorest and most vulnerable households.

About 200,000 more children in Haiti have been pushed into crisis-levels of hunger this year, with almost half the country’s population not knowing where their next meal will come from, Save the Children said.

The number of people experiencing crisis-levels of hunger or worse in Haiti has risen  to 4.7 million — including 2.4 million children — up from 4.3 million earlier this year.

For the first time ever, more than 19,000 people, including about 9,600 children, are facing catastrophic levels of hunger.

Haiti is also battling its worst cholera outbreak since 2010, with more than 6,800 suspected and confirmed cases reported since 2 October. Children are most at risk from the deadly disease, with those 19 and under making up more than 41% of confirmed cases.  Children who are already facing severe acute malnutrition are especially vulnerable to the spread of cholera and are at least three times more likely to die if they contract the deadly disease.

Chantal-Sylvie Imbeault, Save the Children’s Country Director in Haiti said:

“The situation in Haiti is rapidly deteriorating. Millions of children are going to bed hungry every night, and for the first time ever, we’re seeing children face famine-like conditions. Many families are being pushed to the brink and using credit to purchase everyday food items due to a dire combination of economic collapse, political turmoil, and gang violence that is blockading fuel and life-saving food. The country is now on the verge of collapse, and we fear the worst for millions of children.”

Haiti: 200,000 more children pushed into hunger since March, as nearly half the population goes hungry – Haiti | ReliefWeb

In 2015, at Cop21 in Paris governments agreed to pursue efforts to limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5C. Now, it is irrelevant. The world’s largest food companies, whose products have been linked to the widespread destruction of rainforests, have failed to come up with an adequate strategy to align their business practices with the 1.5C climate target.

The leading producers of soya beans, palm oil, cocoa and cattle published their roadmap to align with 1.5C earlier this week, promising to develop and publish commodity-specific, time-bound targets on stopping deforestation which will be backed by science and checked each year. The companies include the Brazilian beef firm JBS, the American agricultural firm Cargill and the Singaporean food processing firm Wilmar International.

To comply with 1.5C, all land use conversion must stop by 2030 with significant progress made by the middle of the decade, according to scientists.

Nico Muzi, managing director of the environmental group Madre Brava, said the plan announced at Cop27 did amount to some progress but said the commitment fell short of what was needed, especially in the meat sector. 

“There are two flagrant omissions: a cutoff date to stop soy-driven deforestation now, and the exclusion of conversion by cattle and soy expansion of the largest savanna region in South America, Brazil’s Cerrado,” she said.

Cristiane Mazzetti, a senior forest campaigner at Greenpeace Brazil, said some of the companies had previously promised to rid deforestation from their supply chains by 2020 and had failed.

“We cannot afford any more greenwashing or reckless behaviour from these companies who profit from the destruction of ecosystems and come up with more delays and inadequate plans to halt and reverse the destruction they drive that will continue to fry the planet.” 

André Vasconcelos, of Global Canopy, said the companies needed to go further for the plan to be credible.

“Tackling deforestation is integral to staying under 1.5C,” he said. “Traders need to go further, faster. The roadmap needs a proactive stance towards avoiding future deforestation and conversion, including a concrete commitment not to invest in further infrastructural development in key deforestation frontiers. There needs to be a commitment to a common cutoff date across commodities that includes all types of ecosystems.”

Food firms’ plans for 1.5C climate target fall short, say campaigners | Climate crisis | The Guardian

 Described by the United Nations’ desertification agency as one of the greatest threats to human society, it’s estimated that over 40% of the world’s land is already degraded. Around 1.9 billion hectares of land, more than twice the size of the United States, and roughly 1.5 billion people globally are affected in some way by desertification, according to U.N. estimates.

 Since Russia invaded Ukraine, some eight million Ukrainian refugees have registered across Europe. The EU has opened its borders and granted displaced Ukrainian citizens temporary protection. With 1.4 million Ukrainian refugees, Poland has taken the largest number. A total of 1,019,789 people entered Germany for reasons related to the war in Ukraine.

Organizations working for refugees have been raising the alarm, accusing European countries of unequal treatment towards Ukrainian refugees on the one hand and refugees from other crisis regions on the other. Ukrainian refugees are being given priority by a two-tier refugee policy.

The EU opened its borders with the  Temporary Protection Directive that allowed Ukrainian refugees to enter the European Union without a visa and without formally requesting asylum. In Germany, refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine don’t need a visa for the first 90 days if they enter before November 30, 2022. After the first 90 days, they need to register and apply for a temporary residence permit. According to Germany’s Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), this provision runs until February 28, 2023.

Depending on the host nation, the social benefits that Ukrainian refugees can access vary. In Germany, Ukrainian refugees have been incorporated into the welfare syste since June 1, where they may receive public health insuranc, permission to seek gainful employment, unemployment benefits, child benefits, financial assistance for students of higher education and retirement benefits. Ukrainian refugees are permitted to travel to Germany by train free of charge, and Germany’s national railway company DB even offers numerous concessions for local transport. 

In the early days of the war in Ukraine, refugees who were not considered “white” reported discrimination to various media outlets. In March, the human rights organization Amnesty International observed the situation on the ground and found that refugees fleeing Ukraine who didn’t hold Ukrainian passports, and especially People of Color, were experiencing discrimination both in Ukraine as well as in host countries. In Ukraine, the report continued, students from Pakistan, the Middle East and Africa were hindered from boarding trains in order to leave the country.

In contrast, refugees fleeing crises in other countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iraq receive less. 

This is in accordance with the so-called Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act. They can only hope for a residence permit after months or even years of proceedings. Then, after being recognized as refugees, they, too, have access to the welfare system.

Fact check: Does the EU prioritize Ukrainian refugees? – DW – 11/12/2022

People from working-class families earn several thousands of pounds a year less on average for doing the same jobs as their more privileged peers, according to a landmark study of the class pay gap.

Professionals from working-class backgrounds earn £6,718 less on average, while women and most ethnic minorities face a double disadvantage, according to the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF), which conducted the research. Working-class professional women earn £9,450 less than men, while working-class Bangladeshi professionals earn £10,432 less than their white counterparts in the same jobs.

Working-class chief executives earn £16,749 less than their peers. Finance managers are paid £11,427 less, and accountants and solicitors have a gap of more than £8,000. Police officers, firefighters and army officers earn £5,229 less than their middle or upper-class peers. Academics face a £5,807 penalty, with £5,123 for IT workers. Teachers and social workers also earn about £2,000 less.

The 13% class pay gap affects hundreds of thousands of people and means that tomorrow marks the day when working-class professionals will effectively start working for free.

Revealed: working class people paid thousands less than middle class peers despite doing same jobs | Class issues | The Guardian