Sasa Braun has been for the past six years a criminal intelligence officer with Interpol’s environmental security program.

“The brutality and profit margins in the area of environmental crime are almost unimaginable. Cartels have taken over entire sectors of illegal mining, the timber trade and waste disposal,” he said. Braun listed examples of villages in Peru that had resisted deforestation efforts being razed to the ground by criminal gangs in retribution, while illegal fishing fleets had thrown crew overboard to avoid having to pay them.

According to the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol), environmental crime — the third most lucrative area of crime worldwide after drug trafficking and counterfeit goods — generates profits of between $110 billion and $280 billion each year. It is difficult to be more precise because there is an extremely high number of unreported cases. 

Environmental crime has many faces and includes the illegal wildlife trade, illegal logging, illegal waste disposal and the illegal discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere, water or soil. It is a lucrative business for transnational crime networks. 

Illegal waste trafficking, for example, accounts for $10 to 12 billion (€10.28 to 12.34 billion) annually, according to 2016 figures from the United Nations Environment Program. Criminal networks save on the costs of proper disposal and obtaining permits. For some crime networks, the profits from waste management are so huge that it has become more interesting than drug trafficking.

The profits from illegal logging have also grown. Well-seasoned tropical hardwood, which is used to build yachts for example, is increasingly rare and demand is high. According to a 2021 study by the German Association of Engineers (VDI), illegal logging accounts for 30% of activities in the global forestry sector. This figure can rise to almost 90% in countries that produce tropical timber.

“Too often in Europe, there is no real penalty for environmental crime. Lawbreakers can go unpunished and there are too few incentives to observe the law,” explained European Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius last year.

Environmental crime, where profit margins can be higher than the drug trade | Environment | All topics from climate change to conservation | DW | 16.10.2022

Australian charity Foodbank’s annual Hunger Report surveyed more than 4,000 Australian adults, finding the problem extended beyond those on fixed incomes and was affecting many people in work.

The report estimates about 500,000 households on any given day experience food insecurity, which describes being uncertain about getting enough food and compromising on nutrition through to disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.

The report said 21% of Australians – or more than 2 million people – had experienced severe food insecurity in the past 12 months. That was up from 17% on its 2021 report. Past estimates have put the rate of food insecurity in Australia between 4% and 14%, while a UN report said 16% of Australian children under 15 lived with an adult who was food insecure in 2017. 

The new Foodbank report said that among those experiencing food insecurity, 64% cited increased or high living expenses and 42% pointed to “reduced or low income or government benefits” as a key cause. Among those experiencing severe food insecurity, 67% said their circumstances were worse this year than last. Households with children reported food insecurity at 1.5 times the national average, while about a third of people in work had experienced it in some form in the past year.

Only two in five households who reported being food insecure had sought food relief, a statistic attributed to ongoing stigma and practical factors such as a lack of access or eligibility.

The report said the diverse range of people facing food insecurity was likely to increase “due to the range of external factors impacting households which may never have experienced food insecurity before”, such as the increasing cost of living, the frequency and severity of natural disasters and the pandemic.

Brianna Casey, the chief executive of Foodbank, said, “I’ve never seen anything like what we are seeing right now. It’s going to come as a surprise to many that we are seeing rates of food insecurity that are worse than at the height of the pandemic … People have come out of the pandemic in many instances in a more vulnerable position than they went in.”

Inflation and inadequate welfare fuelling Australia’s food insecurity crisis, Foodbank finds | Welfare | The Guardian

 From the October 1945 issue of the Socialist Standard

October 16 is World Food Day

 “We are facing an unprecedented global food crisis and all signs suggest we have not yet seen the worst. For the last three years hunger numbers have repeatedly hit new peaks. Let me be clear: things can and will get worse unless there is a large scale and coordinated effort to address the root causes of this crisis. We cannot have another year of record hunger,” said WFP Executive Director David Beasley.

 Findings from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that over 40% of the world population – or 3.1 billion people – cannot afford a healthy diet and that 828 million people are hungry.

Africa has been bearing the greater burden of food insecurity. A new report from the FAO reveals that in 2021, 20.2 percent, or one-fifth of the total population, went hungry. In the context of Africa and the Sahel region, local governments’ capacity to respond to the food crisis have been limited or difficult to implement in the face of conflict within the region and in neighboring countries. Even international intervention from groups like FAO and World Food Programme (WFP) have had to work with limited resources and funding. In February, it was reported that within the last three years in the Sahel, the number of people dealing with starvation increased dramatically and dangerously, from 3.6 to 10.5 million.

Food insecurity results in micronutrient deficiencies, such as zinc, iron, vitamin A, vitamin B, folate, and vitamin D. While at first unnoticeable; these deficiencies can lead to long-term losses in health and cognitive development. This would be fatal, especially to young children still developing and still needing proper nutrition.

What is perhaps more pressing, and more devastating, is the impact of climate change or environment-induced disasters on food security. 

The Sahel region in particular is susceptible to extreme weather conditions such as heavy rains and floods, and the Horn of Africa is suffering from a historic drought this year. 

Looking at other regions, the recent floods that devastated Pakistan destroyed over $70 billion worth of rice crops. This has also led to a rise in rice prices in the international market from other major rice exporters such as India, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Meanwhile, sub-Saharan Africa is heavily dependent on rice imports. It is an example of how We are undeniably and inextricably dependent on each other to meet our needs for food, health, and security. connected the world is, and how we are dependent on each other to help meet that most basic and essential need: food. 

World Food Day 2022 Call to Action as 828M People Go Hungry | Inter Press Service (ipsnews.net)

 Ukrainian government plans to merge its social benefits fund with its deficit-laden state pension fund could risk a reduction in – or even an end to – workplace sickness and incapacity benefits, union leaders are warning. The plan, already approved by parliament and now set to be signed into law by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, is to merge Ukraine’s social insurance and pension funds, in an effort to deal with a serious shortfall in the social insurance fund and streamline the administration of welfare payments. If it goes ahead, it will come into effect in January 2023.

The merger plan comes as the Ukrainian government is preparing to move away from state provision and regulation in socio-economic policy. This summer, the country’s ruling party forced through an agenda of radical labour deregulation — without consulting trade unions or referring to legal advice provided by the European Union and the International Labor Organization (ILO). Those new laws, governing labour protections at small and medium enterprises, are deemed to violate E.U. norms and ILO conventions.

Mykhailo Volynets MP, head of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions, stated, “We informed them about violations of ILO conventions, the Association Agreement with the E.U., E.U. directives when the Ukrainian parliament adopted a number of bills that infringe on labour and trade union rights,”

Proponents of the merger claim Ukraine needs to cut down its financial obligations to citizens, given the destruction of the country’s economy caused by Russia’s invasion. They argue private insurers could take on the role of state welfare.

“This merger will not lead to better social protection for Ukrainians, but more likely a reduction in it,” said Nataliia Lomonosova, a social policy analyst at Ukrainian think tank Cedos. The merger “looks like part of a larger plan, and one that is designed to cut [state] spending on social protection”, explained Lomonosova.

For analyst Nataliia Lomonosova, the merger raises questions about how the state will be able to deal with payouts during Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“The number of individuals who will claim insurance payouts during wartime is only going to rise. This means the administrative burden will inevitably rise, so it’s incredible to radically reduce the number of people working for the social insurance fund in these conditions,” she said.

Lomonosova noted that the Ukrainian government is about to re-examine its obligations to Ukrainian citizens in terms of social security and welfare, on the basis that the “state should not have any unfinanced social obligations.” The World Bank has predicted Ukraine’s economy will shrink by 35 percent as a result of the Russian invasion this year.

“In practice, [the government’s plans] can only mean one thing: a reduction in [social] obligations,” Lomonosova said.

 Trade unions have spoken against the merger, claiming it violates best practice in the European Union. Trade union representatives sit on the board of the social insurance fund, and are involved in its management. 

Ukraine’s social insurance fund provides support payments to citizens who temporarily cannot work because of illness, maternity leave, disability, workplace accidents or other conditions arising from the workplace. It also provides medical and social services to those who pay social contributions, whether via their employer or as a self-employed person. It is financed via social security payments known as the “unified social contribution,” which are taken from individual salaries. It is managed equally by representatives of the state, employers and trade unions (representing employees).

 The coronavirus pandemic, as well as Russia’s invasion, have left the fund with a huge deficit, as more than 3 million people called on state assistance during 2021, with approximately 16 billion hryvnia (£390m) issued in sick pay to Ukrainians. Last year, the fund’s deficit exceeded 2 billion hryvnia (£48m) and the shortfall had to be taken from the state budget. This has also led to delays in paying sick leave, maternity benefits and interruptions in other social benefits. So far this year, 1.75 million people have turned to the fund for assistance and made 9.6 billion hryvnia (£230m) in payments to Ukrainian citizens. But there have been significant delays: according to the fund’s own data, at the end of September, many regions were facing a three-month delay in paying benefits.

Natalia Zemlyanska, a trade union official who sits on the fund’s board, told openDemocracy the fund’s finances began to suffer some years ago, after the government reduced the percentage that people had to pay from their salaries towards social insurance. Huge Covid -19 payouts since 2020 have only exacerbated the financial problems. For Zemlyanska, the merger risks the collapse of Ukraine’s social insurance system.

 Beyond the direct effects of the merger, Ukrainian trade unions are also concerned that it paves the way for the introduction of private insurance funds as a way to provide workplace sickness and accident benefits. Unlike the social insurance fund, private insurance funds do not have representatives from the state, trade unions and employers. Moreover, the former’s financial assets are public and accountable. In recent years, a number of private insurers in Ukraine have gone bankrupt, and with inflation in Ukraine currently at 30 percent, their ability to provide payouts could be limited.

Volodymyr Saenko, deputy head of the Federation of Trade Unions of Ukraine, described these efforts as “nothing more than lobbying the interests of private insurance companies.”

The government reforms have long set them on a collision course with Ukraine’s trade unions, which cannot use traditional methods of action, such as mass protests and strikes, during wartime.

Ukraine: don’t merge social insurance and pension funds, say unions | openDemocracy

 “No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come” ― Victor Hugo

Almost a month has passed since the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people. The unique resistance against the heavily armed and criminal regime of the Islamic Republic is a new page in the historical struggle against oppression. 

The regime’s repressions and atrocities are not news to anyone. Since its violent establishment in the aftermath of the 1979 Revolution, the Islamic republic’s response to all social conflicts has always been repression, namely, the imprisonment and the killing of protesters. 

However, recent demonstrations have shown that fear can no longer prevent the Iranian people from joining in the various social movements growing within its society. Women are at the forefront of transforming fear into rage. What is happening with the mounting resistance against state violence and religious fundamentalism promises a new era. 

“What you are witnessing in Iran has a long history of resistance against a theocratic regime that seized power after the 1979 revolution with violence and brutality…” explained Elham Hoominfar, Assistant Professor Global Health Studies at Northwestern University. “…Since the 1979 revolution, legally and officially, women have become second-class citizens in ways that were not the case prior. Before 1979 we had many gender inequalities in Iran, but this gender apartheid was new…”

We should not be swayed by the crocodile tears of Western governments who seek to encourage the unrest and discontent for their own advantage. It merely offers the so-called anti-imperialists a pretext to parrot the propaganda of the Islamic Republic that the protesters are simply the puppets of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

 In contrast, the World Socialist Movement offers our solidarity to the women and men of Iran and it supports their campaign to throw off the yoke of the ayatollahas.

Violence is an effective means for a minority to hold on to power. But when the majority are moving toward revolution, the violence of the state will be unable to hold them back, or at least not for long.

Before the latest war in Ukraine, anyone who accused Russia of imperialism met the objection that Russia doesn’t occupy any colonial territories anywhere in the world. Now that it is very visibly in occupation of part of Ukraine, everything seems to have changed overnight. Did Putin want this war, produce it and prepare it, or was it forced upon him by Ukraine

 It is a popular custom of the ruling class to portray war as if “we” were the defensive side and the enemy the aggressor.  It isn’t very difficult to convince “our own” people that “we” are protecting ourselves, while “they” are the attackers. If all are defending themselves! Who then is the aggressor? 

Every country at war claims:

That it is engaged in a defensive war 

That it fighting for the just cause.

That the enemy wanted the war and was preparing for it long ago.

That the enemy began the war and attacked “us”.

That the enemy is conducting a war of conquest

That the enemy is trampling underfoot the rights of the people.

That it is fighting for freedom and democracy for all peoples.

That it is striving for lasting peace.

That the enemy is conducting the war with barbarous means.

That it will fight until the enemy has been beaten.

That it will be the victor, beyond a doubt.

That it is winning and has suffered only slight losses.

That it attacks only the military targets of the enemy 

That its attacks are always great successes.

That it is planning new offensives which promise success.

That its churches assure God is on its side.

That the enemy is conducting the war with illegal means.

That the enemy mistreats and kills prisoners.

That the enemy violates women, murders and plunders.

That the military courts of the enemy are a mockery of the law.

That the enemy bombs cities and kills women and children. 

That the attack of the enemy is always defeated and beaten back That the enemy suffers great losses 

That the enemy is needlessly preventing neutral trade.

That the enemy’s media is fake news 

That the enemy influences the neutrals by intimidation and bribery.

That the enemy is egging the neutral states on to war 

That the enemy is suffering from a lack of money, rising living costs, and industrial crises.

That unrest and discontent are rife in the enemy homeland.

That the enemy’s ministers and generals are incompetent.

That the enemy is growing war-weary. 

The media of all countries say the same thing, use the same misinformation methods, the same techniques of deception to “its” people and so those exposed only to the media of “their” nation can only repeat parrot fashion the propaganda of their own rulers. Some of the specific details and events may differ to a degree but governments and politicians behave very similarly in all wars.

There is but one thing left to do and it is to place the name of one fatherland and add the name of another motherland e.g., Ukraine in place of Russia. 

If all the wars are “just” wars which side should working people support. That is why the question of wars of defence are absurd.

When the capitalists want a war, they begin it and then hire zealot patriots to prove that right is on their side.

A workers’ movement that obediently falls in line when capitalists demand war is not a part of a genuine internationalist labour movement.

 An unrelenting series of crises has trapped vulnerable Haitians in a cycle of growing desperation, without access to food, fuel, markets, jobs and public services, bringing the country to a standstill, warn the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). Natural hazards and political turmoil have taken a toll on Haitians who were already in need in both rural and urban areas. The onset of the global food crisis, with rising food and fuel prices, has led to growing civil unrest that has plunged Haiti into chaos, completely paralyzing economic activities and transport.

 Hunger has reached Catastrophic levels, or the highest level, 5 on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), in Cité Soleil, an urban neighborhood in Port-au-Price, Haiti. A record 4.7 million people are currently facing acute hunger (IPC 3 and above), including 1.8 million people in Emergency phase (IPC 4) and, for the first time ever in Haiti, 19,000 people are in Catastrophe phase (IPC 5). Food security has also continued to deteriorate in rural areas, with several going from Crisis (IPC 3) to Emergency phase (IPC 4). Harvest losses due to below average rainfall and the 2021 earthquake that devastated parts of the Grand´Anse, Nippes and Sud departments are among the shocks that worsened conditions

Cité Soleil has seen a worrisome rise in food insecurity over three years. Currently, 65 percent of its population, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, are in high levels of food insecurity with 5 percent of them in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Increased violence in Cité Soleil, with armed groups vying for control of the area has meant that residents have lost access to their work, markets and health and nutrition services. Many have been forced to flee or hide in their homes.

The basic food basket is out of reach for many Haitians. Inflation stands at a staggering 33 percent and the cost of petrol has doubled. The situation is being further exacerbated by a recent cholera outbreak and the lack of drinkable water which is likely to push more people to the brink of survival.

“We need to help Haitians produce better, more nutritious food to safeguard their livelihoods and their futures, especially in the context of a worsening food crisis,” said José Luis Fernández Filgueiras, FAO Representative in Haiti. 

FAO urgently requires some $33 million to assist more than 470,000 of the most vulnerable people. FAO aims to scale up operations in Haiti from 560,000 people targeted in 2022 to 876,000 people in 2023.

Catastrophic hunger levels recorded for the first time in Haiti – Haiti | ReliefWeb

Payouts to shareholders have increased three times faster than workers’ wages since the 2008 financial crash, according to a new analysis that unions claim shows companies can afford to pay higher salaries.

Shareholder handouts, through both dividends and companies buying back their own shares, have soared £440bn above inflation since 2008. 

Meanwhile, wages have fallen, growing £510bn less than inflation. 

The gap has widened since the financial crash. Before the crisis, dividends grew at double the rate of wages.

 The TUC say it is evidence that firms do have the capacity for wage increases if they allow their workers a greater share of the business’s wealth.

The TUC accused ministers of helping to hold down pay for the last decade, cut back the rights of workers, and leave “Victorian-era corporate governance structures untouched”. Public-sector wages have been repeatedly held down below inflation under austerity measures pursued by successive governments. 

“Too many businesses are lining shareholders’ pockets without giving workers a fair deal,” said Frances O’Grady, TUC general secretary. “British companies are being used as cash machines for shareholders…”

Shareholder payouts rose three times faster than UK wages, says TUC | Workers’ rights | The Guardian

 Variable monetary penalties (VMPs) were introduced in 2010 to enable the Environment Agency to directly levy fines for serious environmental offences without having to go through expensive and lengthy court proceedings, but to date the agency has not levied a single VMP against water companies.

Despite this, the environment secretary, Ranil Jayawardena, last week announced a 1,000-fold rise in the cap on VMPs, from £250,000 to £250m, and said the bigger financial penalties “will act as a greater deterrent and push water companies to do more, and faster, when it comes to investing in infrastructure and improving the quality of our water” and that “the polluter must pay”. The government’s pledge to raise the cap on the amount of money the Environment Agency can fine water companies for sewage pollution to £250m has been described as “hot air”. 

“Punishments are only relevant if you have a regulator who is willing to impose them,” an Environment Agency insider said.

After frequent deep budget cuts, the agency’s chief executive, Sir James Bevan, has said the regulator is no longer sufficiently funded and that it would have to pause or stop some of its environmental protection activities. The regulator has told its staff to “shut down” and ignore reports of low-impact pollution events, saying it does not have enough money to investigate them.

The Environment Agency has also slashed its water-quality monitoring regime, and has downgraded 93% of prosecutions for serious pollution over four years, despite recommendations from frontline staff for the perpetrators to face the highest sanction, and agency staff say that cuts and operational decisions have made it “toothless”.

Ash Smith, the founder of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, said: “Presumably, someone at Defra [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] was tasked with coming up with something that sounded powerful and cost nothing. Raising the level of monetary penalties that are not even used would have been the perfect soundbite…” Smith continued, The reality is that deliberately weak regulation and flawed privatisation has created a polluting for-profit-fest which has attracted ownership from all over the globe to extract money for nothing and take it offshore tax-free. We can expect more desperate threats and promises like raising penalties that won’t really be used, as the government tries carefully not to scare the shareholders or show what a massive scam has been perpetrated on the public.”

‘Hot air’: plans to crack down on UK water polluters dismissed as toothless | Water | The Guardian