According to the study by the Trades Union Congress,  eight percent of the UK’s 3.9 million minority ethnic workers. (120,000) left their job as a result of the racism they experienced.

“Many told us they experienced racist bullying, harassment – and worse,” said the TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady. “And alarmingly, the vast majority did not report this to their employer …”

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which represents human resources professionals, said the survey was a “stark reminder that far too many black and minority ethnic workers still face discrimination in the workplace on a regular basis”.

More than 120,000 workers quit jobs because of racism, UK study suggests | Race | The Guardian

 With real wages falling and bills rising sharply, people across the country are looking for ways to reduce spending and supplement their incomes, and the TUC said it was hearing about staff in both the public and private sectors who had concluded they could not afford to save for retirement. 

Growing numbers of workers are cutting their workplace pension contributions or opting out of schemes entirely because they cannot afford payments.

Its warnings follow data released in August indicating that the number of people choosing to opt-out of their company pension scheme increased by almost a third between March and July this year. The figures were issued by Penfold, a digital pensions platform used by private savers, the self-employed, company directors and businesses.

About 10% of people quit their workplace scheme, and the TUC said Penfold’s findings – which would translate into a two to three percentage-point increase in opt-out rates, lifting them to about 12%-13% – appeared broadly consistent with what it was hearing.

 Someone who opts out is essentially giving up the pension contributions from their employer, which effectively amounts to “a voluntary pay cut”, said Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at investment firm AJ Bell. “Furthermore, you will miss out on the upfront boost provided by pension tax relief,” he added.

Renny Biggins, head of retirement atTisa (the Investing and Saving Alliance), a membership organisation for UK financial firms, said possible solutions it was proposing included increasing the amount that employers had to pay in under the UK’s auto-enrolment workplace pension regime from 3% of earnings to 6%, in order to allow staff to cut their contributions and release some money to supplement their disposable income. Alternatively, employers could opt to continue paying pension contributions while allowing their workers to take a temporary contribution holiday.

“We recognise there are immediate needs for people to provide for their families, but we are nonetheless concerned that if people decide to reduce or opt out of their pension now, there will be consequences in the future,” said Biggins.

Jack Jones, pensions policy officer at the TUC, said: “Our longer-term policy target is for increased employer contributions.”

More people leaving workplace pension schemes, TUC warns | Pensions industry | The Guardian

 Despite being a technology still in development stages, carbon capture and storage has been put forward as a key element in the plans to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Carbon capture and storage schemes, a key plank of many governments’ net zero plans, “is not a climate solution”, the author of a major new report on the technology has said.

Researchers for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found underperforming carbon capture projects considerably outnumbered successful ones by large margins.

Of the 13 projects examined for the study – accounting for about 55% of the world’s current operational capacity – seven underperformed, two failed and one was mothballed, the report found.

“Many international bodies and national government are relying on carbon capture in the fossil fuel sector to get to net zero, and it simply won’t work,” Bruce Robertson, the author of the IEEFA report, said. “Although there is some indication it might have a role to play in hard-to-abate sectors such as cement, fertilisers and steel, overall results indicate a financial, technical and emissions-reduction framework that continues to overstate and underperform,” Robertson said. 

However, he added: “As a solution to tackling catastrophic rising emissions in its current framework, CCS is not a climate solution.”

Meanwhile, despite the huge profits of fossil fuel companies, global public subsidies for fossil fuels almost doubled to $700bn in 2021.

The subsidies soared as governments sought to shield citizens from surging energy prices as the global economy rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Most of the subsidies were used to reduce the price paid by consumers. This largely benefits wealthier households, as they use the most energy, rather than targeting those on low incomes. The subsidies are expected to rise even further in 2022 as Russia’s war in Ukraine has driven energy prices even higher.

“Fossil fuel subsidies are a roadblock to a more sustainable future, but the difficulty that governments face in removing them is underscored at times of high and volatile fuel prices,” said Fatih Birol, the director of the International Energy Agency, which produced the analysis with the OECD. “A surge in investment in clean energy technologies and infrastructure is the only lasting solution to today’s global energy crisis and the best way to reduce the exposure of consumers to high fuel costs.” 

“Significant increases in fossil fuel subsidies encourage wasteful consumption, while not necessarily reaching low-income households,” said Mathias Cormann, the OECD secretary general.

“A period of soaring fossil fuel energy prices, when oil and gas companies are posting record-breaking profits, should be the ideal time for governments to eliminate fossil fuel production subsidies – so to see rising government support for fossil fuels now is infuriating,” said Gyorgy Dallos, at Greenpeace International. “Governments need to stick to their green pledges. On the consumer side, they urgently need to replace untargeted support measures with targeted income support to people experiencing fuel poverty.”

The analysis covers 51 key countries and represents 85% of the world’s total energy supply. Subsidies that kept fossil fuel prices artificially low more than tripled to $531bn in 2021, compared with 2020. Subsidies for oil and gas production reached a record level of $64bn. The $697bn total covers explicit subsidies, including price reductions, government funding and tax breaks. Estimates including implicit subsidies, ie the cost of the climate and air pollution damage caused by fossil fuels, are far higher. These amounted to $5.9tn in 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund, or $11m a minute.

Carbon capture is not a solution to net zero emissions plans, report says | Carbon capture and storage (CCS) | The Guardian

Global fossil fuel subsidies almost doubled in 2021, analysis finds | Fossil fuels | The Guardian

 Eating lots of highly processed food such as ready meals is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, bowel cancer and premature death, according to two large studies.

The research offers more reasons to limit intake of ultra-processed foods and instead consume more unprocessed or minimally processed foods to reduce the risk of death, disease and ill health. The findings were published in the BMJ.

Ultra-processed foods include packaged baked goods and snacks, fizzy drinks, sugary cereals, and ready-to-eat or heat products, often containing high levels of added sugar, fat, and/or salt, but lacking in vitamins and fibre.

The first study suggests high consumption of ultra-processed foods in men and some subgroups of ultra-processed foods in men and women is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. The second study found a link to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death.

The findings reinforce the importance of reformulating dietary guidelines worldwide, by paying more attention to the degree of processing of foods along with nutrient-based recommendations.

In the first study, researchers examined the association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and risk of colorectal cancer in US adults. Their findings were based on 46,341 men and 159,907 women from three large studies of US health professionals whose dietary intake was assessed every four years using detailed food frequency questionnaires.

Foods were grouped by degree of processing and rates of colorectal cancer were measured over a period of three decades, taking account of medical and lifestyle factors.

Results show that compared with those in the lowest fifth of ultra-processed food consumption, men in the highest fifth of consumption had a 29% higher risk of developing colorectal cancer. The link remained significant even after further adjustment for body mass index or dietary quality.

The second study was based on 22,895 Italian adults. Both the quantity and quality of food and beverages consumed were assessed and deaths were measured over a 14-year period, taking account of underlying medical conditions.

Results showed that those with the least healthy diets compared with those with the healthiest diets had a 19% higher risk of death from any cause and a 32% higher risk of death from heart disease.

Risks were similar when the two highest and lowest categories of ultra-processed food intake were compared (19% and 27% higher for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, respectively).

A significant proportion of the excess mortality risk associated with a poor diet was explained by a higher degree of food processing. Ultra-processed food intake remained associated with mortality even after the poor nutritional quality of the diet was accounted for.

The findings back up other research linking highly processed food with poor health.

New research gives more reasons to eat less-processed food | Food | The Guardian

 Indian Gautam Adani has been named the world’s third richest person with an estimated $137bn (£117bn) fortune and becomes the first Asian person to break into the top three of world’s wealthy.

His wealth has soared by $61bn so far this year.

Many of his businesses are involved in natural gas, coal mining and electricity generation, and are likely to have benefited from the global energy price increase.

Adani’s conglomerate owns India’s largest private sector seaport and airport operator as well as a huge coalmine in Queensland, Australia.

When six Indian airports were lined up for privatisation on 2018, Modi relaxed the rules to allow companies with no experience in running airports to bid for them. Adani’s company bought all six and became the country’s biggest airport operator. The Kerala state finance minister, Thomas Isaac, described it as an “act of brazen cronyism”.  Adani’s wealth has risen from an estimated $8bn at the time of Modi’s election in 2014 to $137bn today, a rise of more than 1,600%.

Last week, Adani increased his influence by buying a 29% stake in television network New Delhi Television (NDTV), which is seen as one of few remaining independent TV channels in India.

Indian tycoon Gautam Adani named world’s third richest person | Rich lists | The Guardian

Doing Business

Twenty twenty two; six years of Brexit

And the Tory headed plan realised.

Surely then, no one can be surprised

Their country is actually in the shit.

British sovereignty means freedom for sure

For every water company that dumps

Raw sewerage overflows through off-shore pumps,

And each beach becomes an open sewer.

This septic isle set in an ordure sea,

Where pursuit of profit and private wealth

Must take precedence over public health:

Such is this effluent society.

Lapped by crusted waves of filth, Britain sinks

While capitalism literally stinks.

D. A.

 There has always been a suspicion that climate scientists were being far too cautious in their predictions and not fully explaining the seriousness of the imminent threats to the planet and its people. They feared they would be considered scare-mongering. However, more research now reveals the catastrophic consequences we face with global warming.

Major sea-level rise from the melting of the Greenland ice cap is now inevitable, scientists have found, even if the fossil fuel burning that is driving the climate crisis were to end overnight.

The research shows an absolute minimum sea-level rise of 27cm (10.6in) from Greenland alone as 110tn tonnes of ice melt. With continued carbon emissions, the melting of other ice caps and thermal expansion of the ocean, a multi-metre sea-level rise appears likely. If Greenland’s record melt year of 2012 becomes a routine occurrence later this century, as is possible, then the ice cap will deliver a “staggering” 78cm of sea-level rise, the scientists said.

The only thing missing from the research is a firm timescale.

Prof Gail Whiteman, at the University of Exeter, who was not part of the study team, said: “The results of this new study are hard to ignore for all business leaders and politicians concerned about the future of humanity. It is bad news for the nearly 600 million people that live in coastal zones worldwide. 

“It is a very conservative rock-bottom minimum,” said Prof Jason Box from the National Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (Geus), who led the research. “Realistically, we will see this figure more than double within this century.” The 27cm estimate is a minimum because it only accounts for global heating so far and because some ways in which glacier ice is lost at the margins of the ice sheet are not included.

 UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told the United Nations Security Council that six million people were at risk of famine in Afghanistan.

Conflict, poverty, climate shocks and food insecurity “have long been a sad reality” in Afghanistan, but he said what makes the current situation “so critical” is the halt to large-scale development aid. He urged donors to restore funding for development in Afghanistan that was frozen when the Taliban took over a year ago.

“Poverty is deepening, the population is still growing, and the de facto authorities have no budget to invest in their own future. It’s clear to us that some development support needs to be restarted,” Griffiths said.

More than half of Afghanistan’s 39 million people need humanitarian help and six million are at risk of famine. More than a million children are “estimated to be suffering from the most severe, life-threatening form of malnutrition” and could die without proper treatment, he said. With more than 70 percent of Afghans living in rural areas, Griffiths warned that if agriculture and livestock production are not protected “millions of lives and livelihoods will be risked, and the country’s capacity to produce food imperilled.”

UN says six million Afghans are at risk of famine as crises grow | United Nations News | Al Jazeera

 30-year-old Aikhal Ammosov is a member of the local punk rock group Crispy Newspaper. For allegedly “discrediting the Russian army” he faces a possible 3 years in prison. The reason for the case was that he and his partner tried to hang a banner “Yakutian punk against war” in the center of Yakutsk before the visit of Prime Minister Mishustin. Ammosov’s actions were extremely noticeable. Not only in Yakutsk, with a population of 341 thousand, but all over Russia.

Aikhal’s real name is Igor Ivanov. This year, city court of Yakutsk, the capital of the Republic of Sakha, has already fined him 30,000 rubles under an anti-war administrative article three times.

Until now, my generation was not interested in anything. Many people drink, some go hunting, others are just passive. I have been waiting for someone to publicly present my thoughts and the thoughts of my peers. The fact is that today no politician seems worthy to be called a “man” or “woman.” So I decided to do everything myself”, he said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I grew up in a poor family. As a child, I was aware of the vast differences that exist in our society. Today, some might think that I’m an abnormal punk because I don’t drink or smoke. But here we have our own way of understanding things. In the first place is knowledge and intelligence…All the conflicts that Russia starts are similar and tragic. Are meaningless. People are dying because of the whims of officials and oligarchs. Those in power start the aggression, and we, ordinary people, pay the price…”

In a June interview with Sadwave, he said:

“I’m against any wars. It is strange to be for it. Any conscious person who thinks with his own head will be against armed conflicts. We all watched war films. We watched Soviet films. War is always bad. War does not bring anything good. Only death, hunger and poverty. These are elementary things that even a child knows! But people are so stupid that they say that we must fight. They say that war is good. That sooner or later it would happen. Wars must be prevented, not fomented. And do not contribute to their development. I am not a hippie and have never been a peace-loving person. Was not a pacifist. But I have never been for the war. I have read many books about wars. About the Great Patriotic War, about Afghanistan, about Chechnya. I will always be against wars…”

“People are confused. They were deceived. People don’t understand what they are doing. Why do they need this war? Everyone wants to live in peace. Everyone wants to live in peace. But they are told that it is necessary. That it is forced. That there was no other way….We want to live. We want freedom. We want to make history.”

Siberian punk may be imprisoned for anti-militarist agitation | libcom.org

 It is understandable that local home-news gets the most in-depth coverage in the media. Consequently, in the UK the present drought and the water-hose bans are making the headlines. But a broader survey of world events and we witness all manner of extreme weather.

In Italy, the worst drought in decades has triggered a state of emergency, while fires have broken out in the cities of Palermo and Sicily. In Southwest France, 10,000 people have fled a massive wildfire that has been smoldering since July. In Germany, record-low water levels in the Rhine threaten to run aground river traffic. . In Kansas, a June heatwave killed so many cattle so quickly that thousands of their carcasses were disposed of in a landfill. This spring in South America, record temperatures across southern Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay have heavily impacted grain and other crop harvests. Widescale flooding in Pakistan and in China.

The effect of climate has social and political consequences.

Olayinka Ajala, a lecturer in politics and international relations at Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom, pointed to simmering animosity between pastoralist herdsmen who move cattle from one place to another and sedentary farmers — groups that had long peacefully coexisted — in 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Traditionally, sedentary farmers would plant crops, harvest them, then the pastoralists would swoop in and clean off the rest, explained Ajal. But erratic changes in rainfall patterns have led to the pastoralist herdsmen getting to the farms before the crops have been harvested. When this happens, Ajal said, the herdsmen’s cattle destroy the plants, leading to tensions and conflict. 

“This has resulted in lots of deaths,” said Ajala. Indeed, between 2020 and 2021, he said, “this conflict resulted in more deaths than terrorism in Africa.”

Back in 2009 by some of the world’s richest nations to deliver $100 billion annually by 2020 to poorer countries. The developed world has really been very resistant of setting up this loss and damage fund. Indeed, the UN has estimated that climate adaptation costs in the developing world alone could hit $300 billion annually by 2030, and as much as $500 billion annually by 2050. 

Climate change is “the greatest market failure on earth if you think about the basics of economics and capitalism,” said Vanessa Pérez-Cirera, director of the World Resources Institute’s Global Economics Center. But, she added, more economists are slowly shifting away from one driven by a profit motive. At the end of the day, she said, “we should move to societies that really value life and value equity in a much greater way.”

Poor Countries Are Suffering the Worst Climate Woes But Getting the Least Help (truthout.org)