Nearly half of existing fossil fuel production sites need to be shut down early if global heating is to be limited to 1.5C, the internationally agreed goal for avoiding climate catastrophe, according to a new scientific study. The new research reaches its stark conclusion by not assuming that new technologies will be able to suck huge amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere to compensate for the burning of coal, oil and gas. Experts said relying on such technologies was a risky gamble. The researchers said governments should accelerate the introduction of renewable energy and efficiency measures instead.

The new study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, analysed a database of more than 25,000 oil and gas fields and developed a new dataset of coal mines. The researchers found that fields and mines that have already been developed would lead to 936bn tonnes of CO2 when fully exploited and burned. That is 25 years of global emissions at today’s rate – the world’s scientists agree emissions must fall by half by 2030. The researchers calculated that 40% of developed fossil fuels must stay in the ground to have a 50-50 chance of global temperature rise stopping at 1.5C. Half the emissions would come from coal, a third from oil and a fifth from gas. The researchers found that almost 90% of developed reserves are located in just 20 countries, led by China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the US, followed by Iran, India, Indonesia, Australia and Canada.  The research only considered projects where companies had made final investment decisions, that means committed to spending billions on building rigs and pipelines to extract the fossil fuels. A 2021 study, led by Daniel Welsby at University College London, assessed all known reserves and found 90% of coal and 60% of oil and gas must remain unexploited.

Greg Muttitt, at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, was one of the leaders of the new research and said: “Halting new extraction projects is a necessary step, but still not enough to stay within our rapidly dwindling carbon budget. Some existing fossil fuel licences and production will need to be revoked and phased out early. Governments need to start tackling head-on how to do this in a fair and equitable way, which will require overcoming opposition from fossil fuel interests.”

Kelly Trout, at Oil Change International, the other lead author of the work, said: “Our study reinforces that building new fossil fuel infrastructure is not a viable response to Russia’s war on Ukraine. The world has already tapped too much oil and gas.”

The study did not estimate how much CO2 could be removed from the atmosphere by technology in future. “These technologies are unproven at scale,” said Muttitt. “There’s a lot of talk about them, but we believe it would be a mistake to predicate achieving climate goals on these being delivered at a very large scale. We just don’t know whether it will be possible in terms of financing or governance.”

Maeve O’Connor, at the Carbon Tracker thinktank, the author of a new report, said: “Oil and gas companies are gambling on emissions [reducing] technologies that pose a huge risk to both investors and the climate. Most of these technologies are still at an early stage of development, with few large projects working at anything like the scale required by company goals, while solutions that involve tree planting require huge areas of land.”

Shut down fossil fuel production sites early to avoid climate chaos, says study | Fossil fuels | The Guardian

More children are likely to suffer from lethal undernutrition as the war in Ukraine threatens to deepen a global food crisis, UNICEF says. 

An increasing number of children are likely to die from “severe wasting” as the price of food and life-saving treatment rises, UNICEF warned in a new report on Tuesday.

“The world is rapidly becoming a virtual tinderbox of preventable child deaths and child suffering from wasting,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell in a statement.

The effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing damage due to climate change, are causing a “spiraling global food crisis,” the UN agency for children warned.

In a new “Child Alert” report, UNICEF said 600,000 more children may miss out on essential treatment, which are packs containing high-energy paste made of ingredients including peanuts, oil, sugar and added nutrients.

It said the price of raw materials for the ready-to-eat packs to bring malnourished children back to health had risen by 16%. UNICEF would need extra funding to make up the difference.

“For millions of children every year, these sachets of therapeutic paste are the difference between life and death. A 16% price increase may sound manageable in the context of global food markets, but at the end of that supply chain is a desperately malnourished child, for whom the stakes are not manageable at all,” said Russel.

Severe wasting is the most visible and deadly form of malnutrition. It is accompanied by repeated bouts of illness that compromise a child’s immune system. This means that common childhood illnesses that youngsters would normally overcome can prove fatal. Currently, there are 13.5 million children under the age of five who are suffering from it. The problem had already worsened before Russia’s invasion because of lingering disruptions to supply chains resulting from COVID-induced shutdowns of factories and ports. At least 2 in 3 children who are severely malnourished do not have access to ready-to-use therapeutic food, according to UNICEF.

UNICEF warns of more child deaths as food costs soar | News | DW | 17.05.2022

  The richest 10% of the world population owns 76% of the wealth, while the poorest half owns just a sliver, according to the World Inequality Lab.

 The UK government’s “jet zero” plan to eliminate carbon emissions from aviation relies on unproven or nonexistent technology and “sustainable” fuel, and is likely to result in ministers missing their legally binding emissions targets, according to a report from Element Energy.

The study from Element Energy says instead of focusing on such unreliable future developments, ministers should work to reduce the overall number of flights and halt airport expansion over the next few years. It comes as five regional airports are in the process of seeking approval to expand. In addition, Gatwick and Luton have announced they will be submitting major applications later this year, while Heathrow has not abandoned its plans for a third runway.

The report adds weight to concerns about the viability of the government’s plans, stating that it is unclear how the Department for Transport would “deliver the technological improvements” it was relying on in terms of sustainable fuel and aircraft efficiencies. It concluded that ministers should instead aim to reduce the number of flights now – halting airport expansion plans, expanding carbon pricing and taxing frequent flyers and kerosene.

The Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) policy director, Cait Hewitt, said the findings showed the government’s plan amounted to “sitting back and allowing both airports and emissions to grow in the short term while hoping for future technologies and fuels to save the day”.

“These expansion plans will generate millions of tonnes of additional CO2 each year,” she added. “Until the government sets out a realistic net zero trajectory for the sector, and the industry is on track to outperform it, additional airport capacity should be off the agenda.”

Johnson’s ‘jet zero’ plan unrealistic and may make UK miss CO2 targets – report | Airline emissions | The Guardian

 Apologising for sounding “apocalyptic”, Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor has warned the war in Ukraine was affecting food supplies.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that is highly toxic. 

An estimated 6.1 million people in the US live within three miles of a refinery, with low-income people and people of color represented at rates nearly twice that of the general population.

A dozen US oil refineries last year exceeded the federal limit on average benzene emissions. Among the 12 refineries that emitted above the maximum level for benzene, five were in Texas, four in Louisiana, and one each in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the US Virgin Islands, a new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Project revealed.

Out of 129 operable oil refineries in 2021, 118 reported benzene concentration registered at or near the site, otherwise known as the fence-line. Nearly half of these refineries released benzene levels above 3 micrograms per cubic meter, which the Environmental Integrity Project defines as a long-term potential health threat. The EPA requires facilities to take action if they exceed an average 9 micrograms per cubic meter, or above “action level” emission of benzene.

Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City had the highest average net benzene levels in 2021, according to the analysis of the self-reported data. Roughly 37,000 people live within a three-mile radius of the refinery. Among them, 62% are people of color and 47% are low-income. 

“This analysis provides important insight into why the Houston area is an industrial cancer hotspot,” said Leticia Gutierrez of advocacy group Air Alliance Houston.

“People living near these facilities have greater exposure to lifetime cancer risk than any other part of the state, yet the regulatory agencies responsible for protecting us continue to approve permits for these facilities,” Gutierrez said.

Environmental Integrity Project notes that its analysis did not measure concentrations of benzene within neighborhoods adjacent to refineries, and does not reflect the actual levels of benzene within the communities.

US oil refineries spewing cancer-causing benzene into communities, report finds | Pollution | The Guardian

 The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) first strategy paper on overseas assistance since the merged department was formed and large-scale cuts were implemented in 2020,  has been condemned as a “double whammy to the world’s poor”.

It is dominated by a near halving of UK aid to multilateral bodies, including the UN the World Bank, and a renewed focus on aid as an adjunct to trade.

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, claimed that reliable private sector investments will challenge “malign actors” and bring countries into the orbit of free market economies, a clear reference to the challenge posed by China’s large aid programme.

The 20-page development paper sets out the high-level goal of cutting the proportion of UK aid going to multilateral bodies from 40% of the budget to 25% by 2025. 

The UK aid budget has been cut by £4bn since 2020. The UK has already cut £1.5bn from a World Bank programme to help poor countries recover from Covid.

Sarah Champion, chair of the Commons international development committee, said: “The foreign secretary’s strategy has two main thrusts. It advocates aid for trade – linking the provision of aid to access for UK goods and services. And it says more of our money should go on direct government-to-government spending rather than spending through international bodies such as the United Nations. I fear that adds up to a double whammy against the global poor.” She added: “Supporting the poorest in the world should not be conditional on a trade deal or agreeing to investment partnerships. The UK has rightly been hugely critical of China for such an approach, so I fail to see why we are following down the same road. It is depressing and disappointing that the UK would devise a strategy like this.”

UK’s new aid strategy condemned as ‘double whammy to world’s poor’ | Global development | The Guardian

 A mere 35 billion US dollars per annum – equivalent to 10 days of military spending – would ensure all children in all countries benefit from social protection. Satyarthi said the 35 million US dollars was far from a big ask. Nor was the 22 billion US dollars needed to ensure education for all children. He said this was the equivalent of what people in the US spent on tobacco over six days.

Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi told the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour said this was a small price to pay considering the catastrophic consequences of the increase in child labour since 2016, after several years of decline in child labour numbers.

An estimated 160 million kids are child labourers, and unless there is a drastic reversal, another 9 million are expected to join their ranks.

The G7, the world’s wealthiest countries, had never debated child labour.

It’s Time To Globalise Compassion, Says Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi | Inter Press Service (ipsnews.net)

 This article considers the reasons for the current shortage of baby formula and also the factors that influence mothers in choosing whether to breastfeed their newborn babies or to feed them with baby formula.

Why the shortage of baby formula?

The main immediate cause of the shortage of baby formula is the suspension of production at the huge Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan following evidence of bacterial contamination. 

So one reason for the shortage is an excessive concentration of production in a few giant plants. This is a tendency inherent to capitalism, for ‘one capitalist swallows many’ (Marx). 

But the situation should also be viewed in the context of successful lobbying by the baby formula industry to weaken bacterial safety testing standards [Lee Fang, May 13].

Another factor is protectionism. The US strictly limits imports of European brands, which according to studies meet high safety and nutrition standards. 

Yet another factor is so-called ‘lean’ or ‘just-in-time’ management of production and inventory. This practice minimizes storage costs by producing and ordering goods just in time to satisfy anticipated demand. Thus there is no spare productive capacity or stocks to hedge against unpredictable contingencies. (‘Just-in-time’ management also contributed to the shortage of medical supplies during the Covid crisis.)

For all these reasons serious shortages will be much less likely to arise in a system of production for use not profit, although the possibility cannot be wholly excluded.

Baby formula or breastfeeding?

Even though baby formula, like most other products, will be freely available in a socialist society, demand for it will be quite low. It will be used mainly when there is a medical reason not to breastfeed. 

There is a scientific consensus in favor of breastfeeding. Breast milk provides babies with the best combination of nutrients for their health and development. It is safer than formula and easier for babies to digest. 

Formula has to be mixed with water, so it should not be used where clean water is not available, as in much of the Third World, where two billion people drink water from sources contaminated with feces. Nevertheless, manufacturers ruthlessly market formula even in such areas, killing thousands of babies a year. 

George Monbiot describes how they do it in the Philippines, dressing their saleswomen in nurses’ uniforms to gain the confidence of young mothers (The Guardian, 6/5/2007). The Philippines government tried to restrict promotion of baby formula, but the Pharmaceutical & Healthcare Association of the Philippines, representing the manufacturers and backed by the US government and Chamber of Commerce, thwarted the attempt by means of lobbying, diplomatic pressure, legal action, and even – so some suspect — assassinations.

In the US three quarters of mothers breastfeed for a time, though only 43% continue for six months and only 22% for a full year. The main reason why there is not greater reliance on breastfeeding is that most working families need full-time earnings of both parents to get by. The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees only up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave after the birth of a child. Only 7% of civilian workers have access to childcare at or near the workplace – and even those are not necessarily free to take breastfeeding breaks. 

This is not to deny that some mothers who might otherwise breastfeed are deterred by negative feelings related to body image. Breasts are central to the sexual objectification of women’s bodies. Some women fear that breastfeeding will make their breasts sag, contributing to loss of their sex appeal and making it more likely that their husbands will abandon them. Members of a socialist society will relate to one another no longer as objects but as whole human beings. 

Stephen Shenfield

World Socialist Party of the United States

Baby formula and breastfeeding – World Socialist Party US (wspus.org)

 “Truth trials” are not a novelty in Argentina. The purpose is not to hand down a conviction, but to bring visibility to an atrocious event that occurred almost a hundred years ago in northern Argentina and was concealed by the State for decades with singular success: the massacre by security forces of hundreds of indigenous people who were protesting labor mistreatment and discrimination.

“We are seeking to heal the wounds and vindicate the memory of the indigenous peoples,” explained federal judge Zunilda Niremperger, as she opened the first hearing in Buenos Aires on May 10 in the trial for the truth of the so-called Napalpí Massacre, in which an undetermined number of indigenous people were shot to death on the morning of Jul. 19, 1924.

Today, the site of the Napalpí massacre is called Colonia Aborigen Chaco and is a 20,000-hectare plot of land owned by the indigenous community where, according to official data, some 1,300 indigenous people live, from the Qom and Moqoit communities, the most numerous native groups in the Chaco along with the Wichi.

In 2019, mass graves were found there by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team,

The Argentine province of Chaco forms part of the ecoregion from which it takes its name: a vast, hot, dry, sparsely forested plain that was largely unsettled during the Spanish Conquest. Only at the end of the 19th century did the modern Argentine State launch military campaigns to subdue the indigenous people in the Chaco and impose its authority there.

Once the Chaco was conquered, many indigenous families were forced to settle in camps called “reducciones”, where they had to carry out agricultural work.

“The ‘reducciones’ operated in the Chaco between 1911 and 1956 and were concentration camps for indigenous people, who were disciplined through work,” said sociologist Marcelo Musante, a member of the Network of Researchers on Genocide and Indigenous Policies in Argentina, which brings together academics from different disciplines, at the hearing.

“When indigenous people entered the ‘reducción’, they were given clothes and farming tools, and this generated a debt that put them under great pressure. And they were not allowed to make purchases outside the stores of the ‘reducción’,” he explained.

Historian Nicolás Iñigo Carrera said it was common for indigenous people in the Chaco to go to work temporarily in sugar mills in the neighboring provinces of Salta and Jujuy, but the scenario changed in the 1920s, when the Argentine government introduced cotton in the Chaco, to tap into the textile industry’s growing global demand.

“Then the criollo (white) settlers, who often had no laborers, demanded the guaranteed availability of indigenous labor to harvest the cotton crop, and in 1924 the government prohibited indigenous people, who refused to work on the cotton plantations, from leaving the Chaco, declaring any who left subversives,” Carrera said.

Anthropologist Lena Dávila Da Rosa said the Jul. 19, 1924 protest involved between 800 and 1000 indigenous people from Napalpí, and some 130 police officers who opened fired on them, with the support of an airplane that dropped candy so the children would go out to look for it and thus reveal the location of the protesters they were tracking down.

“It’s impossible to know exactly how many indigenous people were killed, but there were several hundred victims,” Alejandro Jasinski, a researcher with the Truth and Justice Program of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, told IPS.

“The official report mentioned four people killed in confrontations among themselves, and there was a judicial investigation that was quickly closed. All that was left were the buried memories of the communities,” he added.

Of the population of Chaco province, 3.9 percent, or 41,304 people, identified as indigenous in the last national census conducted in Argentina in 2010, which is higher than the national average of 2.4 percent.

Census data reflects the harsh living conditions of indigenous people in the Chaco and the disadvantages they face in relation to the rest of the population. More than 80 percent live in deficient housing while more than 25 percent live in critically overcrowded conditions, with more than three people per room. In addition, more than half of the households cook with firewood or charcoal.

One Hundred Years On, Argentine State Acknowledges Indigenous Massacre in Trial | Inter Press Service (ipsnews.net)