Dear Friend,
The last time the atmospheric CO2 amounts were this high was more than 3 million years ago, when temperature was 2°C–3°C (3.6°F–5.4°F) higher than during the pre-industrial era, and sea level was 15–25 meters (50–80 feet) higher than today. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Climate.gov August 14, 2020) Logical question: What about sea level 50-80 feet higher back then with CO2 the same as today’s CO2? Answer: The normal time lag between increasing atmospheric CO2 and increasing temps leading to rising sea levels is one decade, or more.
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The Doomsday Glacier Lives up to its Billing
by Robert Hunziker
The last time the atmospheric CO2 amounts were this high was more than 3 million years ago, when temperature was 2°C–3°C (3.6°F–5.4°F) higher than during the pre-industrial era, and sea level was 15–25 meters (50–80 feet) higher than today. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Climate.gov August 14, 2020) Logical question: What about sea level 50-80 feet higher back then with CO2 the same as today’s CO2? Answer: The normal time lag between increasing atmospheric CO2 and increasing temps leading to rising sea levels is one decade, or more.
The 21st century serves as an inflection point of acceleration of climate instability caused by human-generated greenhouse gases, as CO2 emissions increase well beyond the rate of the prior century. It’s also a defining timeline of an astonishing ice mass loss rate of 500% more than the last decade of the previous century. Throughout human history, this has never happened with such far-reaching extent so rapidly.
The proof is found in the numbers. For example, Greenland and Antarctica combined ice mass loss is truly an eye-opener: “The assessment is supported by NASA and the European Space Agency… The team calculated that the two ice sheets together lost 81 billion tons per year in the 1990s compared with 475 billion tons of ice per year in the 2010s—a sixfold increase.” (Source: Greenland, Antarctica Melting Six Times Faster Than in the 1990s, Global Climate Change, NASA, March 16, 2020)
In all honesty, this article should end right here as 475 billion tons of ice mass loss per annum versus 81 billion tons per annum within only two decades is so riveting and daunting and over the top that nothing more needs to be said. But, there is more….
That troubling signal is only a starting point of much bigger trouble down the road. Recent research conducted in West Antarctica has exposed a whole new ballgame, the prospect of collapsing glaciers, in toto, big glaciers, and big meltdowns, unbelievable but yet distinctly possible and yet largely ignored by every major country. If it were otherwise countries would be flip-flopping fossil fuels to renewables and installing mirrored technology to reflect solar radiation back to outer space, for example, contact: Dr. Ye Tao at Harvard University:
https://www.meerreflection.com/ and/or paint rooftops with “ultra-white” paint known as “cool roofs” that reflect 98% of sunlight: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56749105. NYC and California are already promoting “cool roofs.”
Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier (100 miles across by 4,000 feet deep), aka: The Doomsday Glacier, labeled “A Climate Time Bomb” by research scientists is an ice shelf in West Antarctica that’s nestled next door to the equally notorious Pine Island Glacier.
A new discovery at Thwaites is bone chilling and nearly impossible to fathom. Thwaites is melting at key points that anchor it to land. The consequences of total release would be/will likely be earth shattering as, and when, the 74,000 square mile ice block breaks lose, but even more earth shattering yet, it could take down the entire West Antarctica Ice Sheet. That’s 10+ feet of sea level rise!
How soon? Stay tuned for updates.
But, seriously, how could anybody know for sure when it’ll completely collapse? Guesstimates may be forthcoming. Will it be decades or less or more or much more? It’s worth noting that climate models have been way too conservative, many estimates by climate scientists have already proven to be off the mark by decades. Climate system scientist Paul Beckwith, University of Ottawa, says global warming has advanced so unexpectedly, so rapidly that “2030 is the new 2100.” The implications of that are simply too much to contemplate.
Significantly, new research techniques employed at Thwaites are leading to much better scientific analyses than ever before. The techniques have given scientists the best-ever look at what’s happening under the massive ice sheet, providing reams of new data that will take time and additional research to properly analyze.
A robotic submarine named Ran, after the Norse goddess of the sea, is exploring the underneath side of the glacier, measuring the strength, temperature, oxygen content, and salinity of the ocean currents flowing beneath the glacier. Simultaneously, ship sonar from above enables high-resolution ocean mapping of the cavity floor. As a result, scientists have already spotted three main inflows of water that warm the underneath connections of the glacier to land. The upshot is for the first time ever scientists have the capability of more precise data to model the dynamics of the glacier. This is important in helping to clarify the uncertainty throughout the world about the prospects of global sea levels.
According to the initial reports by the scientific team: “Our observations show warm water impinging from all sides on pinning points critical to ice-shelf stability, a scenario that may lead to unpinning and retreat,” according to the study published April 9th in the journal Scientific Advances. In other words, the entire ice-shelf could detach and then flow into the ocean. (Source: Antarctica’s ‘Doomsday Glacier’ Close to Tipping Point, Unmanned Sub Reveals, LiveScience, April 14, 2021)
Thwaites is only one-half of a bigger potential problem on a scale that people would rather not think about. Recently, researchers published an article about neighboring Pine Island Glacier surpassing a tipping point because of warming waters, similar to the dilemma surrounding the surprisingly advanced stage of deterioration found at Thwaites. (Source: The Tipping Points and Early Warning Indicators for Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, European Geosciences Union, The Cryosphere, March 25, 2021).
It’s difficult, in fact almost impossible, to imagine the consequences of actual complete glacier collapse(s) especially since it’s never happened on such a scale throughout human history. The referenced article in Cryosphere gives a generalized viewpoint: “Mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet is the main source of uncertainty in projections of future sea-level rise, with important implications for coastal regions worldwide. Central to ongoing and future changes is the marine ice sheet instability: once a critical threshold, or tipping point, is crossed, ice internal dynamics can drive a self-sustaining retreat committing a glacier to irreversible, rapid and substantial ice loss,” Ibid.
Thereupon, it’s not exactly rocket science to figure out the meaning of “rapid and substantial ice loss.” As such, it’s probably not too early for every major coastal city in the world to start formulating plans to build sea walls. Already, low-lying areas like Miami Beach are raising streets by 2-to-3 feet (a photo can be seen at: “Miami Beach is Raising Streets by 2 Feet to Combat Rising Seas”).
Meanwhile, CO2 emissions continue setting new record highs by the year and unfortunately, methane emissions, which amplify global warming more so than CO2, are cranking up like never before, thus, locking in ever more global warming as these greenhouse gases blanket the atmosphere and retain heat. More CO2 into the atmosphere equals more heat.
The current scorecard for atmospheric CO2 reads as follows at Mauna Loa, Hawaii: 417.64 ppm (March 2021) versus 414.74 ppm (March 2020) versus 368.13 ppm (2000).
Fossil CO2 emissions are up nearly 40% at 36B tons per year now versus 26B tons at the turn of the century. That’s a whopper of an increase that relentlessly continues increasing. As such, the outlook for some semblance of a stable climate system is decidedly negative. In due course, the repercussions of a whacked-out climate system will shock people beyond their darkest nightmares and catch the world’s political leadership obliviously flat-footed.
By then it’s too late, tipping points cannot be reversed!
Postscript: “The last time the atmospheric CO2 amounts were this high was more than 3 million years ago, when temperature was 2°C–3°C (3.6°F–5.4°F) higher than during the pre-industrial era, and sea level was 15–25 meters (50–80 feet) higher than today.” (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Climate.gov August 14, 2020) Logical question: What about sea level 50-80 feet higher back then with CO2 the same as today’s CO2? Answer: The normal time lag between increasing atmospheric CO2 and increasing temps leading to rising sea levels is one decade, or more.
Robert Hunziker is a Los Angeles based writer
Climate crisis: Time is fast running out, and World Bank changes tone
by Farooque Chowdhury
A climate summit is going to begin. Ahead of the summit, the World Meteorological Organization released a report on April 19, 2021, which has warned: Time is fast running out.
A climate summit is going to begin. Ahead of the summit, the World Meteorological Organization released a report on April 19, 2021, which has warned: Time is fast running out.
The report – State of the Global Climate 2020 – finds that concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) continued to climb in 2020, despite lockdowns imposed to slow the present pandemic.
António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, said in the foreword to the report: “[T]ime is fast running out to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. We need to do more, and faster, now.”
In an interview with Reuters, Guterres was even more direct: “We are on the verge of the abyss.”
In 2019, according to the UN report, GHG concentrations reached new highs:
- Carbon dioxide: 410.5±0.2 ppm = 148% of preindustrial levels
- Methane: 1877±2 ppb = 260% of preindustrial levels
- Nitrous oxide: 332.0±0.1 ppb = 123% of pre-industrial levels.
The report said: In 2020, global mean surface temperature (GMST), measured using a combination of air temperature two meters over land, and sea surface temperature in ocean areas from various databases, was 1.2 ± 0.1 °C warmer than the pre-industrial baseline (1850-1900), Despite developing La Niña cooling conditions, 2020 was one of the three warmest years on record, and the last decade, 2011-2020, was the warmest on record.
The report said:
- “Since the mid-1980s, Arctic surface air temperatures have warmed at least twice as fast as the global average, while sea ice, the Greenland ice sheet and glaciers have declined over the same period and permafrost temperatures have increased.
- “This has potentially large implications not only for Arctic population, infrastructure and ecosystems, but also for the global climate through various feedbacks.”
- “Around the world”, the report said, “[r]ising global temperatures have contributed to more frequent and severe extreme weather events […].”
Extremes
As example of extreme weather incidents, the report mentioned extreme precipitation in 2020, and said:
“Regions with unusually high precipitation amounts […] included East and North-East Africa, South and East Asia, south-eastern North America and the Caribbean and North-East Europe.
“Unusually low precipitation amounts were observed in Southern and North-West Africa, South America, North-East and West Asia, south-western and north-eastern North America and northern New Zealand.”
Ocean warming
Oceans are “the destination” of around 90% of the excess energy that accumulates in the earth system due to increasing concentrations of the GHG. Ocean Heat Content (OHC), a measure of this heat accumulation in the Earth system, is measured at various ocean depths, up to 2000m deep. Ocean warming rates, according to the report, “show a particularly strong increase in the past two decades across all depths.”
The report said:
- “In 2019, the 0–2000m depth layer of the global ocean reached a new record high, and a preliminary analysis based on three global data sets suggests that 2020 exceeded that record.”
- “In 2020, more than 80% of the ocean experienced at least one MHW, causing significant impacts to marine life and the communities that depend on it.”
- “Globally, sea level has been rising an average of 3.29 (+/- 0.3) mm per year, peaking in 2020. A small decrease in the latter part of 2020 is likely related to La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific.”
Glacial loss
On glacial loss, the report said:
- “[G]laciers continued to lose mass in the hydrological year 2019/2020.”
- “Although, mass balance was slightly less negative, with an estimated ice loss of 0.98 meter water equivalent, there is a clear trend towards accelerating glacier mass loss in the long term.”
- “Eight out of the ten most negative mass balance years have been recorded since 2010.”
Sea ice
On sea ice, a useful indicator of climate change particularly given the speed of change occurs at the poles and the extent of the repercussions of its cover, the report said:
- “Antarctic sea ice remained close to the long-term average”.
- “In the Arctic, the annual minimum sea-ice extent was the second lowest on record and record low sea-ice extents were observed in the months of July and October 2020.”
- “Oceans absorb around 23% of the annual emissions of anthropogenic CO2 to the atmosphere, helping to alleviate the impacts of climate change but at a high ecological cost to the ocean.”
It said: “Global mean ocean pH has been steadily declining”.
The report said that increasing global warming are risking achieving of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Displacement of people
It said:
- “Over the past decade (2010–2019), weather-related events triggered an estimated 23.1 million displacements of people on average each year.”
- “Approximately 9.8 million displacements, largely due to hydrometeorological hazards and disasters, were recorded during the first half of 2020, mainly concentrated in South and South-East Asia and the Horn of Africa.”
- “Events in the second half of the year, including displacements linked to flooding across the Sahel region, the active Atlantic hurricane season and typhoon impacts in South-East Asia, are expected to bring the total for 2020 close to the average for the decade.”
Food insecurity
Food insecurity, the report said, grows out of climate variability and extreme weather incidents, along with economic slowdown and conflicts. It said:
- “In 2020, over 50 million people were doubly hit – by climate-related disasters (floods, droughts and storms) and by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
- “Nearly 690 million people, or 9% of the world population, were undernourished, and about 750 million, or nearly 10%, were exposed to severe levels of food insecurity in 2019.”
The UN report warned: “Overall in 2020, the world remained on course to exceed the agreed temperature thresholds of either 1.5 °C or 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, which will increase the risk of experiencing the pervasive effects of climate change beyond what is already seen. Thus while reducing greenhouse gas emissions remains essential, scaling up adaptation is an urgent need.” The report has suggested massive effort from the governments of the world.
The report is a burning example of the world capitalist order – everything for profit, demolish and destroy for profit, nothing to consider, but profit. The order itself is destructive, and ultimately, catastrophic. It’s not that capitalism has turned catastrophic in recent time. Since its rise, the system is catastrophic. It created catastrophe proportionate to its power, which is the more it expanded the more its catastrophic power increased and wider catastrophe it created. Therefore, there’s no need to identify it as catastrophic. Moreover, identifying the destructive system as catastrophic can create confusion by raising an alternate-question: Is there some sort of capitalism, which is non-catastrophic? And was there any phase of the system, when it was not acting catastrophic? Never and never was it. Its catastrophic power is not limited only within the production system, the system that exploits labor and nature. Its military machine itself is destructive also. It not only brings deaths to people, demolishes people’s lives and habitats. It also brings catastrophe to nature, environment and ecology, which ultimately “contributes” to global warming. The politics it carries on is also catastrophic. This catastrophic nature of its politics is not a recent development. It was always catastrophic. The policies it pursued, the power it exerted, the classes that gained with this politics are catastrophic since its inception; and these “contribute” to pushing global temperature to life-threatening level.
The UN report is also a burning example of people’s suffering around the world. The first to suffer, and the most to suffer due to the climate crisis is the people, especially the poor – the vast number of poor farmers, poor fishers, mangrove forest-dependents, the small occupational groups including artisans, workers. With rising food insecurity, the poor, the low-income group suffer first, and suffer most. With rising food insecurity, their suffering increases. With displacement, the poor turn poorer, destitute, jobless, and immerse into uncertainty.
Thus, the climate crisis created by the capitalist order is actually a war against people; and in real sense, it’s part of a class war waged by capital/capitalist against the exploited people.
World Bank’s changed tone
However, interesting developments are there. The powerful World Bank (WB) has changed its tone on climate issue. The following report by The New York Times, said the WB’s changed tone, one of the interesting developments:
At the annual spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, David Malpass, the World Bank president, described climate change as an “immense” issue for the globe. He talked about the need to transition away from coal. Malpass was having conversation with US Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Kristalina Georgieva, the head of the IMF. (“Out of Trump’s shadow, World Bank president embraces climate fight”, April 9, 2021)
Such a comment from Malpass, the report said, “who was selected for the job by former President Donald J. Trump, would have been startling just a year or two ago. […] Malpass has refashioned himself as an environmentalist, giving speeches about ‘green growth’ and a net-zero carbon future.”
“The transformation”, the report added, “reflects the changing political winds in Washington — one that could have important consequences […]”
The report told in an interesting way: “Coming from an administration that did not believe the science behind climate change put Malpass in an awkward position. While seeking support from World Bank donor countries for the role, he said he would maintain the bank’s climate commitments, but he treaded carefully when discussing the causes of global warming. In public comments early in the job, Malpass focused on the global economy and debt transparency, frustrating the bank’s climate experts, who thought he was overlooking the environment, people familiar with the matter said.”
With a sarcastic tone, it said:
“[…] Malpass has changed his tone.”
“These days, he tends to pepper his speeches and conversations with bank officials with concern about the environment. [….] And now that the United States, the World Bank’s largest donor, is rolling out more plans to curb emissions and assess climate change’s risks to the financial system, Malpass must ensure that the bank is keeping pace.”
The report broke the mystery of Malpass’ change of tone as it quoted Rachel Kyte, the WB’s former vice president and special envoy for climate change: “The Biden administration has made it clear they expect the World Bank to be helpful and leading, and the largest shareholders of the World Bank are all politically aligned and need the bank to be playing a leadership role. The world doesn’t need Malpass to be Bono or Jim Kim on climate,” referring to the activist rock star and Malpass’s predecessor.
It’s not only the WB-chief’s change of tone. Ms. Kyte said, according to the report, in recent years, other multinational development banks had shown more ambition than the WB on climate policy.
And, the WB recently presented its Climate Change Action Plan that pledges 35 percent of World Bank financing to have climate co-benefits over the next five years, and that 50 percent of WB climate financing will support “adaptation and resilience.” The bank also committed to fully aligning its financing objectives with the 2015 Paris climate agreement by 2023. The WB is also planning to work with developing countries on debt relief initiatives that would encourage them to shift away from fossil fuels, Malpass informed.
Malpass, according to the NYT report, “in a speech last month about ‘building a green, resilient and inclusive recovery,’ said his team was integrating climate into all of the bank’s country strategies and would complete climate and development reports for 25 countries this year.”
It’s not only the WB and other multinational donors, an interesting part of private capital, and capital engaged with exploiting fossil fuel is having a changed approach – investing in climate-“saving”/”green”/renewable projects, researches, etc. Has the part of the capital turned climate-aware? Has the climate crisis-deniers failed? Not at all. It’s that “simple” anthem of private capital: Profit, maximization of profit. The “aware” group calculates climate crisis will ultimately hurt its profit that is being made from the “crisis-market”; and on the opposite, a promising market of renewable, etc. is coming up; let’s enter there with a nice appearance.
To this part of capital “aware” of climate crisis, the source of the crisis – capitalist system – isn’t the problem. To the part, climate crisis is a commodity connecting many, as other commodities connect. It’ll try its best to reap a higher profit from the emerging market. It’s aware of this emerging market. To reap profit, it’ll keep the profit-making system intact. So, the source of the crisis will continue hurting people as it hurts today, as it hurt yesterday, because, profit can’t be made without exploiting labor and nature.
Note: This article is an expanded version of the original (“Ahead of climate summit, U.N. says the world is “on the verge of the abyss”).
Farooque Chowdhury writes from Dhaka, Bangladesh
SAPACC Request PMs of India, Bangladesh And Bhutan To Declare A Planetary Climate Crisis
by South Asian People’s Action on Climate Crisis
As our representatives, we seriously expect that the messages that YOU carry to this summit must be reflective of the needs of the widest possible sections of the people of South Asian region. But most importantly, this must represent voices of those being impacted the hardest by serious climate change impacts, of those with very little wherewithal to cope with these impacts, and the overwhelming necessity of the disadvantaged people here to
have safe and assured lives of reasonably good quality. We South-Asians need a much higher level of Human Development, without jeopardizing our life sustaining natural environment.
Profiting from Hajj: Commodification of Spirituality
by Yanis Iqbal
Today, the Kaaba cannot be seen from a distance because high-rise buildings and hotels – assigned for the rich wanting to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the site – have surrounded it. While the rich enjoy in their lavish quarters, poor pilgrims – mainly from Africa and South Asia – can be seen sitting, eating and sleeping adjacent to shopping complexes constructed near Kaaba. How did all this happen?
Charlie Chaplin – Book Review – ‘Hasre Dukh’ (Beaming Sorrow)- By Bha. D. Kher-
by Anil Pundlik Gokhale
“Revolutionary
Dreaming Tramp” (On the occasion of Charlie’s Birthday- 16th April 1889)
The Ukrainian crisis and Biden’s interests
by Slavisha Batko Milacic
The strange policy, pursued by the present occupant of the White House during the past few weeks is fairly surprising. Moreover, Joe Biden’s actions vis-Ã -vis Russia are downright contradictory, to say the least. Or maybe his strange initiatives are sending some ulterior message to the team around him and those who supported last fall’s very dirty elections?
Voices from the Margins, and Engaging Slave Selves and Narratives
by K M Seethi
“India is fundamentally a hierarchical, violent and inequalitarian society and its image is spreading like a stain when the Dalits and Muslims are being treated on par in terms of the value of their lives
with a history of lynching and killing,” says noted historian Prof. Dilip M. Menon, Mellon Chair and Director, Centre for Indian Studies in Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Free Hidme Markam
Press Release
1,000 + activists, academics, concerned citizens from 20+ states in India and across the globe write to Chief Minister Chhattisgarh. Call for immediate release of Hidme Markam and end state excess on adivasis in Bastar
US sanctions on Venezuela violate the human rights that they claim to protect, says UN Special Rapporteur on Sanctions
Written by Saheli Chowdhury and Stephen Lalla
“You cannot claim to protect human rights by violating human rights,” asserted Alena Douhan, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral
Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, while detailing the human cost of the unilateral sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the United States and its allies
“You cannot claim to protect human rights by violating human rights,” asserted Alena Douhan, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, while detailing the human cost of the unilateral sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the United States and its allies. Prof. Douhan, who teaches international law at Belarusian State University, made this remark at a recent conference organised by Canadian Latin American Alliance and co-sponsored by Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and Common Frontiers. In the panel Prof. Douhan was joined by Don Davies, distinguished lawyer and Canadian Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party (NDP), who discussed the role of Canada in the application of sanctions against Venezuela.
Sanctions—much more than political
Alena Douhan, in her capacity as UN Special Rapporteur, visited Venezuela for two weeks in early February to assess the impact of the US-imposed unilateral coercive measures on the Venezuelan economy and the living conditions of the Venezuelan people. She met officials of the government as well as members of the opposition, representatives of public and private sectors, social organisations and trade unions, and national and international NGOs working in Venezuela. She submitted a preliminary report February 12, detailing the “devastating effect” of the sanctions on the national economy, health, education, industry, social programmes, and other sectors. The final report will be submitted in September 2021.
“In the international sphere, sanctions are generally discussed politically, while their legal and human effects are not considered with priority,” said Prof. Douhan. “Yet, both targeted sanctions and general sanctions violate international law, like the sovereign equality of states, the policy of non-intervention in internal affairs of countries, and principles of human rights including the rights to life and to development.”
Douhan stressed that targeted sanctions against individuals, although not as damaging as overarching sanctions against a country, are still in contravention of legal principles. “Presumption of innocence is the starting point of law, and the burden of proof is on the accuser. Anyone facing any accusation has the right to a fair trial; that is an inherent human right. However, unilateral coercive measures are imposed on the presumption of guilt of the accused, which violates the right to due process. You cannot have one set of rights for the so-called bad guys and another set for the so-called good guys; human rights are for everyone.”
She noted that the first sanctions that Venezuela faced were targeted sanctions imposed by the US government in 2015, against Venezuelan officials and entities that, according to the US government, were involved in drug trafficking or corruption, or had violently repressed protests or persecuted political opponents. Recently, several countries including the US even sanctioned members of the Venezuelan opposition who participated in the National Assembly elections of December 6, 2020. “This means that these individuals cannot represent Venezuela in court cases in the sanctioning countries, although they were elected by the people of their own country,” highlighted Douhan. “In many instances, sanctions were imposed on individuals for actions that do not constitute a crime. For example, captains of Iranian oil tankers supplying gasoline to Venezuela were sanctioned for ‘supporting and financing international terrorism’, because in 2015 the US declared Venezuela ‘an unprecedented threat to US security and foreign policy’,” she cited.
Impact on economy and life in Venezuela—the human cost
In her report, the Special Rapporteur described in detail the impact of the unilateral coercive measures amounting to a total blockade against the Venezuelan economy, generating a humanitarian crisis in the South American nation. At the conference she explained, “Over a century, Venezuela has been dependent on oil trade particularly with the United States and Europe. Having the largest oil reserves on the planet, naturally it was the main source of foreign exchange.”
Although the economy started facing downturns since oil prices began falling in 2014, the situation was exacerbated with the imposition of increasingly harsher sanctions since 2015. “The oil revenue has dropped by 99%, and the country is currently living on only 1% of its pre-sanctions income,” stated the Special Rapporteur. In addition, Venezuelan assets abroad, worth about six billion USD, remain seized or frozen in various countries. Together, these factors resulted in hyperinflation and severe devaluation of the bolÃvar, “which has led to public sector salaries dropping from the equivalent of $US 150–500 a month in 2015 to $US 2–10 in 2020, and a steep rise in poverty levels,” explained Douhan. “Further, the state-owned oil company PDVSA, the mining sector, transport, aircraft, cryptocurrency—all are under sanctions. Many people working in these sectors either lost their jobs or were forced to quit because of salaries decimated by the sanctions. The hardest hit has been the public sector, that has lost 30-50% of its qualified staff, leading to disorganisation, overburden, and reduced quality of services.”
High dependence on imports has been another factor aggravating the situation. “Before the sanctions, Venezuela had money to buy everything necessary for maintaining its infrastructure and social development projects,” commented Douhan. “Most products, like machinery, spare parts, technology, even food, medicine and medical equipment were imported mainly from Europe and the US.”
With the sanctions impeding all imports, every aspect of life in Venezuela, including the main industry, oil, has been affected. “Venezuelan oil deposits are mostly heavy crude, requiring intensive refining processes to be usable,” explained Douhan. “The necessary chemicals were imported from USA or Switzerland, now it is impossible. Also, due to lack of spare parts and new machinery, the refineries cannot be maintained, so at present Venezuela is not able to produce enough gasoline, diesel and cooking gas to meet even its domestic demand. Fuel shortages have severely curtailed movement of people for daily activities including going to hospitals, jobs or schools.” Even she was not able to visit states far from the national capital due to fuel shortages.
“State supply of subsidised cooking gas is not enough, and prices are tremendous in ‘free markets’, so people have to use wood to cook in the open, which is an environmental concern,” continued Prof. Douhan. “Electricity lines are presently able to function at about 20% of their capacity, again due to shortage of fuel, machinery and qualified staff. The national water supply system is unstable because of power outages, and water can be supplied only in rotation to ensure distribution to the entire country. This means that most households can get water for a few hours every five to seven days, and that water has to be boiled to make it potable, because the government is not able to import all the chemicals needed for proper purification. Even hospitals lack continuous supply of water. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when we are instructed to wash our hands frequently, how can it be possible for people in Venezuela?”
The Special Rapporteur found that impediments to food imports and high prices of available items have resulted in reduced food intake and rising malnutrition over the past six years. People are increasingly dependent on the government-subsidised food supply programme (CLAP), but that too has been forced to reduce the diversity of items. School meal programmes have been reduced or entirely suspended, as well as other school supplies like books, computers, uniforms, backpacks, etc.
As a result of the devastation of national economy and degradation of state programmes, 40% of the working population are involved in the ‘gray economy’—insecure jobs or even criminal activities including drug and human trafficking. Between one and five million people have migrated from the country in search of better living conditions, with corresponding rise in family separations, violence, child labour, and prostitution. “Girls as young as 12-13 years of age have gone into prostitution, with deleterious effects like rise in teenage pregnancies and opportunistic infections,” observed Douhan.
“This has overburdened a healthcare system already reeling from shortages,” she continued. “The Venezuelan government used to provide excellent healthcare to the population, including transplants and services for chronic and life-threatening conditions like diabetes, cancer, HIV—all either free or highly subsidised. This was paralysed by the seizure of state assets abroad. In 2017-2018, the country faced serious shortages of HIV tests and medicines, syringes, vaccines against measles, yellow fever, malaria, leading to [a] steep rise of death rates. In this crisis, the government increased cooperation with UNDP, UNICEF, UNAIDS, PAHO, other international agencies, private sector, churches, NGOs, which has improved the health sector. But conditions of other sectors remain as distressing as ever.”
“The problem gets compounded due to sanctions on third-parties—public and private sector companies of countries that recognise the Venezuelan government, and overcompliance with sanctions by companies fearing sanctions on themselves,” stated Douhan. “This fear is not unfounded, as traders get regularly threatened with seizure of assets and blocking of funds by US authorities. PDVSA’s Russian and Italian partners have been sanctioned.”
Why unilateral coercive measures are illegal
“To discuss why unilateral sanctions are illegal, we should consider what measures are legal under international law,” said Douhan. “If one state believes another is not complying with human rights obligations, the former can cut diplomatic relations with the latter, may not conclude a treaty or may withdraw from an existing treaty following the provisions of that treaty. The matter can also be taken to the UN Security Council in situations that threaten peace or constitute a breach of peace.”
However, the Special Rapporteur was cautious about the last, citing the UN sanctions on Iraq that generated one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent time. “What is not legal is gross violation of humanitarian or international law,” she continued. “The announced goal of the maximum pressure campaign is to change government in Venezuela—that is illegal.”
“These sanctions are actually illegal as well as immoral,” added Canadian MP Don Davies. “The sanctions are causing enormous amount of suffering to the Venezuelan people, particularly the most marginalised and vulnerable groups.”
Recalling the long, documented history of colonisation of Latin America by European powers and the US, the parliamentarian remarked, “I find it not coincidental that the United States is one of the countries of the world that almost exclusively refuses to ever submit to international jurisdiction.” According to him, “the United States and its capitalist allies simply cannot and will not tolerate the development of a different model other than the neoliberal, capitalist, pro-business market economy that they seem to insist has to be the path for countries in Central and South America, and around the world.”
“Unilateral coercive measures against sovereign nations constitute a form of collective punishment,” continued the MP. “The aim is to make life so intolerable that it would generate widespread civil discontent, so that the people themselves will welcome regime change.” On Douhan’s detailed report on the death and destruction caused by the sanctions in Venezuela, Davies remarked, “You can drop a bomb on someone or you can cut off their electricity or water, the result is often the same.”
Regarding Canada’s role in the situation in Venezuela, Davies referred to an “informal partnership between Canada and the United States formed in 2017”, which has been used by the Trudeau government to justify its decision to join the US administration in the blockade against Venezuela.
“Canada is part of Five Eyes, NATO, and a number of political organisations, formally and otherwise,” elaborated the MP. He characterised the Lima Group, which his own country initiated in 2017 as a hostile political front against the Venezuelan government, as “just a discredited group of right-wing countries, after the withdrawal of Bolivia and Argentina, where leftist – leftish governments have returned.” He continued, “Both the Lima Group and the OAS [Organisation of American States] are used as political cover by the Canadian government, so that the Canadian people would consider the illegal agenda as legitimate.”
Special Rapporteur Douhan also pointed out that the seizure of Venezuelan foreign assets violates the norms of immunity of state property. “The assets of the Central Bank of Venezuela, CITGO [PDVSA’s US subsidiary], other funds frozen in international banks—these belong to the State of Venezuela, not to its government. Blocking or seizing state assets on the grounds of non-recognition of a government is illegal in international law.”
She highlighted that application of sanctions to nationals and companies of third countries for cooperating with public authorities, companies and nationals of Venezuela is outside the jurisdiction of the US, Canada and other sanctioning countries. She also underlined that “the existing humanitarian exemptions are ineffective and insufficient, and do not cover the delivery of spare parts or machinery required for maintenance and restoration of public services.”
While commending the measures adopted by the Venezuelan government to combat the crisis, the Special Rapporteur stated that the sanctions are undermining potential positive impacts of the measures. She expressed that all disputes between countries should be resolved within the framework of international law, and not with unilateral measures. In this regard, she mentioned the referral submitted by Venezuela to the International Criminal Court in 2020, considering the deaths caused by the blockade as “aggression” against the nation. It is estimated that the sanctions have already caused over 100,000 deaths in Venezuela.
“Humanitarian concerns should always prevail over political ones,” she concluded.
*****
Saheli Chowdhury is interested in history, geopolitics, and popular movements in Latin America. She works for the Venezuelan news outlet Orinoco Tribune.
Stephen Lalla is a journalist, researcher, and analyst, whose areas of interest are geopolitics, history, and current affairs. He has contributed to Counterpunch, The Canada Files, Resumen Latinoamericano English, ANTICONQUISTA, and other outlets.
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Faith, Politics and Public Health: Covid 19
by Dr Ram Puniyani
The second and more serious wave of covid 19 is in the air. While the society is in the grip of shortage of beds, shortage of Oxygen cylinders and the necessary medicines, the Covid warriors are doing a remarkable job of trying to fulfill the needs of the community to keep the impact of pandemic to the minimum
Inadequate funding of gene sequencing effort by the scientists at a time when the COVID crisis needed it most
by E A S Sarma
We are passing through a debilitating second wave of COVID, with new mutants evolving
rapidly and the country facing a severe shortage of healthcare infrastructure facilities, acute shortage of vaccines, even cremation facilities for the deceased, across the country
To
Smt Nirmala Sitharaman
Union Finance Minister
Dear Smt Sitharaman,
We are passing through a debilitating second wave of COVID, with new mutants evolving rapidly and the country facing a severe shortage of healthcare infrastructure facilities, acute shortage of vaccines, even cremation facilities for the deceased, across the country. Many of us, senior citizens, are waiting for a second dose of the vaccine and we are being driven from pillar to post, as most vaccination centres have no stock of the vaccines as on date. The vaccine has not reached many frontline workers even today.
We are fortunate that, as a result of decades of emphasis placed by the successive governments on R&D and indigenous capabilities of producing vaccines against different diseases, we are in a position to supply Indian-made vaccines to shield the population against the scourge of COVID. Had the government balanced the supply of and the demand for vaccines in a more prudent manner, by maximising the use of the Indian vaccines within the country and prioritising its use to vaccinate the most vulnerable at the earliest, we would not have witnessed the kind of vaccine drought we are experiencing today. I sincerely hope that the recent initiatives announced by the Prime Minister, though quite belated, will restore confidence among the people.
Having gone through the first wave of COVID last year, one would have thought that your Ministry, in consultation with the Ministries of Health and the Departments of Science & Technology and Biotechnology, would strengthen the facilities of R&D in crucial fields such as gene sequencing with special reference to COVID virus so that Indian scientists, who are on par with the best in the world, may keep abreast of the rapidly evolving COVID mutants and help the vaccine industry to fine tune the efficacy of the vaccines to counter COVID effectively. However, I feel disturbed that it was not to be so, as evident from an Indian Express investigation report (“Key virus strain found in October but its gene study stalled; a new variety appears“) which can be accessed at https://indianexpress.com/article/india/covid-virus-strain-india-gene-study-7280783/
For your ready reference, I have extracted below the frustration expressed by some scientists on how adequate funds had not been allocated for gene sequencing effort of the Department of Biotechnology and how even premier institutions like the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and the the Institute of Genomics and Integrated Biology (IGIB) in Delhi have been struggling with limited resources to conduct genome sequencing work.
“The genome sequencing exercise, already running at a snail’s pace, slowed down further between November and January due to lack of funds, absence of clear directives, and, possibly, also disinterest because of the steadily falling Covid curve.
………….the early availability of gene sequences from China, United States and some other countries is one key reason why a vaccine could be developed in such a record time…..In India, however, genome sequencing crawled – in the first six months, India had barely done a few hundred sequences, when countries like China, the UK and US, had done several thousand and submitted these in public global depositories for scientists across the world to study……It was only in January this year that the government set up the Indian SARS-CoV2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) to expedite the gene sequencing effort from India through a network of 10 laboratories……….The whole point of gene sequencing is to remain ahead of the curve, anticipate what new variants of the virus are likely to emerge, how they are likely to behave, and what can be done to contain their spread in the population. More the sequences, greater is our information about them, and more effective our response can be. Unfortunately, India has been well behind the curve on this front. We have been reacting to the developments, instead of anticipating it,”
“The INSACOG was initially allocated Rs 115 crore for a six-month period. The money was to come from the Central government. However, no additional allocation was made and the Department of Biotechnology was asked to find the money from its own resources. The first tranche of money could be released only on March 31, the last day of the financial year. The allocation itself has been reduced to about Rs 80 – crore because that’s what the DBT could come up with……In the meanwhile, laboratories like the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, and the Institute of Genomics and Integrated Biology (IGIB) in Delhi, have been sequencing the genome using their limited funds………Labs have very limited resources. To find money to do something extra is a very difficult proposition. Most labs diverted money from other running projects to work on sequencing, in the hope that they would be compensated sometime later. But funds were just one problem. There has also been lack of clear directives and goals, ….The case of the double mutant variant is a very good example of how policy stumbled. …It was detected way back. It was found again in November and December. By February, this variant is exploding, almost coinciding with the surge in Maharashtra. The discovery should have been acted upon immediately. But nothing happened. Now we are fire-fighting,…….As you can notice, West Bengal seems to be becoming the hotspot for such mutations. The new triple mutant could make the virus even more capable of evading human immune response,” said a source. “We need to do a lot more sequencing of a lot many samples.”
Such messages coming from the scientific community need to be taken seriously, not as undue criticism, because policies and strategies can be reoriented to yield the most optimum long-term outcomes only by respecting such feedback.
When COVID started playing havoc, scientific laboratories across the globe became active collecting the virus samples, analysing them and publishing their findings. Such R&D work conducted with utmost speed and thoroughness has resulted in companies like Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute to be able to start manufacturing the COVID vaccines. However, unless the Indian scientific community is fully enabled and empowered to analyse the samples relevant to Indian conditions, we will not be able to keep abreast of the galloping spread of COVID and overcome it. From what has been reported, though we have world-class laboratories, as a society we seem to have stumbled in extending adequate support to them.
The funds needed are not astronomical. A small fraction of the PMCARES fund, had it been allocated in time to some of these labs, would have enabled the scientists to strengthen their facilities, analyse the India-specific genes in detail, sequence them and bring the findings to the notice of the scientific community, so that the units manufacturing the vaccines may be in a position to fine tune the vaccines to counter the new mutants from time to time. It is a continuing effort in virology and the Indian scientific community who can compete with the best in the world, should have unstinted support from the government in terms of funding and other facilities. We seem to be more inclined to self-congratulate, than to introspect and strategise. As a result, we have failed in anticipating the second wave of COVID and are caught unawares.
I feel anguished that we Indians do not hesitate to spend thousands of crores of rupees on election rallies, statues, a huge concrete building at Central Vista, massive religious congregations etc. but not fully inclined to invest funds where they ought to be invested for the long-term welfare of the people. I strongly urge upon the Prime Minister and the Finance Ministry to set the priorities right as this is a time when the nation should be clear about what it wishes to achieve and replace knee-jerk reactions with strategic planning.
I hope that the fact that West Bengal is becoming a hot spot for new COVID mutants has come to the notice of the Prime Minister. I am sure that he would have hesitated to hold the kind of huge public rallies he is holding in that State, had he been apprised of the implications!
Regards,
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to GOI
Visakhapatnam
Lockdown Decisions Must Be Based On Very Carful Appraisal of Reliable Data
by Bharat Dogra
Now that in the middle of reports of much increased incidence and mortality of COVID-19 the option of lockdown is back in favor among several important policy makers in India as well in some other countries, it needs to be emphasized that lockdown decisions must be based on very careful appraisal of reliable data.
Joji – A Brilliant Peek Across the Kerala Village Lives
by Suresh Nellikode
JOJI, directed by Dileesh Pothen and scripted by Syam Pushkaran had its worldwide release on Amazon Prime, in
the first week of April 2021. No sooner had it reached the households than the critics raised their heads with different allegations like it did not do justice to the play ‘Macbeth’ as credited by the makers
US’ China policy at inflection point
by M K Bhadrakumar
“The symbolism is stunning”: China-France-Germany climate summit, Beijing, April 16, 2021. The three met without US…It is against the backdrop of the Biden administration’s containment strategy against China. The discussions spilled over from climate change to the entire spectrum of world politics.
Paper Value Pledges And Time Passing Tamil Politicians
by Thambu Kanagasabai
This article focuses on the performances of Tamil National Alliance [TNA] since its monopoly role in Tamils’ politics and issues from 2010 as endorsed by the late
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabaharan
Biden’s Anti-China Ambitions – A Reality Check
by Dilip Hiro
Like his immediate predecessor, Joe Biden is committed to a distinctly anti-China global strategy and has sworn that China will not “become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world… on my watch.” In the topsy-turvy universe created by the Covid-19 pandemic, it was, however, Jamie Dimon, the CEO and chairman of JP Morgan Chase, a banking giant with assets of $3.4 trillion, who spoke truth to Biden on the subject.
Hindi Cinema’s Contribution to Human Rights, Though Rare, is Still Significant
by Bharat Dogra
Hindi cinema is not exactly known for any consistent contribution to
human rights. Nevertheless some outstanding films have been made from time to time which have proved to be of enduring value for advancing various aspects of human rights and civil liberties.
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