Landslide win for Sri Lanka’s leftist coalition in snap general elections

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 Landslide win for Sri Lanka’s leftist coalition in snap general elections

President Dissanayake now has the mandate he needs to tackle corruption and recover stolen assets after financial crash.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s leftist coalition has achieved a landslide victory in snap parliamentary elections, delivering the self-described Marxist leader a powerful mandate to fight poverty and corruption in the crisis-stricken nation.

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka said on Friday that Dissanayake’s National People’s Power (NPP) coalition secured a two-thirds majority in parliament, winning 159 of 225 seats, a huge lead on opposition alliance Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), which won 40 seats.

Dissanayake, a 55-year-old veteran politician, was elected president on September 21 with 42 percent of the vote, in a rejection of traditional political parties that have governed the island nation since independence from British rule in 1948.

His party’s victory on Friday vindicated his decision to immediately call elections and secure parliamentary backing for his plans to combat corruption and recover stolen assets, two years after a financial crash led to months-long shortages of food, fuel and essential medicines.

Reporting from Colombo, Al Jazeera’s Minelle Fernandez said voters had said “enough is enough”, voting overwhelmingly “to take a chance on the NPP”.

The vote, she said, marked a rejection of “the same old faces, the same old parties [that] have been hoodwinking us for too long now”.

Change

In July, public anger about the economic crisis culminated in the  storming of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s compound, prompting his resignation and temporary exile.

The Rajapaksa clan’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, whose cohort of brothers gave the country two presidents during a dozen years in power and had 145 seats in the outgoing legislature, was virtually wiped out in this week’s vote, winning just two seats.

Dissanayake’s pledge to change a “corrupt” political culture had resonated with millions of Sri Lankans struggling to make ends meet following tax hikes and other austerity measures imposed to repair the nation’s finances.

Upon being elected president, he had promised to renegotiate a controversial $2.9bn International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout secured by his predecessor, but has since maintained the country’s agreement with the lender. However, his party’s newly won majority could see him reopen talks.

While he was in opposition, Dissanayake argued against the enormous powers of the executive presidency and its links to abuse of power. His party’s majority will now allow him to begin the process of abolishing the position, though analysts say this is unlikely to be a priority.

Commenting on the coalition’s majority, Al Jazeera’s Fernandez said: “There are observers who say too much power is something for concern, but the president had said that … voters should fill the parliament with his representatives [who] could give effect to the change that they were promising.”

Electoral shift

Dissanayake, who hails from the Sinhala-majority town of Galewela, had been an MP for nearly 25 years and was briefly an agriculture minister, but his NPP coalition held just three seats in the outgoing assembly.

Marking a major shift in the country’s electoral landscape, his coalition won the Jaffna district, the heartland of ethnic Tamils in the north, who have long been suspicious of Sinhalese leaders.

Ethnic Tamil rebels fought an unsuccessful civil war in 1983-2009 to create a separate homeland, saying they were being marginalized by governments controlled by Sinhalese.

According to conservative United Nations estimates, more than 100,000 people were killed in the conflict.

Voter turnout in this week’s election was estimated at less than 70 percent, below the 80 percent of eligible voters who cast a ballot in September’s presidential polls.

தேர்தல் திணைக்கள அதிகாரபூர்வ 2024 தேர்தல் முடிவுகள்.

 

Polls today to elect a new Parliament. Curiously, voter enthusiasm has been at a low ebb- The Island Editorial

Happy voting!

The Island Editorial Thursday 14th November, 2024

Sri Lanka goes to the polls today to elect a new Parliament. Curiously, voter enthusiasm has been at a low ebb, compared to that in the run-up to the 21 September presidential election. It has been interpreted as voter apathy in some quarters, but whether it is so will be seen only when the total number of votes to be polled is announced.

Stakes are extremely high for all political parties in today’s contest. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has urged the public to ‘fill the tenth parliament with only NPP members’, and former Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa is seeking a mandate to control the legislature. Some political parties are asking the public to help them form a formidable Opposition. Whether their wishes will be granted remains to be seen.

President Dissanayake and his party, the JVP-led NPP, have embarked on a mission to ‘cleanse’ Parliament. Ironically, the JVP/NPP has been an integral part of the Augean stables it has undertaken to clean!

Steamroller majorities are jinxed in this country, for they result in corruption, overreach, abuse of power, attacks on democracy, especially the suppression of dissent, and economic mismanagement. They are a curse for the people. Hung parliaments are also detrimental to the country’s interests in that they lead to political instability as cooperation is something alien to the parties in contest; they subjugate their own interests to those of the people.

Most Sri Lankan electors let their rising choler get the better of them and resort to punitive voting to express their frustration with the incumbent rulers instead of making a careful and reasoned assessment of candidates’ policies, abilities and integrity. This results in massive waves of popular support and huge majorities much to the benefit of crafty politicians who make themselves out to be saviours.

Sunday, November 10, 2024 Sunday Times

 

In underdeveloped democracies, the basic law often becomes the first casualty of mammoth majorities, as they are misused to amend or replace it to consolidate the winner’s power. A huge majority in a weak democracy could also serve as a passport to autocracy. Examples abound in this country. There is reason to believe that but for its five-sixths majority, the J. R. Jayewardene government would have acted differently, mindful of public opinion, and perhaps savage attacks on democracy and bloodbaths which characterized that regime would not have occurred. It was the abuse of the SLFP-led United Front’s two-thirds majority to extend the life of Parliament by two years and other excesses that enabled the UNP to sweep the parliamentary polls in 1977. A two-thirds majority drove President Mahinda Rajapaksa to abuse power to his heart’s content and amend the Constitution to do away with the presidential term limit. The 18th constitutional amendment became his undoing. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa acted similarly; he misused the SLPP’s two-thirds majority to amend the Constitution and carry out disastrous experiments and in the process ruined the country and his own political career.

Obtaining popular mandates is one thing but delivering what they are given for is quite another. Sloganeering and empty rhetoric can help whip up public resentment to engineer regime changes when the people are desperate for change, but they alone cannot ensure the stability of any government. The fate that befell the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration is a case in point. Those who infuse the people with hope and elevate their expectations beyond measure to capture power but fail to deliver run the risk of having to head for the hills with the irate public in close pursuit.

One can only hope that whichever party wins today’s election, economic recovery, battling corruption and strengthening the rule of law will figure high on the new government’s agenda; the escalating cost of living will be reined in; the doctrine of the separation of powers will be upheld; streets will remain peaceful and, above all, no need will arise for roads to be barricaded again near the President’s House and Temple Trees.

Perhaps, nothing exemplifies Sri Lanka’s predicament than the Brechtian aphorism—’Pity the land that needs heroes’. This country has had many bogus messiahs to contend with, but the search for new ones continues.

A country cannot be anything but what its people make out of it, and the people are said to get the governments they deserve. So, it is Sri Lankans’ call, today. Happy voting!⍐

தேசிய நெருக்கடி குறித்த பொது விவாதத்துக்கும், பொது வாக்கெடுப்புக்கும் போராடுவோம்! போலித் தேர்தலைப் புறக்கணிப்போம்!!

தேசிய நெருக்கடி குறித்த பொது விவாதத்துக்கும், பொது வாக்கெடுப்புக்கும் போராடுவோம்!

போலித் தேர்தலைப் புறக்கணிப்போம்!!

கடந்த ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தலில் பெரும்பான்மை பெறாமல் ஆட்சி அதிகாரத்தைக் கைப்பற்றிய அநுரா, நாடாளமன்றத்தைக் கலைத்து பொதுத் தேர்தல் அறிவித்தார்.

அத் தேர்தல் நாடளாவி நாளை(14-11-2024) நடை பெறவுள்ளது.

ஜனாதிபதி அநுராவின் குறுகிய ஆட்சி நாட்கள், வரவுள்ள ஆண்டுகளில் அரசாங்கத்தின் ஆட்சியின் போக்கை தெளிவாக அடையாளம் காட்டி நிற்கின்றன.

அநுரா ஆட்சி;

1) தனக்கு முந்திய IMF, அதானி ஆட்சியின் பிடிமானத்தை தகர்க்கவில்லை,ஏன் தளர்த்தக் கூடவில்லை.மேலும் அநுரா ஆட்சி பேசும் அ) ஏற்றுமதிப் பொருளாதாரம் ஆ) கல்விச் சீர்திருத்தம் இ) விவசாய சீர்திருத்தம் அனைத்தும் அந்நிய நிதி மூலதனத்துடனும், தொடர் காலனிய அடிமைத்தனத்துடனும், இந்திய விரிவாதிக்கத்துடனும் பின்னிப் பிணைந்த கொள்கைகளாகவே உள்ளன.எந்தச் சுத்தமும் செய்யப்படாத அதே பழைய 76 ஆண்டு கால அசுத்தங்களாகவே உள்ளன.

2) தேசியப் பிரச்சனையை அநுரா ஆட்சி முன்வைக்கும் முறை, `` தேசியப் பிரச்சனை என்று ஒரு பிரச்சனையே இல்லை`` என்கிற ஜே.ஆர்.கால நிலைப்பாடாகவே உள்ளது.கலவரங்களால் காயப்பட்ட வலியும், யுத்தம் எடுத்த பலியும், பயன் படுத்த இயலாத மொழியும், நூலக எரிப்பின் விளைவான பழியும்......என, கடந்தகால தமிழ் சிங்கள அரசியல் வாதிகள் உருவாக்கிய உதிரி உதிரியான சம்பவங்களின் கோர நினைவுகளால் பீடிக்கப்பட்ட ஒரு சமூகம் போல மிகவும் கருணை உணர்வுடன் தேசியப் பிரச்சனை சித்தரிக்கப்படுகின்றது.மேலும் மிகவும் பழக்கமான, பாசிச `நாம் இலங்கையர்` முழக்கம் முன்வைக்கப்படுகின்றது.

இவை இரண்டும் ஒட்டு மொத்த இலங்கை மக்களுக்கு எதிரானவை ஆகும். இலங்கை மக்களின் எதிர்ப்பைச் சம்பாதிப்பது ஆகும். எனவே இதிலிருந்து தன்னை ஒரு அரசு என்கிற முறையில் தற்காத்துக் கொள்ளும் கவசத்தை அநுரா ஆட்சி தேடிக் கொள்ள வேண்டும்.

3) அதன் பொருட்டு நாடாளமன்றத்தை ஏகபோகமாக்க முயலுகின்றது. இந்தியாவின் பாணியில் `நிலையான ஆட்சி`, கட்சியின் கொள்கைகளை நிறைவேற்ற காலம் தேவை, 2/3 பெரும்பான்மை மற்றும் எதிர்க்கட்சி இல்லாத பாராளமன்றம் என்றெல்லாம் பேசுகின்றது.

4)  பயங்கரவாதச் சட்டத்தை நாடாளமன்றம் முடிவு செய்யும் என்கின்றது. 

5) அரசியல் அமைப்புத் திருத்தம், ஜனதிபதி ஆட்சி முறை, பயங்கரவாதச் சட்டம் அனைத்தையும் `திருத்தப்` போகின்றது வரப்போகின்ற நாடாளமன்றம். இதற்காகத்தான் தேர்தல் நடத்துகின்றது.தர்க்க ரீதியாக இந்த திருத்தங்கள் ஒடுக்குமுறைக் கருவிகளின் அதிகார வலிமையைக் கூட்டுமே ஒழிய எவ்வகையிலும் குறைக்காது. ஏனெனில் அத்தகைய ஒரு அடக்குமுறை எந்திரம் இல்லாமல் IMF, அதானி ஆட்சியை கட்டிக் காக்க இயலாது.

6) மேலும் முக்கியமாக சர்வதேச முரண்பாடுகள் உலக மறுபங்கீட்டின் மூலம் தமது பிரச்சனைகளுக்கு தீர்வுகாண விளைகின்ற நெருக்கடி தீவிரமடைந்த நாட்களாக இன்றைய நாட்கள் உள்ளன.இந்த உலக மறுபங்கீட்டுச் சேவகத்துக்கும் அத்தகைய ஒரு அடக்குமுறை எந்திரம் அவசியத் தேவை ஆகும்.

இவையே அனுரா அரசு பயணிக்கத் தயாராக உள்ள பாதையாகும்.

ஒடுக்கும் தேசத்து மக்கள் எப்படி எகிறி வாக்களித்தாலும், ஒடுக்கப்படும் தேசத்து மக்கள் எப்படி சிதறி வாக்களித்தாலும் அநுரா அரசு பயணிக்கப் போகும் திசையை அது ஒரு போதும் மாற்றாது.

அனுரா ஜனாதிபதியானதும் ஜனாதிபதி ஆட்சி முறை சுத்தப்படுத்தப் பட்டுவிட்டது, இனி ``நாடாளமன்றத்தைச் சுத்தப்படுத்த திசை காட்டியால் நிரப்புவோம்`` என ஜே.வி.பி. தந்திரமாக முழங்குவது ஏக போக நாடாளமன்றமேயாகும். பாசிச சர்வாதிகார ஆட்சியே ஆகும்.

இந்நிலையில் எல்லாவற்றுக்கும் மேலாக இலங்கை மீது உலக மறுபங்கீட்டு ஆதிக்கப் போட்டி ஆரம்பித்துவிட்ட சூழ்நிலையில், ஜனநாயக உரிமைகள் மக்களுக்கு அளப்பரிய முக்கியத்துவம் உடையவை ஆகும்.

1) இலங்கையை SOFA உடன்படிக்கைக்கு இணங்க வைக்க அமெரிக்கா தொடர்ந்து நிர்ப்பந்தித்து வருகின்றது.ரொனால்ட் ரம்பின் தேர்தல் வெற்றி இதை மேலும் தீவிரப்படுத்தும்.

2) இந்திய இலங்கை ஒப்பந்தம் அமூலில் உள்ளது. இலங்கை (ஈழ)க் கடலில் இந்தியர் மீன் பிடிப்பதை தடுக்கக் கூடாது  என இந்தியா வலியுறுத்துகின்றது. ஒட்டுமொத்த இலங்கைக் கடல் பிராந்தியம் மற்றும் கடல் வளத்தில் இந்தியா ஆதிக்கம் செலுத்துகின்றது.

3) IMF, FDI அந்நிய நிதிமூலதன கந்துவட்டி நாட்டை வங்குரோத்து நிலைக்குத் தள்ளியுள்ளது.இது மேலும் தொடர்கின்றது.உபரி வெளியேறுகின்றது, தேசிய மூலதனம் திரள்வதில்லை.

4) இலங்கையில் தேசிய சமத்துவம் இல்லாமையானது அந்நியர் உட்புகுவதற்கு வழிகோலி வருகின்றது.

5) போர்க்கால 30 ஆண்டுகளைக் காட்டிலும், போர் ஓய்ந்த 15 ஆண்டுகளில் தான் நாடு ஒரு பெரும் `தேசிய நெருக்கடிக்குள்` சிக்குண்டுள்ளது.

இலங்கை எதிர் நோக்கும் முக்கிய பிரதான தீவிரமான பிரச்சனைகள் ஒரு தேசிய நெருக்கடியாக விஸ்வரூபம் எடுத்துள்ளன.இதற்கு நாட்டு மக்கள் பெரும் விலை கொடுத்துவருகின்றனர்.

இப்பிரச்சனைகள் குறித்த பிரக்ஞையை உருவாக்க நாடளாவிய விவாதமும் கருத்துக் கணிப்பும் தேவை.அத்தகைய மக்கள் பலம் இல்லாமல் எதிரிகளை எதிர்கொள்வது சாத்தியமல்ல.

இதை நாடாளமன்ற பெரும்பான்மை கொண்டு முடிவு செய்ய முடியாது.முடிவு செய்யக் கூடாது.இதற்கு இடைத் தரகர்கள் இல்லாத நாட்டு மக்களின் நேரடி அனுமதி தேவை.

எனவே, 

தேசிய நெருக்கடி குறித்த பொது விவாதத்துக்கும், பொது வாக்கெடுப்புக்கும் போராடுவோம்.

போலித் தேர்தலைப் புறக்கணிப்போம்.

புதிய ஈழப் புரட்சியாளர்கள்-இலங்கை(ஈழம்) 13-11-2024 

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigns in abuse fallout:

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby resigns in abuse fallout:

Welby is accused of not taking sufficient action to stop one of the Church of England’s most prolific serial abusers.

The archbishop of Canterbury has resigned after an investigation found that he failed to pursue an investigation into allegations of serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer associated with the Church of England at Christian summer camps.

Justin Welby, 68, resigned on Tuesday, five days after the independent Makin Report singled him out for criticism over his handling of abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s.

மன்னருக்கு முடி தரித்த ஆன்மீகத் தலைவர்.

Who is Justin Welby, and why did he resign?

Welby announced his resignation “in sorrow”, taking “personal and institutional responsibility” for a lack of action on the “heinous abuses” allegedly committed by the late John Smyth, a volunteer at Christian summer camps decades ago.

“The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England,” Welby said.

Educated at Britain’s most prestigious private school, Eton, Welby worked in the oil industry for more than a decade before being ordained in 1992. He was made the senior prelate of the Church of England in 2013.

Welby was an outspoken spiritual leader of the global Anglican community who grappled publicly with issues ranging from same-sex marriage to Britain’s immigration policy, Israel’s war in Gaza, slavery reparations, climate change and his own mental health problems.

Who was John Smyth, and what was he accused of?

Smyth was an evangelical, Canadian-born, British barrister who held leadership roles in a charity called the Iwerne Trust, which ran Christian camps in England and Wales.

Initial details of Smyth’s physical abuse of schoolboys who had attended the camps during the 1970s and 1980s emerged in a 1982 report by the charity.

Smyth was reported to have brought pupils from prestigious public schools in England, including Winchester College, to his home, where he lashed them with a cane in his shed.

The case was not reported to the police by the trust, the church or the schools whose pupils were subjected to abuse.

Instead, Smyth moved to Zimbabwe, where he set up the Zambesi Ministries, which ran similar Christian camps for schoolboys.

In 1992 after facing charges of killing a teenage boy who was found dead in a swimming pool, Smyth moved to Cape Town, South Africa.

In 2013, a victim reported abuse by Smyth to the Church of England, which in turn reported the allegations to the police, but an investigation was not initiated.

The 1982 Iwerne Trust report was made public in 2016, prompting an investigation by Channel 4 News in 2017.

Smyth died the next year in Cape Town at the age of 77.

In total, he has been held responsible for the violent abuse of at least 115 children and young men in England, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

The report said Smyth had subjected boys and young men to “brutal and horrific” physical and sexual abuse over a 40-year period.

Smyth beat some victims with up to 800 strokes of a cane and supplied nappies to absorb the bleeding, the report said.

He would then drape himself over his victims, sometimes kissing them on the neck or back.

Welby said he had “no idea or suspicion” of the allegations before 2013, but the independent report concluded it was unlikely he would have had no knowledge of the concerns regarding Smyth in the 1980s.

Pope Francis, left, speaks with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby during a service to commemorate the Christian conversion of St Paul in the Basilica of St Paul Outside The Walls in Rome on January 25, 2024 [Filippo Monteforte/AFP]

Who could succeed Welby?

Under the church’s rules, the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) is a body of clerics that manages the choice of Welby’s successor.

It submits the name of a preferred and an alternative candidate to the United Kingdom’s prime minister, who then advises the monarch on the appointment.

It is too early to tell who the CNC will select as Welby’s successor, but there are some likely candidates.

Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York and the second most senior bishop of the Church of England, will be in the running.

Cottrell released a statement after Welby’s resignation, saying it was “the right and honourable thing to do”.

A former chief nursing officer in the Department of Health and current bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, could also be in the running. She is the third most senior bishop in the Church of England.

The bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, has been vocal in calling for Welby to step down, which could make her a possible candidate as the Church of England looks to distance itself from the scandal.

She has also recently come out as saying she has experienced “coercive language” from Welby and Cottrell in the past.

Martyn Snow, the bishop of Leicester; Graham Usher, the bishop of Norwich; and Guli Francis-Dehqani, the bishop of Chelmsford, have all also been tipped to succeed Welby.

Snow abstained in a church assembly vote on blessings for gay couples while Usher is in favour of gay rights.

Francis-Dehqani was born in Iran and has spoken about how her brother was killed in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution.

If a woman is chosen archbishop of Canterbury, she would be the first to occupy the post.

Has the church faced other abuse allegations in the past?

Welby’s resignation comes against the backdrop of widespread historical sexual abuse in the Church of England.

A 2022 report by the Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse found that deference to the authority of priests, taboos surrounding the discussion of sexuality and a culture that gave more support to alleged perpetrators than their victims helped make the Church of England “a place where abusers could hide”.

Morten Morland Cartoon 12.11.2024 The Times UK

John Smyth Review - Personal Statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury

 

07/11/2024

 

Following the publication today of the independent review by Keith Makin into the Church of England's handling of allegations of serious abuse by the late John Smyth, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: 

 

"The pain experienced by the victims in this case is unimaginable. They have lived with the trauma inflicted by John Smyth's horrendous abuse for more than 40 years, both here in the UK and in Southern Africa, particularly Zimbabwe.

 

"I recognise the courage of those victims, including those related to John Smyth, who have come forward and relived their trauma through contributing to this review. I know their willingness to share their painful testimonies will come at great personal cost.

 

"I am deeply sorry that this abuse happened. I am so sorry that in places where these young men, and boys, should have felt safe and where they should have experienced God’s love for them, they were subjected to physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse. I am sorry that concealment by many people who were fully aware of the abuse over many years meant that John Smyth was able to abuse overseas and died before he ever faced justice. The report rightly condemns that behaviour.

 

"I had no idea or suspicion of this abuse before 2013.

 

"Nevertheless the review is clear that I personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated. Since that time the way in which the Church of England engages with victims and survivors has changed beyond recognition. Checks and balances introduced seek to ensure that the same could not happen today.

 

"I repeat my apology contained in the review, that I did not meet quickly with victims after the full horror of the abuse was revealed by Channel 4 in 2017. As the report says, no Archbishop can meet with everyone but I promised to see them and failed until 2020. This was wrong. I am grateful to those like Bishop Peter Hancock and others who did meet with them, as said in the report. We now have a network of listeners and pastoral supporters to act.

 

"John Smyth’s abuse manipulated Christian truth to justify his evil acts, whilst exploiting and abusing the power entrusted to him. In the last 11 years much has been learned. This long-delayed report shows another, very important step on the way to a safer church, here and round the world.

 

"That does not reverse the terrible abuse suffered but I hope that it can be at least of some comfort to victims. I can only end by thanking them again for their courage and persistence and again by apologising profoundly, not only for my own failures and omissions but for the wickedness, concealment and abuse by the church more widely, as set out in the report."

https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/

COP29 opens to discuss efforts tackling global warming after deadly climate-related disasters

COP29 opens to discuss efforts tackling global warming after deadly climate-related disasters

By GT staff reporters 

Published: Nov 11, 2024 

With memories of deadly floods in Spain and severe hurricane strikes in the US still fresh, and the summer of 2024 being the hottest on record, world leaders, scientists and industry representatives are gathering in Baku, Azerbaijan for the COP29 to discuss concerted efforts to respond to climate change. 

Floods in Spain 2024

However, the latest changes in the international landscape, including Donald Trump's reelection as US president given the fact that he had pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement in his first term, and emerging protectionism over green technologies, have brought uncertainty to the event.  

Making emission reduction plans and a climate funding arrangement are high on the agenda this year, Chinese analysts said, stressing that the imminent threat posed by climate change to humanity is a bugle call for countries to take more proactive measures, and developed countries should fulfill their commitment rather than shun responsibilities. 

Floods in Spain 2024

Imminent threat 

The COP29, formally known as the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is slated to be held in Baku from November 11 to November 22. 

Browsing news websites, examples of extreme weather victims and climate refugees are abundant. Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, said on Monday's COP29 opening that "This crisis is affecting every single individual in the world in one way or another."

Stiell urged parties to dispense with any idea that climate finance is charity. "An ambitious new climate finance goal is entirely in the self-interest of every nation, including the largest and wealthiest."  

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN body, in 2022, limiting warming to around 1.5 C requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 and decrease by 43 percent by 2030 to prevent irrevocable damage. 

The deadline is around the corner. 

In an interview with the Guardian on Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world is still underestimating the risk of catastrophic climate breakdown and ecosystem collapse. 

Humanity is approaching potentially irreversible tipping points such as the collapse of the Amazon rainforest and the Greenland ice sheet as global temperatures rise, Guterres said, warning that governments are not making the deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions needed to limit warming to safe levels.

Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, told the Global Times the lessons that should be learned from more frequent natural disasters are not only emergency response capacity building for nations, but also the importance and urgency of emission reduction. 

Countries must take more proactive measures to reduce emissions in order to avoid further increases in global temperatures, which could lead to more severe climate consequences, Ma noted.  

However, the latest changes in the international landscape, including Donald Trump's reelection as US president given the fact that he had pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement in his first term, and emerging protectionism over green technologies, have brought uncertainty to the event. 

Looming challenges  

Politico said in a Sunday report that "the world is bracing for Trump to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement for the second time."

The Trump campaign told Politico in June that the former president would quit the global pact, as he did in 2017 during his first stint in the office. Trump has not yet issued his policy on climate change since winning the election.

The US is the biggest developed country, with many allies and great influence on global governance, and its potential withdrawal from the agreement again will undoubtedly backpedal global efforts for carbon reduction and climate change response, Xin Qiang, director of the Taiwan Studies Center at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Monday. 

The US' swinging back and forth in its climate stance not only means discontinuity in domestic policy on clean energy and carbon reduction, but also jeopardizes global cooperation and joint action, Xin said.  

Another challenge is the emerging protectionism related to green industries, such as new-energy vehicles (NEVs) and photovoltaic panels, according to Lü Xiang, research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.  

Some countries in the EU have resorted to tariffs primarily for economic reasons, but they should recognize that such protectionism is detrimental to green technology transfer and global climate cooperation, Lü said. 

A key task of the COP29 is to establish a New Collective Quantified Goal on climate financing, which represents a post-2025 climate financing commitment from developed economies to developing nations, Xia Yingxian, director of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment's Department of Climate Change, said at a news conference on Friday.

The new financing arrangement is set to replace developed countries' $100 billion annual commitment as per the Paris Agreement. The commitment was not truly fulfilled and will expire in 2025. 

Climate finance, as a focal point, hot spot and challenge in the international climate process, is crucial for building trust between developed and developing countries, and it is key to advancing multilateral progress, Xia said.

Hurricane Katrina US

China's role 

At the invitation of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President Xi Jinping's Special Representative, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council Ding Xuexiang will travel to Azerbaijan from November 12 to 13 for the World Leaders Climate Action Summit and visit the country at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Shahin Abdulla oglu Mustafayev, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at Friday's routine press briefing that China stands ready to work with other parties to uphold the goal, principles and system of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, advance practical actions and achieve sustainable development. China hopes to see positive outcomes on the global climate finance goal at the meeting, Mao said. 

Developed countries should earnestly fulfill their responsibilities and provide strong financial support to developing countries for their climate response. China will continue to offer assistance to fellow developing countries to the best of its capacity under the framework of South-South cooperation, said the spokesperson.

 UNICEF/David Hogsholt Storms, typhoons and other nautaral desasters cause widespread
damage in many countries in Asia. (file)

Some countries have been pressing China to contribute more funding, but Ma noted China's consistent stance is "shared but differentiated responsibilities."

Data show that from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-18th century to 1950, developed countries emitted 95 percent of the world's total carbon dioxide, and from 1950 to 2000, the emissions produced by developed countries accounted for 77 percent of the global total, Xinhua reported.

The COP29, and the overall climate change response, should be practical and respect different countries' efforts based on their national conditions, Ma said. 

Xin Qiang said China has always been a responsible major power in dealing with climate change: in addition to continuous afforestation, it has invested enormously in green transition and helps other developing countries in the cause. 

China released an annual climate action report on November 6, outlining the country's new initiatives for tackling climate change. According to the report, China's energy use structure, manufacturing, transportation and construction have been greener in the past year. 

As for global cooperation, China has signed 52 South-South cooperation documents on climate change with 42 developing countries, per the report.  

China's wind power and photovoltaic product exports helped other countries reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 810 million tons in 2023, according to the white paper issued by China's State Council Information Office in August, Xinhua reported.⍐ 

________________________

Note: Pictures ENB

 

Greta Thunberg protests against Azerbaijan hosting global climate summit

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has attended a rally in Georgia to protest against Azernaijan hosting the annual United Nations climate talks

BySOPHIKO MEGRELIDZE Associated Press November 11, 2024,

TBILISI, Georgia -- Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Monday attended a rally in Georgia to protest against Azerbaijan hosting the annual United Nations climate talks.

Thunberg and scores of other activists who rallied in Tbilisi, the capital of the South Caucasus nation, argued that Azerbaijan doesn't deserve to host the climate talks because of its repressive policies.

U.N. climate talks, called COP29, opened Monday in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, a major oil producer where the world’s first oil well was drilled.

Thunberg described Azerbaijan as “a repressive, occupying state, which has committed ethnic cleansing, and which is continuing cracking down on Azerbaijani civil society." She charged that the Caspian Sea nation has used the summit as “a chance to greenwash their crimes and human rights abuses.”

Video. 

Protesters at COP29 call for an end to war in Gaza

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"We can't give them any legitimacy in this situation, which is why we are standing here and saying no to greenwashing and no to the Azerbaijani regime,” she said.

Azerbaijan has committed to clean energy projects, but critics have argued that’s just to export more oil and gas.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has been in power since 2003 when he succeeded his father who died after ruling the oil rich nation for the previous decade. He has been accused by critics of intolerance to dissent and freedom of speech.

Earlier this year, Aliyev won another seven-year presidential term in an election that monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said took place in a “restrictive environment” with no real political competition. Aliyev called the early vote while enjoying a surge in popularity after Azerbaijani forces in September 2023 swiftly reclaimed the Karabakh region from ethnic Armenian separatists, who had controlled it for three decades.

After Azerbaijan regained full control of Karabakh, most of its 120,000 Armenian residents fled. The Azerbaijani authorities, however, said they were welcome to stay and promised their human rights would be ensured.

Thunberg, 21, has inspired a global youth movement demanding stronger efforts to fight climate change after staging weekly protests outside the Swedish parliament starting in 2018.

The European climate service Copernicus announced earlier this month that the world is on pace for 1.5 degrees of warming this year, which is heading to become the hottest year in human civilization.

Speaking at the rally in Tbilisi on Monday, Thunberg emphasized that the hottest year ever recorded comes after global greenhouse gas emissions reached an all time high last year. Holding the climate change conference "in an authoritarian petro state is beyond absurd,” she said.⍐