In 2015, we saw there was a need to connect social movements to create a vision of the world we’re fighting for -- and to unapologetically speak to the scale of the crises we’re facing. The Leap Manifesto upended Canadian politics, helped pave the way for the Green New Deal, and inspired us to start The Leap as an organization.
Often we post articles about deforestation. Most of the issues are large scale. What we sometimes miss is that most issues involve tree farm licences and some small communities generally are adversly affected by the loss of nature and a beautiful community. So here is one I thought to mention. Cumberland is a nice community on Vancouver Island. The community has been trying to protect a buffer of forest arround their town from deforestation. Cumberland Community Forest Society
They are hosting an event that will showcase some of the values of this forest by holding the First Annual Fungus Fest.
Guest speakers, online presentations and virtual pubs, guided walks (day and night), art projects, ethnobotany and more!
Your $25 ticket unlocks a program of online and real world events ad curious links for your fungi pleasure.
Dam cost/benefit and foundation on shaky ground. BC Environmental Network calls for immediate stop work Peace River diversion plan.
For 45 years, the Site C Dam has been promoted by various BC Governments as being needed for a wide range of purposes. Not one of those predictions of necessity has come true. During that same time, the economics of building large hydro dams have literally tanked while the socio/environmental impacts have become increasingly unacceptable. This is true for all three large hydro dams currently under construction in Canada.
In the case of Site C, the 26,000 page 2014 Environmental Impact Statement clearly described the anticipated harmful impacts. However, even with a record setting number of “significant harms that cannot be mitigated” as identified by the Joint Review Panel, the Harper Conservatives and Christy Clark Liberals pushed this project through, with follow-up help from the Trudeau Liberals. It did not stop there. Despite the need for billions more dollars at the time and the findings of the 2017 BCUC Review saying that alternatives to Site C would be the same or lower cost, the new Horgan NDP Government made the fateful decision to proceed. As bad news continues to emerge from Site C, this cluster of past political decisions is coming home to roost.
This is reposted from 2015 UN at 70 by Joan Russow Global Compliance Research Project
because States still fail to sign, ratified and enact the necessary legislation to ensure compliance with international instruments
At key anniversaries of the U.N., there have been calls for compliance with international instruments.
In 1995, Secretary-General Boutros Boutrous-Ghali indicated support at the 50th anniversary of the U.N., in San Francisco, and, at the 55th Anniversary, Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged states to sign and ratify international instruments.
Human welfare, ecology and negotiation must be a priority over global supply chains and "profit-driven" development through coercion.
In 2015, with the confluence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, COP 21, and the launch of International Decade for People of African Descent, there is an opportunity to again call upon states to sign and ratify international instruments, to determine what would constitute compliance with these and to undertake to comply with them through enacting the necessary legislation.
This could also be the time to advance and reinforce the concept of peremptory norms as stated in Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of treaties:
“A treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a peremptory norm of general international law. For the purpose of the present convention, a peremptory norm of general international law is a norm accepted and recognized by the international community of states as a whole.”
Peremptory norms have been described as those derived from treaties, conventions and covenants which have been ratified by all states or by most states representing the full range of legal systems and the major geographical regions. Also, peremptory norms could be derived from U.N. General Assembly Declarations and Conference Action Plans.
Ratifying key legally binding agreements
International Covenants such as on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its protocols, on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); Conventions such as Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), on Torture (UNTC), on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its protocols, on Endangered Species (CITES), on Climate Change (UNFCCC), on World Heritage Convention / WHC), on Desertification (UNCCD), on Ozone (MP),on Rights of the Child (CRC), on Women (CEDAW) and its protocols, on Racial Discrimination ( (ICERD), on Genocide (CPPCG) on Rights of Migrant Workers, on Labour (ILO), on Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols Thereto (CTOC) on Persons with Disabilities(CRPD); Declarations such as Rights of indigenous Peoples UNDRIP; peace Treaties, such as NPT, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Anti_Personnel-Mine-(APM), Cluster Munitions (CCM), Arms Trade (ATT). Respect for the jurisdiction and decisions of the ICJ, and the ICC Rome Statute are paramount. 1992
1992 UN FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE
2017 THE UN TREATY ON THE PROHIBITION ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS
United States International Trade Commission began an investigation into renewable electricity imports including Canadian hydroelectricity. The name of the investigation is “Renewable Electricity: Potential Effects of Increased Commitments in Massachusetts.” The investigation is ongoing and NAMRA and others provided key testimony in July and August 2020 about the dark side of Canadian hydroelectricity production.
four topics, including Massachusetts’ plan to use Canadian hydroelectricity to meet “ambitious goals for seeking alternative renewable means of providing energy while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” The U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means requested the investigation in January 2020 letter. Representatives from both sides of the border are participating.
The greenwashing of this hydroelectricity was exposed in the ITC proceedings. NAMRA has asked for an investigation of fraudulent claims by hydropower promoters about the climate and greenhouse gas benefits of this dirty energy.
Mauro Chiesa has worked on project finance around the world for many banks, including the World Bank. Harry Swain chaired the Joint Review Panel on Site C and is a former deputy minister of Industry Canada. Mike Harcourt is a former premier of B.C. and former mayor of Vancouver.
Here’s an ineluctable law of nature: Project costs escalate during construction. But still, there are limits around what people should accept. For B.C.‘s Site C dam, the costs have gone from $3.5-billion, which was the estimate when the project was first touted, to the $6.9-billion quoted when the project underwent public review, to the official $10.7-billion price tag that hung until very recently. Since then, BC Hydro has discovered nasty geotechnical conditions under the powerhouse and spillways, and says their cost and schedule estimates are so broken it will take them until the fall just to produce new ones.
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
Summary:
Bird biodiversity is rapidly declining in the US. The overall bird population decreased by 29% since 1970, while grassland birds declined by an alarming 53%. A new study points to increased use of neonicotinoid insecticides as a major factor in the decline.
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Bird biodiversity is rapidly declining in the U.S. The overall bird population decreased by 29% since 1970, while grassland birds declined by an alarming 53%.
Valuable for so much more than flight and song, birds hold a key place in ecosystems worldwide. When bird numbers and varieties dwindle, pest populations increase and much-needed pollination decreases. Those examples alone negatively impact food production and human health.
Likely reasons for the far-reaching and devastating declines include intensified agricultural production, use of pesticides, conversion of grassland to agricultural land, and climate change. A new study from University of Illinois points to increased use of neonicotinoid insecticides as a major factor in the decline, says Madhu Khanna, distinguished professor in agricultural and consumer economics at U of I and co-author on the paper, published in Nature Sustainability.
Khanna says numerous studies have shown neonicotinoids -- nicotine-based pesticides -- negatively affect wild bees, honey bees, and butterflies, but large-scale studies on the pesticide's impact on birds have been limited. She speaks more about the topic in a podcast from the Center for the Economics of Sustainability at Illinois.
"This represents the first study at a national scale, over a seven-year time period, using data from hundreds of bird species in four different categories -- grassland birds, non-grassland birds, insectivores, and non-insectivores," she says.
"We found robust evidence of the negative impact of neonicotinoids, in particular on grassland birds, and to some extent on insectivore birds after controlling for the effects of changes in land use."
Khanna and co-authors Yijia Li, a graduate student at U of I, and Ruiqing Miao, assistant professor at Auburn University, analyzed bird populations from 2008 to 2014 in relation to changes in pesticide use and agricultural crop acreage.
The authors found that an increase of 100 kilograms in neonicotinoid usage per county-a 12% increase on average-contributed to a 2.2% decline in populations of grassland birds and 1.6% in insectivorous birds. By comparison, the use of 100 kilograms of non-neonicotinoid pesticides was associated with a 0.05% decrease in grassland birds and a 0.03% decline in non-grassland birds, insectivorous birds, and non-insectivorous birds.
Since impacts accumulate, the authors estimate that, for example, 100 kilograms neonicotinoid use per county in 2008 reduced cumulative grassland-bird populations by 9.7% by 2014. These findings suggest that neonicotinoid use has a relatively large effect on population declines of important birds and that these impacts grow over time.
According to the study, the adverse impacts on bird populations were concentrated in the Midwest, Southern California, and Northern Great Plains.
The researchers say the effect of neonicotinoids could result directly from birds consuming treated crop seeds, and indirectly by affecting the insect populations they feed on. Consumption of just a few seeds is enough to cause long-term damage to the birds' reproduction and development.
The study included data on bird population and species diversity from the North American breeding bird survey, a comprehensive database with data from about 3,000 bird routes across the United States. The researchers correlated the bird data with pesticide use, as well as satellite data on agricultural crop acreage and urban land use.
They examined whether intensified agricultural production and conversion of grassland to agricultural land also contributed to the bird decline. Results showed a small negative effect on grassland birds related to cropland expansion, but no significant effect on other types of birds.
While the use of other pesticides has been flat or declining, neonicotinoid usage has grown exponentially over the past two decades. Neonicotinoids are considerably more toxic to insects and persist longer in the environment, the researchers note.
"This research provides compelling support for the re-evaluation of policies permitting the use of neonicotinoids by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by incorporating considerations of the implications of these pesticides for bird habitats," the authors conclude.
The project was supported by Hatch funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
Several recent reports on the tremors add to concerns about the mega-project’s stability.
Building the Site C dam in northeastern British Columbia is proving more difficult than officials predicted due to unstable ground on the northern bank. Adding to concerns: myriad earthquakes.
For nearly a decade, The Tyee has reported on a rising number of earthquakes caused by the hydraulic fracturing of shale formations in the region. Now, new studies put the number of such tremors in recent years in the many thousands, raising more worries about the future of the mega-project.
Researchers warn the shaking could become strong enough to crumble critical infrastructure such as roads, high-rise buildings — and dams.
B.C.’s regulatory practices try to limit fracking after small earthquakes have been triggered. But that’s “not sufficient to protect critical or vulnerable infrastructure that have unacceptable failure consequences,” noted seismic hazard expert Gail Atkinson in the May 7 issue of Nature Reviews.
No one can yet predict frack-triggered quakes before they happen, and “hazard forecasting” remains a “critical area of research.”
Another study, released this week by researcher Ben Parfitt at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, took data from federal earthquake catalogues to show how many tremors the fracking industry is producing near the Site C dam.
The numbers are staggering. Between 2017 and 2018 alone, the industry triggered 6,551 earthquakes greater than 0.8 magnitude in the region near the troubled mega-project with a price estimate of $12 billion and rising.
Protestors gather outside the White House to demonstrate against torture on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the U.S. prison facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Charles Davis/IPS
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 2 2015 (IPS) - The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has criticised member states for ‘cherry-picking’ human rights – advocating some and openly violating others – perhaps to suit their own national or political interests.
Despite ratifying the U.N. charter reaffirming their faith in fundamental human rights, there are some member states who, “with alarming regularity”, are disregarding and violating human rights, “sometimes to a shocking degree,” he said.
A trawler in Johnstone Strait, BC, Canada. Human activities such as pollution, overfishing, mining, geo-engineering and climate change have made an international agreement to protect the high seas more critical than ever. Credit: Winky/cc by 2.0
Jun 8 2020 (IPS) - Oceans cover 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface. But, because many of us spend most of our lives on land, the 362 million square kilometres of blue out there aren’t always top of mind.
While vast, oceans are not empty. They are teeming with life and connected to society through geopolitics and recreation.
The laws, institutions and regulations in place for the oceans are a multi-layered patchwork and always a work in progress.
Common heritage of humankind
Some characterize oceans as the “common heritage of humankind.” As such, the United Nations plays a critical role in ocean governance, and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a key international agreement. The agreement grants coastal and island states authority over swaths of ocean extending 200 nautical miles (360 kilometres) from the shore. These are called exclusive economic zones (EEZ).
EEZs are domestic spaces. Countries enshrine law and delegate authority to state agencies that lead monitoring, management and enforcement in these zones.
Indigenous peoples also assert jurisdictional authority and coastal peoples hold critical insight about coastal and marine ecosystems. Governance is improved when state agencies share power and collaborate.
For example, during the Newfoundland cod collapse, inshore fishermen had local ecological knowledge about changing cod stock dynamics that might have helped avoid the disaster.
A turtle swims in a Marine Protected Area. Credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
