Road to COP21: the facts and figures of Climate Change

by David Kavanagh

In less than two weeks, representatives from over 190 countries and a host of intergovernmental organisations, UN agencies and NGOs will meet in Le Bourget in Paris, France to discuss the future of the global approach to climate change.

The 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) is intended to run from November 30 to December 11 and will, for the first time in 20 years, aim to “achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate [change], with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C.”

This event will continue the tradition of annual COP meetings strengthening the goals of the widely accepted United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was introduced at the first Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and put into action two years later, and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

Both of these were designed to guide the stabilisation and reduction of international greenhouse gas emissions and general “dangerous human interference” with the climate system.

With expectations extremely high in the lead up to these talks, now is a good a time as ever to re-examine the issues, facts, and figures of climate change, all of which will need to be addressed for any meaningful progress to be made.

Last year’s COP20 talks in Lima paved the way for COP21. Source: euractiv.com

The world is heating up
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the average global temperature could increase by between 3°C – 6°C by the end of the century if action isn’t taken soon.

In order to achieve the goal of limiting this rise to 2°C, net zero greenhouse gas emissions are required by 2100 and emissions need to peak by 2030 at the latest.

Unsurprisingly, last month was the hottest October ever recorded, and 2015 is right on track to being the hottest year as well.

Rising sea levels and increased likelihoods of weather-related disasters such as bush fires and droughts will have wide-ranging consequences in a litany of diverse areas including global health, poverty, and wildlife conservation.

Climate change hits the third world the hardest
The World Bank Group, an international financial institution that acts as the go-to development bank for many developing countries, stresses that climate change presents an unprecedented threat to the many advancements already made against global poverty, disease and hunger.

High temperatures, change in rain patterns, drought and other climate-related disasters pose massive risks for agriculture and food and water supplies around the world.

It has been predicted that by 2030, approximately 100 million people will have been pushed into poverty as a direct effect of the changing climate.

A boy walks through flooded streets in the Philippines. Source: newsecuritybeat.org

Global security threatened as well
These conditions will likely create what many describe as “climate refugees” or “environmental migrants” forced to move due to sudden or gradual changes in the natural environments where they live.

The predicted mass displacement and resultant migration of around 200 million people by 2050, many of which may hail from low-lying Pacific Island nations facing rising sea levels, doesn’t only affect the third world.

The question of who accepts these migrants, and what their intake will lead too internally, is a controversial one.

Unsurprisingly, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) once suggested in its First Assessment Report that the large-scale movement of people might become the “greatest single impact” on world security.

So far, we’re not doing enough
Between 1990 and 2010, the only continent in which greenhouse gas emissions were reduced was Europe. At a global level, emissions continue to rise.

While over 150 governments have submitted Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs), the main way through which they present their intended course of action to the international community, to the UNFCCC, the current figures would not be enough to prevent world temperatures from exceeding 2°C.

Furthermore, since INDCs are not in any way legally binding, and because governments have to balance national priorities against the collective global agenda, many governments seem to be falling short of their commitments.

If change is to be made, the 50,000 participants, of which 25,000 are government representatives and officials, will have to work together at COP21 to find ways to step up their game and stringently abide by bolder emission reduction targets.

Most increased global emissions will come from a handful of nations
OECD countries such as Australia, the US, and the UK are expected to continue to emit the highest amount of emissions per capita, with the former at the forefront.

However, the BRIICS (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China, and South Africa) will likely be the reason world emissions increase over the next 30 years.

This is because, while economic growth and expansion slows down in the developed West, the populations and GDP per capita of these countries are rapidly rising.

Industrial expansion and economic development is a key cause of increased carbon emissions.

Energy is killing us – we need to focus on renewables
Energy attained from coal and natural gas accounts for over 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with that figure predicted to increase to 78% by 2050 from 2005 levels if nothing is done about it.

At the same time, an expected increase in the demand for cars around the world and in developing nations particularly will likely lead to the emissions from transport doubling to 40% by 2035.

Low-carbon or renewable energy sources can help economies grow while at the same time mitigating the effects of climate change.

Solar and wind are important sources of renewable energy. Source: wired.co.uk

Encouragingly, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, renewable energy is on the way to becoming the “third largest industrial sector” in the world and, since 1990, clean energy has grown at an annual average of 2.2%.

That said, renewables represent only 13.5% of international energy supplies, with fossil fuels at 81%.

Global cooperation, at both state and civil levels, is key
Climate change and global warming is, to everyone in the world, an existential danger.

Importantly, given its borderless nature, climate change is not an issue that any one country can handle successfully on its own.

Compromise and cooperation from all actors in the international community is incredibly necessary and COP21 will hopefully play a key part in ensuring more is done.

In many ways, it is also up to members of civil society to demonstrate and show their public representatives that this is an issue worth fighting for.

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Innocent may be among over 300 hanged in Pakistan since December: Reprieve

by David Kavanagh

Exactly 311 people have been executed by hanging in Pakistan since the end of last year, an anonymous official in the country’s Interior Ministry has revealed.

This comes down to about one person killed per day, barring religious holidays, and puts Pakistan as the country with the third highest rate of execution by hanging behind China and Iran.

International human rights organisation Reprieve has raised concerns about these figures, noting that ‘forced’ confessions and police torture are common in Pakistan.

As over 73% of births in Pakistan are not registered, Reprieve also suggest some of those executed may have been juveniles when they were arrested.

Aftab Bahadur was hanged on the morning of June 10, 2015 for a crime he allegedly committed as a child. Source: The Guardian

In June of this year, 37-year-old Aftab Bahadur was hanged at Kot Lakhpat for murders he was allegedly involved in at the age of 15.

All eyewitnesses to his case had claimed he was innocent and it was suggested that the man who had implicated Mr Bahadur had only done so as a result of police torture.

Head of Reprieve’s death penalty team Maya Foa said the Pakistani government has no idea how many of those currently on death row are innocent or were arrested as children.

“It is appalling that the authorities are proceeding with executions at this rate,” she said.

“If they continue to execute one person a day, by the end of next year they will have killed nearly a thousand people, among whom there will almost certainly be a large number of juveniles, and innocent people tortured into ‘confessing’ to crimes they didn’t commit.

“This senseless massacre will not make Pakistan any safer, and must be stopped.”

Pakistan’s government lifted a six year moratorium on the death penalty in December 2014 following the murder of 141 people, including 132 children, by Taliban-affiliated extremists at a school in the Northwestern city of Peshawar.

A Pakistani soldier guards the Peshawar school attacked by militants on December 18, 2014. Source: A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images

At the time, government officials promised this would act to deter further violence from militant groups.

While it was initially said the penalty would be reserved mainly for people convicted of terrorism charges, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has determined a majority of those executed did not fall into this category.

In fact, Reuters reported that by July 2015, 83% of people that had been executed since the moratorium was abandoned had no links to militancy at all.

Speaking to Reuters in that same month, the Prime Minister’s special assistant for law Ashtar Ausaf Ali said the number of terrorist attacks had reduced drastically since December.

“One of the reasons is fear… of being executed,” he said.

While the number of extremist attacks in Pakistan have indeed fallen since 2010, when Taliban insurgents began losing territory following increased military crackdowns, a lack of a dramatic decline in 2015 specifically suggests the executions may not be a major cause for this.

HRCP spokesman Zaman Khan said the figures were painful.

“Cruelty at its worse, to say the least,” he said.

The UN, EU and various international human rights groups have called for Pakistan to reinstate the moratorium.

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EU gun controls to tighten in wake of Paris Attacks

by David Kavanagh

The European Commission has today adopted a list of measures aimed at strengthening the control of firearms across the European Union.

This comes days following an attack by IS-affiliated extremists in Paris that left at least 129 people dead and hundreds more injured.

The package will see the implementation of regulations designed to make it more difficult to acquire firearms, especially certain semi-automatic guns, and easier to track the movement of weapons already in legal circulation throughout the region.

Further provisions aim at both ensuring deactivated weapons are made inoperable and strengthening gun control cooperation between EU states generally.

A man is detained by police following a raid in Toulouse on Monday. Source: AP

“The recent terrorist attacks on Europe’s people and values were coordinated across borders, showing that we must work together to resist these threats,” said President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.

“Today’s proposal… will help us tackle the threat of weapons falling into the hands of terrorists,” he said.

The European Commission is also currently developing an action plan specifically targeting the illegal trafficking of weapons and explosives throughout the EU.

Issues it will focus on include the purchasing of weapons on black markets, the control of illegal weapons, especially from Balkan countries or ex-war zones, in EU internal markets, and the cross-border battle against organised crime.

Despite France’s stringent laws outlawing most forms of gun ownership, the eight assailants directly responsible for Friday’s violence used both explosives and Kalashnikovs.

On the day following, police found a Belgian-plated car containing a further three assault rifles, five full bullet magazines and 11 empty ones.

Investigators towed the black Seat in which multiple Kalashnikov assault rifles were found. Source: BBC

According to figures from the Paris-based National Observatory for Delinquency and an Al Jazeera report, the number of illegal guns entering France has swollen drastically over the past few years.

French police seized over 2,700 unregistered weapons in 2010, compared to more than 1,500 the year before.

Speculation suggests many of these weapons are brought into the country through Eastern Europe, where the trafficking of deadly arms is big business and authorities have a harder time intervening.

In the weeks following the murder of 12 people at the offices of French satirical Charlie Hebdo in Paris last January, head of the French police union UNSA said: “the French black market for weapons has been inundated with Eastern European war artillery and arms.”

Around the same time, Europol Chief of Staff Brian Donald voiced concerns that the continent may be receiving an influx of firearms from countries in North Africa feeling the effects of Arab Spring revolutions.

Donald told TIME Magazine that in an effort to test how easy it was to attain illegal arms, young police recruits with little experience were tasked with trying to find weapons on the streets from illegal arms dealers.

“One came back two hours later with an AK-47 he bought… for 1000 [Euro],” he said.

The already proposed amendments will need approval from the European Parliament and Council before they can come into effect.

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Harrowing footage of Paris Attacks beginning to emerge

by David Kavanagh

WARNING: this article contains videos some may find disturbing

Videos of the terror attacks in Paris are starting to find their way onto social media and news broadcasts, painting a disturbing picture of the events that claimed the lives of at least 129 people on Friday.

As France and the wider world grieves in solidarity, investigators are working to piece together a timeline of the six targeted attacks conducted by eight assailants across the capital.

Islamic State has since claimed responsibility, citing France’s involvement in Syria and Iraq as motivation and threatening continued violence unless France withdraws.

An account of November 13 follows.

Firefighters assist an injured man near the Bataclan Concert Hall. Source: Reuters/ Christian Hartmann

At approximately 21:15CET, two explosions were heard near Stade de France in the city’s North about 15 minutes into a soccer match between France and Germany.

Thousands were in attendance, including French President Francois Hollande. At least three people were killed in the stadium’s vicinity. This moment was captured on camera.

After a period of confusion, as fans were evacuated, many began to sing France’s national anthem, La Marseillaise, in defiant unison.

Later, between 21:20 and 21:43, gunfire and explosions rocked a number of restaurants and establishments throughout the city, including cafe-bar Carillon and the Cambodian restaurant Le Petit Cambodge near the Canal Saint-Martin.

Pizzeria Casa Nostra, the brasserie La Belle Equipe and cafe Comptoir Voltaire were also struck, the latter one devastated by a bomb hidden inside a bag.

The deadliest attack, however, took place at Bataclan Concert Hall, where hundreds were enjoying a night watching American rock band Eagles of Death Metal perform.

Conflicting reports by survivors and witnesses seem to suggest four attackers, equipped with Kalashnikovs and explosives, began indiscriminately firing into the crowd at about 21:45, killing at least 89 people and injuring many more.

A chilling 14-second amateur video filmed from inside the venue shows the moment the attack began.

Those that were able fled through exits and windows, some carrying or dragging injured friends and strangers with them.

Journalist Daniel Psenny of Le Monde who lives on the second floor of an apartment just outside one of Bataclan’s emergency exits was able to capture the moment crowds flooded from the theatre down the Passage Saint-Pierre Amelot.

After going downstairs to try and help an injured man lying on the pavement, Mr Psenny was himself shot in the arm.

“I don’t remember much after that, I have a blank but I remember feeling like a firecracker had exploded in my left arm and I saw that it was pissing blood,” he recounted.

“I think the shooter was at the window of the Bataclan.”

Over the course of an hour, police respondents engaged in a firefight with the four attackers, resulting in three detonating themselves and the fourth being killed by officers.

French photographer Patrick Zachmann of Magnum Photos was outside the stadium in Republique Square at the time and was able to film the exchange on his iPhone while taking cover near an unmarked police car.

At one point in the video, sparks are visible as bullets ricochet from a car near a group of policemen.

Bullets ricochet from a car near where police officers are taking cover.
Source: Screenshot/ SMH

“It was panic,” said Mr Zachmann in an interview with TIME magazine.

“You felt that it was not under control, that they didn’t know what was going on [and] from where exactly [the attackers] were shooting.”

In response to these attacks, which come approximately 10 months after the murder of 12 people by extremists at the Paris offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, President Hollande has declared a “state of emergency” and imposed heavy restrictions on the country’s borders.

Speaking at the Bataclan in one of multiple aftermath speeches, President Hollande called for strong-willed retribution.

“To all those who have seen these awful things, I want to say that we are going to lead a fight which will be pitiless,” he said.

Some victims of the tragedy, hailing from at least 15 different countries, have now also been identified. You can read about some of them at The Guardian.

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Failure to protect: domestic violence in Papua New Guinea

by David Kavanagh

WARNING: this article contains accounts describing instances of domestic violence

A new 59-page report by the non-profit NGO Human Rights Watch shines a devastating light on domestic violence in Papua New Guinea and highlights poor systemic government response as a significant aggravating factor.

While limited up-to-date data collection mechanisms make it difficult to track concrete statistics about the levels of family violence occurring in the Pacific island nation today, activists sent to interview victims say it remains a pervasive problem.

In a 2013 study based in Bougainville, a region that endured around a decade of conflict, it was found that 80% of men had reported perpetrating acts of either physical and/or sexual violence against their partner.

Furthermore, in February of this year, Australian Federal Police Detective Sergeant Michelle Harris, working with the Royal PNG Constabulary’s family and sexual violence unit, described domestic violence as a “pandemic [issue], equaling something in a war zone.”

A woman holds a child in remote Kassam Pass, PNG. Activists believe rates of domestic violence are particularly high here. 2012. Source: Vlad Sokhin

What efforts have been made to stop family violence?
Papua New Guinea ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1995.

In so doing, it accepted its obligation under international law to implement measures to prevent gender discrimination and violence against women and girls.

The first tangible steps towards the effective reduction of family violence rates were not taken until 2013, however, when the PNG parliament passed the Family Protection Act (FPA) that criminalizes domestic violence and attaches punishments of up to two years imprisonment and/ or a fine nearing US$2000.

The law was also intended to provide resources and services making it easier for victims to get protection and help from various sources.

Two years later, longwinded drafting of implementing regulations have meant this Act has still not been put into practice.

“We have never used the FPA,” a PNG police officer in a family and sexual violence unit told Human Rights Watch interviewers.

“We can’t use the FPA without information on how to charge someone under it… no one sent any info to us on it.”

All that said, some progress has been made.

Working with donors and NGOs, PNG has established various Family Support Centres and Family and Sexual Violence Units in police stations and hospitals, introduced new “referral pathways” and a hotline system designed to provide easier access to services for victims, and is working to develop a new strategy for dealing with gender-based violence.

It has also pledged to create a national human rights commission to investigate affairs and, in August of this year, launched an inquiry into causal factors behind and potential solutions for family violence.

While recognising these efforts towards change, Human Rights Watch’s recent report also documents damning shortcomings in the current government response to the problem.

Where have efforts fallen short?
According to interviews Human Rights Watch conducted with advocates, witnesses and victims, PNG police rarely take cases of family violence seriously, often refusing to investigate, gather evidence or arrest perpetrators, even in cases involving attempted murder, rape or substantial physical harm.

When police do get involved, instead of arresting and prosecuting those responsible, as has been found to be the most effective approach internationally, they attempt to mediate between the couples involved, often chalking incidents down as ‘family matters’.

Jenella, a 39-year-old mother of seven, has had two bones broken in domestic disputes with her husband.

“I went to the police 17 times… every week for the last month,” she told her interviewers.

“They said this is a domestic problem. They just told my husband not to do it again… I wanted them to put him in jail for one or two years.”

A husband shows his wife’s disfigured ear. Port Moresby. Source: Vlad Sokhin.

Another victim of domestic violence, 18-year-old Kere, a mother of one, said the mediation sessions she had were ineffective.

“They arrested him and sent us both to counselling with the sergeant of the [specialised police unit],” she said.

“We met twice. Nothing happened. My husband continued bashing me.

“I asked the police to help me get a protection order [but] they said they were too busy.”

The report goes on further to say that when cases do make it to court, they are dealt with by village courts that adjudicate family matters and attempt reconciliation rather than district courts where serious charges are usually heard.

In addition to inadequate policing and judicial response, few services providing assistance to victims, such as safe houses or qualified psychosocial counsellors exist and further barriers, like the requirement that women pay stringent fees for protection or health care, make it even harder for victims to get the help they need.

Particularly devastating is the fact that some women rely on their husbands for the income they need to feed themselves and their children. For the same reason, many cannot afford legal services to protect themselves either.

Due to this, women may choose to stay or even return to their abusive partners.

44-year-old Grace, who has seven children to look after, said she decided to go back to her partner so she could provide for them.

“He raped me again,” she said.

“He locked me in a room on Thursday and Friday [but] then I managed to get away.

“I want to take him to court and get him kept away [so] I’m going to find a job and get my own home so I can get my children back.”

What should be done?
Human Rights Watch’s report makes various recommendations about potential actions that could be taken to stem instances of family violence.

Most obviously, immediate follow through and implementation of the FPA is essential so that police have a greater guide regarding prosecution.

Although more difficult, a policy-inspired change of attitudes about domestic violence, one that paints cases as criminal cases rather than simply family disputes, is also important.

Since PNG does effectively have a booming economy due to its vast natural resources, Human Rights Watch believes it can easily afford the necessary reforms and services.

However, the not-for-profit also suggests that donor countries could play a greater role in compelling domestic action from the outside.

While PNG hardly relies on foreign aid as much as it used too, the country remains the largest recipient of aid in all of Oceania.

PNG’s parliament. Source: Ness Kerton/ AFP

Australia, which provides over 70% of its overseas aid, as well as New Zealand, Japan, the US, the EU and international institutions such as the Asia Development Bank and the World Bank, can all urge government action and provide assistance to improve response.

In addition to boosted social well-being, doing it all could also benefit PNG politically and economically in the long run.

The international media’s coverage of the country’s record on domestic violence and inability to fulfil its CEDAW obligations has greatly tarnished its image in the eyes of the global community.

As a powerhouse with the largest population in the region, an ever expanding economy, and planned crucial roles in future international events such as the 2018 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit (APEC), a more positive portrayal could do wonders.

For more information about domestic violence in PNG and potential solutions, check out Human Rights Watch’s full report – Bashed Up: Family Violence in Papua New Guinea.

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Crimes against journalists on the rise: RSF calls for UN action

by David Kavanagh

Reporters without Borders (RSF), the international association that advocates for press freedom and protection, recently launched a call for the UN to step up its game safeguarding journalists and media workers around the world.

The not-for-profit argued for the creation of a new position called the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for the Safety of Journalists which could be used to monitor UN member states and ensure their compliance regarding press safety under international law.

This comes in the wake of a steady and disturbing increase in the amount of crimes and illegal actions taken against journalists in a litany of countries around the world and a general decrease in freedom of information.

Photographer Chris Hondros was one of 103 journalists killed in 2011. Source: AFP.

Marking November 2^nd as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, UNESCO noted that in the past decade around 700 journalists have been killed while or for reporting the news.

This averages out to about one person killed per week since 2005/ 2006.

Furthermore and equally upsetting, in about nine out of ten cases, those responsible for these murders have gone largely unpunished.

In an August 2015 report, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, recalled the recent heavily publicised beheadings of James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Kenji Goto in Syria, as well as the eight Charlie Hebdo journalists that were murdered in their offices in Paris in January.

“I am deeply concerned about the failure to reduce the frequency and the scale of targeted violence that journalists face and the near absolute impunity for such crimes,” he wrote.

While these particular cases are widely known, a majority of journalists killed are rarely mentioned in the international press.

In the past decade, while 6% of journalists killed were foreign correspondents like Foley and Sotloff, 94% were locals operating in their country of origin.

These harrowing realities exist in tandem with a general deterioration of freedom of information around the world.

According to the 2015 World Press Freedom Index, about two-thirds of the 180 nation states monitored across all continents performed worse this year than in 2014.

The formation of this new position at the UN will hopefully be the first of many steps towards greater protection of the safety of journalists and media workers and, by extension, press freedom.

For more information about issues affecting journalists, visit the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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