The farmers’ protest had one effect three days after the event*: are others in the pipeline?

Photograph sent by FFA’s William Taylor who was present at the huge protest. He stated that the protest’s main aims were to highlight dishonest food labelling, to call on Government to act to block sub-standard food imports and to take action to address fears over national food security.”

*On Monday after the protest, the government announced that the amount of farmland in England that can be taken out of food production under the post-Brexit farming subsidy scheme will now be limited, following concerns that the new policy would erode domestic food security. Farmers applying to the Sustainable Farming Incentive, one of the new subsidies, will be able to use only a quarter of their land for six different environmental measures that take land out of direct food production.

The Independent reports the words of demonstrator Liz Webster, a Wiltshire beef and arable farmer and the Save British Farming founder

She said the situation risked food security and the nation’s health and farmers had been “totally betrayed” by the Government. The new English agricultural policy of paying farmers for environmental measures such as habitat creation was taking land out of food production.

Trade deals with New Zealand, Australia, and another deal with 11 countries including Canada, Japan and Mexico, along with a lack of import checks, were allowing lower standard foods into the country.

British producers had also lost the level playing field with EU farmers and within the UK, she added, saying European farmers were still receiving subsidies, had freedom of movement for labour and had continued to have access to British markets, enabling them to undercut UK farmers.

Passing the Cenotaph in central London on Friday

Journalist Gordon Rayner was struck by farmer Andrew Gibson’s clear expression of Government policy:

They want us to become low-carbon producers to meet their green targets, but they are doing it by offshoring carbon production to other countries. It’s just unreal.

Carbon dioxide emissions are currently judged to occur at the point of production, not use. So if I eat beans grown in Kenya, the associated emissions go to Kenya.

Thus, Britain will achieve net zero in the way the farmer described: the planet will still suffer emissions, but not, according to these rules, from the UK.

Instead of supporting British farmers, the Government allows cheap imports, produced using chemicals and methods that are banned here. They want us to become low-carbon producers to meet their green targets but they are doing it by offshoring carbon production to other countries. It’s just unreal.

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COMMENT

And former farm-manager, Richard Bruce, writes:

It is one almighty mess isn’t it? Energy use creates heat and governments encourage ever greater use of energy which inevitably increases the warming of the planet. Global warming is a symptom, as is the ever-decreasing diversity of species.

Farmers and farmland are being sacrificed by the multi-nationals to allow continuing denial of the climate warming activities of industry.

Locally we have farms mostly growing crops to feed biodigesters and not people and ever-increasing areas of good fertile farmland are being sacrificed to solar panels.

No one ever mentions the carbon footprint of the military, of rockets into space, of the constant bombardment of the Earth of radio and microwaves from arrays of satellites, from computer systems and the likes of Bitcoin, or even the Large Hadron Collider which reportedly uses more energy than some countries.

Even the heating of rivers and oceans by water cooled nuclear reactors is ignored, despite the known danger of methane release and ice-melt, as the oceans warm.

The whole carbon capture idea is just one massive con to enable things to continue unchanged ((see EnergyGov, Reuters and the IISD).

There is no way that planting trees here will reverse global warming when the Amazon forests and other key drivers of climate are rapidly being destroyed.

To blame cows for releasing methane when wars rage, holiday flights are encouraged, methane is burned in rockets and carbon dioxide is produced for industry and entertainment  is madness.

Bovines have walked this Earth for millennia and are a part of the natural carbon and nitrogen cycles. Moreover they built up the fertility of the soil which are now exploited for profit.

Farmers know that farms have a limit of stock numbers beyond which the land cannot support the livestock on it. Exceed that stocking rate and life becomes unsustainable without importing food. It is the same for countries and eventually the Earth.

Perhaps farmers are being sacrificed by those who have no understanding of their importance?

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Multinationals have taken control of Britain’s transport, energy and water: now land is the target

Colchester Council Watch, ‘keeps an eye’ on the council’s ‘doings’. On its website Rachel Mathews, a community film maker, interviews Sandi Adams about her research into the impact UN agendas are having on British farmers (15m video).

The UN Global Compact is committed to work with governments, business, academia and civil society to galvanize the sound policies, actions and leadership to create inclusive, resilient and sustainable agriculture and food systems that deliver for people, planet and prosperity.

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), with the support of bodies like the World Economic Forum, engages the foremost political, business and cultural leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas with sponsors including Bill and Melinda Gates and two banks on a Global Innovation Platform, with an interest in Agritech.

Points made in the Colchester Council Watch farming crisis video

Ministry officials have visited farmers offering subsidies which are conditional on them cutting sheep, beef and dairy production and setting up businesses on their land.

In North Somerset this agricultural land is to be used for renewable energy generation

This map with the areas marked below. was taken off the council website after Sandi Adams highlighted these plans.

Businesses to be set up on farmland include:

• Controlled Environment Agriculture includlng vertical farming, aquaponics, aeroponics and hydroponics, growing undercover below LED lights & using robots.
• GMO crops
• Large-scale farming with drones spraying and fertilising and heavy machines impacting soil
• Swathes of land covered with solar panels which are vulnerable to hailstines and – as storms become more violent – the damage seen in Nebraska (below).

• Developing insect biomass; insects are rich in proteins and nutrients (Science Direct). High profit margin insect meal in Europe and the UK is largely restricted to the petfood sector, but could become a sustainable food source. addressing potential food shortages and environmental concerns.

Fears are expressed that degree-only corporate large-scale agritech farming, pioneered in North and West Yorkshire will become the norm – and even that it will be state-controlled.

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The judiciary was not influenced by pressures from wealthy individuals, the media, powerful politicians or the government

The Constitution Society describes an independent judiciary as one of the cornerstones of the UK constitution – not influenced by external pressures, whether they be wealthy individuals, the media, powerful politicians or the government (Ed) to whom, in this respect, they set an example.

Greta Thunberg and four co-defendants appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court (above) after previously denying breaching the Public Order Act 1986. She was accused of breaching section 14 of the act by blocking the entrance to the hotel in which oil executives had been meeting at an Oil Energy Intelligence Forum.

District Judge John Law (right) said “It is quite striking to me that there were no witness statements taken from anyone in the hotel, approximately 1,000 people, or from anyone trying to get in,” the only helpful footage he received was “made by an abseiling protester”.

“There was no evidence of any vehicles being impeded, no evidence of any interference with emergency services, or any risk to life.”

He dismissed the public order charge saying that the protest was “throughout peaceful, civilised and non-violent; the protestors were not guilty of breaking the law when they refused to follow police instructions to move on during a climate protest.

BBC correspondent Sean Dilley commented that the judge was scathing about the police’s decision to impose unlawful restrictions on Greta Thunberg and other climate protesters. Put simply, he didn’t see any need to interfere with the legitimate right of demonstrators to assemble to the extent they did. He felt the tactics used breached the lawful rights of protesters on 17 October and he said that conditions were so restrictive as to be unlawful.

Outside court, Greta Thunberg made a statement alongside some of her co-defendants: “We must remember who the real enemy is, what are we defending, who our laws are meant to protect . . .

“History’s judgement against those who deliberately destroy and sacrifice… resources at the expense of humanity, at the expense of all those who are suffering the consequences of the environmental and climate crisis… and at the expense of future generations, your own children and grandchildren will not be gentle.”

 

 

 

 

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Election campaigning: Labour hopes plan will ‘cement bonds’ with city financiers

Labour’s plan for financial services has been drawn up with advice from leading financial figures including the chairs of Barclays, the London Stock Exchange, Legal & General and the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange Group. It will be launched this week on Thursday at a Labour business day attended by 400 business leaders, from companies such as Google, Shell, AstraZeneca, Airbus and Goldman Sachs (FT).

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves expressed hopes that this financial services plan, drawn up with shadow City minister Tulip Siddiq (above), will help to cement the bonds between Labour and business. She vowed to “unashamedly champion” Britain’s financial services sector if Labour wins the general election and would not reintroduce the cap on bankers’ bonuses — set at 200% of regular pay — which was scrapped in 2022.

The plan has been warmly received by the city except for private equity fund executives

There are about 400 UK private equity funds listed here  who have been lobbying against a plan to close a “carried interest” tax loophole that allows buyout bosses to pay less tax on part of their earnings for at least two years (CityAM)

Record levels of private equity buyouts in recent years have sparked concern from some about the potential for US raiders to asset strip British companies and leave thousands out of work.

Those concerned about the transition to a greener economy are disappointed by Labour ‘watering down’ its 2021 pledge to invest £28bn a year in green technologies which shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds – five days before the business meeting – described as “an ambition”(Standard). Ms Reeves has said that Labour’s spending plans would have to adjust to the situation it would inherit if it wins.

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The BBC’s detailed account may be read here.

 

 

 

 

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People or profit? Farnborough Airport applies to increase the number of flights

A Farnborough spokesperson said the airport, which mainly serves private jets, is an “important gateway for business aviation connectivity with the majority of flights being operated for business and corporate travel purposes”.

Its application focussed on six advantages of increasing the flights – two stressing that this would:

• Provide employment and training opportunities within the community by generating local employment and enhancing community funding
• Facilitate the UK’s growth ambitions by providing essential connectivity to UK trade and enterprise.

Local MP Michael Gove has written to Rushmoor Borough Council raising objections to the planned expansion, saying “I am concerned that any expansion will inevitably increase pollution and will also lead to the loss of quality of life, peace and amenity for my constituents who live under the flight path”.

The Woking News and Mail published ten weighty objections to the expansion, including these:

• There is only an average of 2.5 passengers per flight,
• 40% of the planes flown are empty,
• and the Climate Change Committee objects to expansion plans until there’s a way of mitigating aviation emissions.

Todd Smith (above), a former airline pilot who ‘quit flying for the climate’ and is now an Extinction Rebellion spokesperson, said: “Flying is the fastest way to fry the planet and private jets are the most polluting way to fly. Surely it’s a no-brainer to ban private jets and stop expanding these luxury airports in the midst of a climate crisis?” (Deutsche Welle)   

A local resident and a mother of two was appalled at the airport’s plan to expand when we should be banning private flying completely. We need to be taking drastic steps to ensure a liveable world for all our children, not increasing our use in fossil fuels.

The climate activist Greta Thunberg has joined local residents and Extinction Rebellion activists to protest against the airport’s expansion plans, saying:

“The fact that using private jets is both legally and socially allowed today in an escalating climate emergency is completely detached from reality.

“There are few examples that show as clearly how the rich elite is sacrificing present and future living conditions on this planet so they can maintain their extreme and violent lifestyles” (Guardian)

(Ed) However, as our parliament has a preponderance of the rich elite and other MPs hoping to join them, they might well accept the application which will – in the short term – further their interests.

 

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COMMENT

A reader in Wales:  That’s why they spend so much money on space travel. To find Planet B

 

 

 

 

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Government U-turns damage business and the environment

 The Prime Minister’s recent ‘U-turns’ on net zero-related policies

Rishi Sunak has announced plans to abandon or delay core parts of his government’s climate strategy

A 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars has been delayed by five years, the 2035 phaseout of gas boiler sales has been loosened and landlords will not be obliged to insulate their rental properties to higher standards. The latest U-turn is causing many waterway transport companies to return to using diesel, instead of a cleaner fuel. The U-turns have been widely condemned by hundreds of companies and climate leaders .

Readers of another C3000 website commented positively on the news that on the Thames, many barges and tugs had stopped using diesel in an effort to decarbonise the sector.

https://www.maritimejournal.com/thames-tugs-turn-to-biofuel/1455757.article

They had begun to use a 100% renewable fuel, HVO (hydrogen treated vegetable oil) which reduces CO2 emissions by over 90%, eliminates SOx emissions, reduces particulate emissions by up to 86% and reduces NOx emissions by up to 35%.

Many other companies followed suit until the government decided, for no apparent reason, to remove the subsidy for this very expensive fuel but only on vessels operating in tidal waters like the Thames.

U-turns damage the industries who were scaling up for these changes

In September, Helena Horton reported that the sale of new cars with combustion (petrol and diesel) engines was due to be banned from sale by 2030.

Bob Ward, London School of Economics (above), said that the “weakening of the targets … will undermine investment, as many furious companies have pointed out today”. Peter Chalkley, director of the LSE’s Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said that the changes could also cost in a wider sense as car manufacturers lose confidence in the UK because of its ever-changing targets and policies.

The chair of Ford UK, Lisa Brankin, agreed that the move to relax the ban would undermine the steps the US car manufacturer had taken to prepare for the change.

Rishi Sunak also announced plans to weaken the planned phasing out of the installation of gas boilers by 2035 instead aiming only for an 80% phase-out. He also said the 2026 ban on off-grid oil boilers would be delayed to 2035, with only an 80% phase-out target at that date.

Simon McWhirter, Deputy CE of the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) said: “If these reports are confirmed, it is beyond disappointing. It’s damaging to the industry who were scaling up for these changes, and this package of net zero delays will be doubly destructive to our climate. Buildings are the second biggest source of climate emissions in the UK. We can’t keep burning fossil fuels to heat our homes and meet our legal climate targets”.

Constant policy reversals may have driven the weak business investment seen in recent years according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales). And while other factors are relatively easy to control, government policy reversals are not; they are bad for business and – in the cases cited – bad for the environment.

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A dynamic government promotes inland waterway transport: a game-changer

The British government has produced several reports recommending a move to waterway freight, some of which are listed here. In practice, however, it has shown no signs of emulating the Indian government’s innovative legislation and practical action.

“An environmentally friendly and cost-effective game-changer”: Union Minister. October 2023

India’s shrewd prime minister commended an article written by his Union Minister, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, about the inland waterway transport of goods, such as bulky, non-perishable cargoes, containerised loads, metals, forest products, heavy loads, aggregates, grains, coal, petroleum products, chemicals, cement, recyclable materials and waste.

Before 2014, India’s domestic waterways had been ‘highly underutilised’ – as they still are in England – and the minister pointed out that these waterways have the potential to supplement congested roads and overburdened railways.

A National Waterways Act to promote shipping and navigation on 111 of India’s inland waterways was passed in 2016. A map and list may be seen here. The Act also called for the construction of a container terminal in Gujarat near the Deendaayal port (right) which would connect Northern, Western and Central India regions.

In 2017, the state of Kerala inaugurated the first solar-powered ferry in the country in a move to make India’s shipping industry more efficient and less environmentally damaging (Kerala government website).

A study by the World Bank argued that there are significant opportunities to increase the use of inland waterways for freight movement globally. India’s economy would benefit substantially from greater use of waterways for freight transportation, relieving road and rail congestion and reducing cost.  While 65% of India’s goods travel on roads and 27% on rail networks, a mere 0.5% of freight travel (in 2017) was by waterway, though road and rail transport consumed 18.5% and 91.5% more fuel, respectively.

Shipping News reported in 2021 that the Indian government had embarked on the development of an inland waterway eastern grid, a system of multi-modally connected waterways and coastal routes, to strengthen trade.

Vineet Agarwal, MD of the Transport Corporation of India (TCI group), welcomed the news, adding that waterway transport is a form of climate friendly green transport which costs less.

On January 13 2023, India’s Prime Minister laid the foundation stones and inaugurated inland waterways projects worth more than Rs.1000 crores (almost £95m), including a multimodal terminal in Haldia. The Economic Survey for 2022-23 reported that cargo movement on national waterways achieved an all-time high of 108.8 million tons during 2021-22, recording 30.1% growth compared to the previous year (Maritime Gateway).

After investment in five inland waterways which were made operational across Assam, Odisha and Kerala by 2022, there was a 16% increase in traffic during the financial year 2023.

Sea News reported in August 2023 that DP World has signed a contract to construct the multimodal terminal in Haldia, to be operational by February 2027.

In November, the Inland Waterways Authority of India the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India, signed an agreement with Amazon Seller Services to promote cargo movement though inland waterways using the River Ganga in order to ”harness the efficiency and sustainability of water transport, to streamline logistics, diminish environmental footprints and promote economic development” an official statement said (Shipping News).

And on the 23^rd, the Union Minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal declared that the top priority was the completion of North East inland waterway projects worth Rs 275 crores (£26m) by January 2024.

Update

In December, the Financial Express reported that the Inland Waterways Authority of India is conducting a monthly Thalweg survey from Pankapal up to Paradip, covering 212 line km for phase-I of the project. This identifies the least available depth in the navigation channel, ensuring safe and efficient waterway usage.

Central government has delegated the work of raising high-tension lines to the Odisha government. This will ensure unimpeded passage of vessels for Inland Water Transport vessels.

Detailed project reports for new developments have been initiated. These include the construction of weirs, barrages and modification of bridges, laying the groundwork for comprehensive infrastructure development.

And on the 15^th the Indian Government announced an action plan for the development of 26 strategically selected national waterways.

 

 

 

 

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Use Britain’s Greener Highways: the road haulage system is near a ‘tipping point’

“Used correctly, water freight is highly cost effective. Why, then, does Government not insist that more freight is moved on the UK’s rivers and waterways?” asks GPS Marine’s CEO John Spencer

The HGV driver shortage remains a concern in 2023 and it is expected to peak during the Christmas season. (Motor Transport).

The shortage of drivers has created a near “tipping point” in the market, as there aren’t enough qualified drivers to meet haulage demands, said Snap MD Matthew Bellamy. https://snapacc.com/tipping-point/

Driver Require’s latest report on HGV driver supply, “The HGV driver shortage crisis: another crisis on the horizon?”, points to the original ONS data which suggested a drop in 70,000 drivers would trigger another driver shortage crisis within 12 years as fewer people are coming forward to train as HGV drivers

After Brexit EU drivers were less inclined to come and work in the UK due to constraints on freedom of work and residence. Many chose to work on the continent due to better financial opportunities and the Brexit vote’s implications (EP Training).

Commuters and tourists have been travelling on the Thames for years – a quieter, more fuel efficient,  safer, greener way forward

Waste barges going up the Thames; the waste is used to generate electricity at the Belvedere Incinerator.

London is also using its waterways to reduce pollution and congestion by using Thames barges for many tasks, carrying heavy loads, collecting household waste and removing materials from construction sites to waste companies near a public or private wharf or Materials Recovery Facility such as the Old Oak Sidings site in Willesden or further afield.

GPS Marine set a trend on the Thames by using 100% renewable Green D+ HVO which reduces the carbon emitted by its tugs by 90% compared with fossil gas oil. This also eliminates SOx, reduced particulate emissions by up to 86% and by up to 35%. It won the first Thames Green Scheme accreditation and inspired other companies to move from diesel to this greener option.

Though moving freight on the waterways has been advocated in many government reports, in practice they support road and rail which have powerful lobbies.

Government should now act to ensure that more freight is moved on the UK’s rivers and waterways.

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COP28: Loss and Damage fund $475 million agreed, but $525 billion needed

The following two paragraphs come from a detailed exposition of the loss and damage fund in the Indian Express.

“The loss and damage fund first announced during COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, last year, is a global financial package to be overseen by the World Bank to ensure the rescue and rehabilitation of countries facing the cascading effects of climate change.

“The term refers to the compensation that rich nations, whose industrial growth has resulted in global warming and driven the planet into a climate crisis, must pay to poor nations, whose carbon footprint is low but are facing the brunt of rising sea levels, floods, crippling droughts, and intense cyclones, among others. The changing climate has impacted lives, livelihoods, biodiversity, cultural traditions, and identities”.

The need of the hour is several trillion dollars, according to ‘Finance for Climate Action’, a UN-backed report – cover right. (London School of Economics).

On the opening day of the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, a loss and damage fund to help vulnerable countries cope with the impact of climate change has been officially launched.

• The initial funding is estimated to be $475  million —
• host UAE pledged $100 million,
• Abu Dhabi promised $100 million (precisely one-eighth of the profits generated by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in 2022 (Porritt).
• the European Union promised $275 million
• $17.5 million from the US
• and $10 million from Japan.

Jonathon Porritt was not impressed:

He wrote in his blog about “The waves of phoney positivity emanating from CoP28 in Dubai”, explaining that the financial damage caused by climate change every year is already around $400 billion – 1,000 times as much, and rising every year. He continued:

“But research shows that 55 vulnerable countries have suffered $525 billion combined climate crisis-fuelled losses in the last 20 years. The number is estimated to reach $580 billion per year by 2030.

“The only outcome from CoP28 that would get massive media attention would be a firm agreement to phase out (not phase down) our use of fossil fuels within a fixed period of time. The chances of that are close to zero”.

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COMMENT

JN: I think that the problem is money, understood as a universal measure of “value”. The fossil fuelled part of the economy is not Wealth anymore, it is Illth and doesn’t have a future. Wealth is now renewable clean energy, sustainable resources, and the regeneration of natural systems. In all countries we must not wait, but pull out our money and work from making Illth and put it into making Wealth.

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Will COP28 decide to “phase out” or “phase down” fossil fuels?

The FT editorial board reflects that the backdrop to COP28* is ‘inauspicious’: global temperature records have been repeatedly broken, war is blighting the Middle East and Europe, the global economy is still scarred by the pandemic, the cost of living has risen significantly and voters have supported climate sceptics in the Netherlands and Argentina.

It notes that picking Sultan al-Jaber, who runs the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to be the COP president was contentious, though an FT analysis concluded that UAE state companies and funds could be linked to almost $200bn in investments around the world, mostly in green energy, in the year before the summit.

More than 100 US and EU lawmakers demanded the removal of al-Jaber in May  (Reuters) and this week leaked documents appeared to show that the UAE planned to use its role as COP host to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations.

On Wednesday Sultan al-Jaber strongly denied that his country planned to use the summit to further its commercial interests, insisting he had never seen or used the leaked talking points.

He insisted that a significant number of global oil and gas companies were now ready to align around targets of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The FT recommends that national oil companies such as Adnoc which account for more than half of global oil and gas production and nearly 60% of reserves, produce detailed blueprints on how they intend to reduce their production and transmission emissions and scale up clean energy investments at COP28.

It stresses the need to advance a new fund which would help poor countries to deal with the growing incidence of climate-related loss and damage.

More than 400 NGOS signed a letter in 2022 asking heads of delegations to Agree on the Loss and Damage Finance Agenda Item for COP27:   A commitment was made to set up a financial support structure for the most vulnerable by the next COP in 2023 (UN News) – a Loss and Damage fund. That is being carried forward (Indian Express)

Some countries will be pushing for an agreement to phase out the use of fossil fuels; in April G7 nations agreed to accelerate the “phase-out of unabated fossil fuels”, the biggest contributor to global warming, while others – including China, Saudi Arabia and Russia – are pushing for fossil fuel use to be phased down only over time.

As Stuti Mishra expresses it, “ At the heart of the debate is one phrase: whether the final text – the Dubai climate pact that countries will be signing – will include a call for the “phase out” or “phase down” of fossil fuels”. (Independent)

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*The Conference of the Parties (COP) the supreme decision-making body of the Convention, is made up of the 184 states who are members of CITES

 

 

 

 

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