Month: Sep 2021

The Truth about China

Here we republish an excellent eye-opening study from outside the great US funded Media Lie campaign and the censored response by China. Though somewhat dated now it provides a good basis for real understanding and debate, apart from jingoistic militarist sloganeering

by Joachim H. Spangenberg @ufz.de via Helmholtz Environment Research at https://iiraorg.com

Abstract

The anthropocene is the age where human influences are determining the development of the planet’s ecosystems and thus the bio-physical basis of future human civilisations.

Today China has become the world’s largest economy and its worst polluter with per capita greenhouse gas emissions surpassing the EU average, the world’s largest consumer of all kinds of resources. Even regarding the aggregate contribution to climate change (historical emission residues included), called the climate debt, China has not yet, but will be most probably climbing the top position rather soon.

At the same time China is the world’s largest victim of environmental change, including air and soil pollution, water and land scarcity, biodiversity loss and climate change. Thus not only slowing down the increase but reducing emissions should be a top priority for China, and it is: the government has taken some bold steps. China is the world’s largest investor in renewable energies, has the largest afforestation program, and leads the world in reducing carbon dioxide emission reduction.

As the largest polluter it has extraordinary opportunities to improve the global state of the environment – is it the world’s last best hope for establishing a global ecological civilisation? Some implications regarding the Chinese environmental policy are discussed, some strengths highlighted and some weaknesses identified. However, despite their magnitude, the efforts–and in particular their implementation are not yet sufficient.

We suggest three additional steps which could help China to begin reducing its climate debt within a couple of decades, define a long term perspective for policy planning and adjust its growth model to the challenges of the anthropocene.

Keywords
China, pollution, climate change, land use, HANPP, biodiversity, ecological debt/climate debt, CO2, methane, politics, Common but differentiated responsibility, Earth System Science, environmental justice

Introduction

Naming a new epoch signals earth system change, i.e. a point in time when (ubiquitous) local change in aggregate has begun changing the global system, ending the previous period in which human civilisation emerged, the Holocene.

If the term Anthropocene was originally proposed as “a strategy for getting the public to appreciate the extent to which humans were destroying the world” (B. Smith according to Balter 2013), one might consider the beginning of the anthropocene as the time window when evolutionary adaptability of biodiversity and ecosystems could no longer keep up with human alterations of the environment(s).

Continue reading “China in the Anthropocene: Culprit, victim or last best hope for a global Ecological Civilisation?”

By Ahotsa .. from kaosenlared.net/ translation theFreeonline .. shared with thanks

The Spanish police have cracked down yet again on young people who demonstrated in support of the Arrotxapea Occupied Center .

At least 6 people were arrested after poilice violently attacked the protest against the eviction from Autonomous Squat Center (Gaztetxea). Several were also injured. Those arrested spent the night at the police station. They were eventually released with serious charges the next day

Continue reading “(Videos) Extreme police violence during eviction of Autonomous Center ‘Arrotxapea’ in Iruñea by Nazional Cops – 6 arrests”

via Latin Network without borders enred_sinfronteras@riseup.net
interview and broadcast by Afghan Women’s Mission, August 21, 2021
RAWA (http://www.rawa.org/rawa/category/spanish)

-Afghanistan Women’s Revolutionary Association- responds in an interview to the takeover of the Taliban –
It is a joke to say that values ​​such as “women’s rights”, “democracy”, “nation building”, and so on were part of the US and NATO objectives in Afghanistan!

The Afghan Women’s Mission has contacted RAWA – Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan – to address their needs at this urgent time. In this short Q&A with AWM Co-Director Sonali Kolhatkar, RAWA explains the unfolding situation on the ground as they see it.
Sonali Kolhatkar: For years RAWA spoke out against the American occupation and now that it is over, the Taliban are back. Could President Biden have withdrawn US forces in a way that would have left Afghanistan safer than it is today? Could he have done more to make sure the Taliban couldn’t seize power so quickly?

RAWA: In the last 20 years, one of our demands was an end to the US / NATO occupation and even better if they take their Islamic fundamentalists and technocrats with them and let our people decide their own destiny. This occupation only resulted in bloodshed, destruction, and chaos.

They made our country the most corrupt, unsafe, drug trafficker and dangerous place, especially for women.
From the beginning we were able to predict such an outcome. In the early days of the US occupation of Afghanistan, RAWA stated on October 11, 2001:
“The continuation of the US attacks and the increase in the number of innocent civilian victims not only gives an excuse to the Taliban, but will also lead to the empowerment of fundamentalist forces in the region and even in the world.”

Continue reading “Interview with the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan Eng/ Esp”