Category: International

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is the European Union’s measure to encourage countries where it sources imports to adopt cleaner manufacturing.

The CBAM which goes into force on a transitional basis in October introduces a carbon tax on exports to the EU.

But the measure has elicited concern in Africa which counts Europe as a major export market.

A study carried out by the African Climate Foundation and the London School of Economics suggests that the CBAM’s economic repercussions will be ‘far-reaching’ and most strongly felt in Africa.

Their modelling based on €87 per ton suggests that the CBAM would lead to around $25 billion in losses based on 2021 GDP levels, nearly four times higher than what the EU gave to Africa in development assistance in 2021.

Products such as iron and steel, cement, aluminium, fertiliser, hydrogen, and electricity – which make up a significant portion of Africa’s exports to Europe, will be the first victims of the mechanism.

After 2026, the CBAM’s scope will extend to other products, potentially leading to bigger economic loss.

Experts say the measure is punitive, and dramatically reduces the space for developing countries to achieve growth and to create jobs.

Our guest this week is Faten Aggad, the senior advisor climate diplomacy and geopolitics at the African Climate Foundation.

Uganda mulls zero tax on electric cars

Uganda is racing to switch to e-mobility despite having limited infrastructure in the country. Authorities say waiving tax on electric vehicle imports will encourage mass adoption.

The goal is to reduce pollution and to improve Kampala’s green credentials.

East Africa sees record growth in FDI

East African countries defied economic turbulence in 2022 to post a 17 percent growth in foreign direct investment, with South Sudan and Kenya seeing the highest percentage increases.

On the contrary, Inflows fell in Southern, Western and Central Africa.

(Business Africa)

The grandiose Temple of Quechula was built with the belief that the village of its namesake would boast a large, booming population. Today, the abandoned city hosts schools of fish that feed the livelihood of local fishermen, submerged within the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir, at least partially.

Over the past six months, drought in Chiapas, Mexico, has plunged water levels at the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir, built on the Grijalva River, to extreme levels.

The church was built in the 16th century under the order of a group of monks led by Friar Bartolome de la Casas in a region inhabited by the Zoque people in the 16th century. However, the building was later abandoned due to the plagues of 1773-1776, according to architect Carlos Navarrete. It stood above ground until 1966 when the Malpaso Dam was completed.

The drought has fully revealed the Roman Catholic church’s remaining walls and the bell tower. The walls are about 30 feet tall while the bell tower has a height of 42 feet. The water is low enough for tourists to walk through the towering archway and into the church, but the low water levels are also impacting local fishers.

According to AFP, Miguel Garcia Aguilera, the head of the local fishing association, said in Spanish that the water levels of the dam began to drop five months ago.

“It went down, down, down, down until where we are now, Aguilera said. “And it continues to go down. The water levels of the dam continue to go down.”

The wet season, October through December of 2022, was extremely dry. In a time period when the area was supposed to receive 27.9 inches of rain, Roys estimated the area only received 11.61 inches – less than half of the normal amount.

“When the rain was supposed to fill up the reservoir, it just never did,” Roys said. “January and February were okay for rainfall, then it went south.”

March is supposed to be the area’s driest month of the year with an average of 1.06 inches of rain, according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tyler Roys. This year the area saw no recorded rainfall throughout the month.

As of June 18, the reservoir’s water levels had diminished to 29% of capacity, according to Vallarta Daily.

In this Friday, Oct. 16, 2015 photo, the remains of the mid-16th century church Temple of Santiago, also known as Temple of Quechula, is visible from the surface of the Grijalva River, which feeds the Nezahualcoyotl reservoir, near the town of Nueva Quechula, in Chiapas state, Mexico. A drought in 2015 hit the river’s watershed, dropping the water level in the reservoir. It was the second time a drop in the reservoir has revealed the temple since it was flooded when the dam was completed in 1966. In 2002, the water was so low visitors could walk inside the church. (Photo by AP/David von Blohn)

“With the drought that we have, the dam level is very low. The water is very hot, the temperature is very hot, so what it does is kill the fish,” Aguilera said. “So that’s why we’re having a lot of losses.”

The church has emerged at least twice before, once in 2002 and another time in 2015. During the latter, water levels had also dropped low enough for tourists to walk through the church.

In 2022, geopolitical divisions threatened peace and stability, conflicts erupted and countries continued to grapple with worsening climate emergencies, soaring poverty and deepening inequalities as the COVID-19 pandemic reversed progress in human rights, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk during the presentation of the Annual Report of his office.

Despite the myriad of crises that defined 2022, UN Human Rights continued to be a formidable ally to those fighting for justice and equality, and against human rights abuses and violations.

“Our report for 2022 demonstrates how valuable this work is — with benefit not only in specific countries, but as a major contributor to safeguarding global stability, promoting development, and paving the road to peace,” Türk said.

In his first annual report since he began his tenure as High Commissioner in mid-October 2022, Türk laid out the impact of UN Human Rights’ work across a wide range of issues, including preventing human rights violations, addressing discrimination and inequalities, and supporting victims and accountability for the perpetrators of human rights abuses.

Key achievements

For example, UN Human Rights supported Montenegro in adopting a new strategy to protect people with disabilities. Through its advocacy, it also contributed to the Disabilities Act coming into effect in Jamaica. And in North Macedonia, it provided advice on drafting the Gender Equality Law, which recognizes diverse gender identities for the first time.

UN Human Rights also worked to prevent human rights violations in law enforcement and justice systems, and contributed to the abolition of the death penalty in the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Zambia.

At the global level, it supported the establishment of the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement. This body examines laws, policies and practices regarding use of force by law enforcement, and recommends steps to address discriminatory and excessive use of force, as well as other human rights violations against people of African descent.

“The UN exists to prevent crisis and conflict, while advancing justice. Human rights is the best prevention tool we have. Without it, there can be no enduring peace and no sustainable prosperity.

“UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF VOLKER TÜRK

Türk also said that in 2022 his office focused significant efforts on ensuring legal and social frameworks for the protection of women and girls. In Libya, UN Human Rights supported the drafting of the new Law on Violence against Women. It also assisted national authorities in Guinea in the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence crimes, a landmark in the long quest for justice of more than 100 women and girls who were sexually assaulted at the Conakry Stadium massacre in September 2009.

Accountability and justice

Supporting victims of human rights violations, grants provided by the Voluntary Fund for Torture and the Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery assisted over 46,000 victims of torture in 2022, and 13,000 survivors of slavery around the world.

In Ukraine, UN Human Rights is playing a crucial role in helping collect information regarding evidence of gross violations of international crimes. This evidence will help to shape future efforts for accountability and justice for victims.

More than 100 field presences

Responding to the vast need to protect human rights, UN Human Rights has become increasingly operational, Türk noted. Since its creation 30 years ago, the Office has built a global team of 1,841 people working across more than 100 field presences and headquarters.

In 2022, UN Human Rights established an Emergency Response Team in Fiji, the seventh such team stationed across the globe. To strengthen the human rights response to other crises, UN Human Rights sent surge teams to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, the Gambia, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan, Peru, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tunisia and Ukraine.

“But we need to do more. We need more people on the ground to prevent human rights abuses, so the world does not have to deal with more catastrophic fall-out later,” he said.

“We need to double our budget”

In 2022, UN Human Rights received slightly more than $392 million in regular and voluntary contributions. However, Türk stressed that as the leading global entity on human rights his office needed to double its budget in order to deliver its mandate in a world facing increasing threats to human rights.

“If we had the assurance of predictable, flexible multi-year funding, we see many places in the world where we could and should be doing much more, including in the area of economic, social and cultural rights,” he said, adding that despite being one of the UN’s vital pillars, the overall approved amount that his office will receive in 2023 is just over five percent of the UN’s regular budget.

This year, UN Human Rights commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the most pivotal documents in modern history. Türk called on the world to use the anniversary to help revitalize the Declaration’s promise of human rights for everyone.

“Standing up for human rights — preventing abuses, ensuring respect, getting justice for victims — is not optional.”