Reckless Gamble for Profit That Placed Indian Cotton Farmers in Corporate Noose – Colin Todhunter
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Editor’s Note IT was in the last quarter of the last century that in after 2020. They contend, citing the phenom- concern about the problem of climate change crys- enal economic growth of China in recent years, tallised into an international issue. It soon became that the concept of ‘common but differentiated apparent that the issue could best be tackled un- responsibilities’ can no longer be meaningfully der the auspices of the United Nations. applied. The first major step taken to address this is- In the face of the stiffening of the developed sue was the establishment in 1988 of the Inter- countries’ positions in the post-Paris period, governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), progress in translating the Paris Agreement into the UN body for providing policymakers with the concrete rules has not been easy. This was the most scientific assessment of the current state of cli- critical task facing the COP 24 meeting that took mate change. place on 2-15 December 2018 in Katowice, Po- This was followed by the emergence in 1992 land. of the UN Framework Convention on Climate The choice of Katowice as the venue for a Change (UNFCCC), which sets an overall frame- UN climate conference was not fortuitous. It is a work for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the major coal-mining town and the conference hosts challenge posed by climate change. may have wanted to remind the over 20,000 peo- The other major development was the adop- ple who attended the conference that the transi- tion in 1997 of the Kyoto Protocol to the tion to a carbon-free world is no easy walk. It was UNFCCC, an international treaty which, under the also a statement by the Polish hosts that, although principle of ‘common but differentiated responsi- they were signatories to the Paris Agreement, they bilities’, imposed on the developed countries, while were not prepared to close down their coalmines exempting the developing countries from, the bur- overnight. This is a dilemma facing many other den of reducing the carbon emissions responsible countries endowed with fossil fuel resources and for global warming. it remains to be seen how, in the face of such in- Even before the coming into force of the transigence, the goal of limiting global warming Kyoto Protocol, the UN had begun convening to 1.5°C can be attained. annual climate change conferences. The first such Nevertheless, after a rocky and fractious two conference (the first session of the Conference of weeks of talks at COP 24, member states man- the Parties to the UNFCCC or COP 1) was held aged to find enough common ground to approve in Berlin in 1995. Despite its strong affirmation a set of rules – called the Katowice Climate Pack- on the need for joint action to tackle this problem, age – for implementing the Paris Agreement, which it was to take another 20 years before such delib- sets the world’s climate policy for years to come. eration and debate finally bore fruit in the form In our cover story for this issue, we focus on of a truly global climate treaty. the climate conference held in the Silesian mining However, the landmark treaty signed in Paris town and the Paris Agreement ‘rulebook’ it pro- in 2015 does bristle with some serious weaknesses. duced. While the rich countries have not yet The Paris Agreement’s use of non-binding ‘nation- evinced any genuine intention to take the neces- ally determined contributions’ as the means of sary measures to limit global warming within the tackling climate change raises the question of how margin of 1.5°C, the hope is they will wake up to effective it can be. There are no sanctions for non- their responsibilities. compliance. To top it all, one of the major polluters of the planet – the United States – has since begun the process of withdrawing from the Paris Agree- ment. Furthermore, many developed countries have refused to endorse a fresh round of commit- – The Editors ments under the Kyoto Protocol which would be effective until the Paris Agreement’s provisions kick Visit the Third World Network website at: www.twn.my THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE No 335/336 Third World RESURGENCE www.twn.my No 335/336 2018 ISSN 0128-357X ECOLOGY 2 Nigeria: Crude injustice – Orji Sunday 7 Reckless gamble for profit that placed Indian cotton farmers in corporate noose – Colin Todhunter ECONOMICS 10 China, India respond ro- bustly to US paper on ‘differentiation’ – D Ravi Kanth 13 Agribusiness is the problem, not the solution – Jomo Michal Kurtyka, President of the UN climate change conference held Kwame Sundaram in Katowice, Poland, in December, leaps in celebration of the adoption (enb.iisd.org/climate/cop24/enb/15dec.html) Worth Photo by IISD/Kiara 15 5G: The battle for the future of the ‘Katowice Climate Package’. However, it remains to be seen – Humberto Campodonico whether the compromises that enabled approval of this set of rules for implementing the landmark Paris Agreement will hold. 17 COVER 40 Landmark report on 56 Mass protests in Haiti, like Fleshing out the implementa- Himalayan mountains raises France’s Yellow Vests, tion of the Paris Agreement dire climate change warnings threaten modern oligarchic – Prerna Bomzan structure – Whitney Webb 17 UN climate change confer- 42 Reclaiming control of ence ushers in ‘Katowice Indonesia’s oceans – Salena HUMAN RIGHTS Climate Package’ – Meena Tramel Raman and Evelyn Teh 44 Climate change in Africa: Is 58 ‘Disaster’ as Indian Supreme 19 Decisions for implementa- my house on fire? – Sindi- Court orders eviction of Leigh McBride tion of Paris Agreement millions of tribespeople adopted – Meena Raman 46 When the vessel is sinking – Federico Mayor Zaragoza 23 The key decisions on the WOMEN Paris Agreement implemen- WORLD AFFAIRS tation rules – Meena Raman 59 India: 5.5 million women 27 Important finance decisions 48 The war on Venezuela is built build their wall – Vijay adopted at climate talks – on lies – John Pilger Prashad Indrajit Bose and Meena 51 Former UN rapporteur: US Raman sanctions against Venezuela VIEWPOINT 32 The importance of equity causing economic and 61 Why transformation of the and finance for more climate humanitarian crisis global food system is an ambition – Prerna Bomzan Western media fall in 53 imperative 35 COP 24: An Indigenous lockstep for cheap Venezuela Peoples’ view – Andrea aid PR stunt – Adam Johnson POETRY Carmen 55 ICJ urges UK to end rule 38 Remembering a champion of over Chagos Islands – Brett 64 The dove orchid – Kumaran climate justice – Vice Yu Wilkins Asan THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE is pub- THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE is pub- Publisher and Chief Editor: S.M. lished by the Third World Network, an in- lished monthly by Third World Network, 131 Mohamed Idris; Managing Editor: Chee ternational network of groups and individu- Jalan Macalister, 10400 Penang, Malaysia. Yoke Ling; Editors: T Rajamoorthy, Lean als involved in efforts to bring about a Tel: 60-4-2266728 Fax: 60-4-2264505. Ka-Min, Evelyne Hong; Contributing Edi- greater articulation of the needs and rights Email: [email protected] tors: Roberto Bissio (Uruguay), Charles of peoples in the Third World; a fair distri- Printed by Jutaprint, No. 2, Solok Sungai Abugre (Ghana); Staff: Linda Ooi (Design), bution of world resources; and forms of de- Pinang 3, 11600 Penang, Malaysia. velopment which are ecologically sustain- Cover Design: Lim Jee Yuan Lim Jee Yuan (Art Consultant), Lim Beng able and fulfil human needs. Cover photos by IISD/Kiara Worth Tuan (Marketing), Yap Bing Nyi (Editorial) (enb.iisd.org/climate/cop24/enb) Copyright © Third World Network E C O L O G Y Crude injustice Six decades on, the resource curse continues to wreak destruction in the Niger Delta. Orji Sunday STANDING by the River Goi, Eric Dooh’s face shines with sweat. It is wet season in the Niger Delta’s Ogoniland region and the humidity is brutal. The surface of the river shines as well – with a veil of slick crude oil. ‘My parents were great farmers,’ Dooh says, pointing towards the large swath of land, now overgrown with weeds, by the edge of the river where he once worked with his parents to produce yam, water yam, maize, cas- sava and groundnuts. ‘Whenever the A fisherman from Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta showing oil slick on his palm. The farm was harvested we had enough Niger Delta is considered one of the most severely oil-damaged environments in the to eat, sell and store in the barn for world. another planting season.’ Dooh grew up in Goi – a tiny tra- ditional village in this tidal region, named after the river it is located by. the region, it became impossible to peaceful mass protest against Shell’s Like most other communities in the ignore the growing impact of the fre- widespread pollution, forcing it to 404-square-mile area that the half-a- quent oil spills from its network of shut down 30 wells in the area. The million-strong Ogoni ethnic group pipelines that criss-cross the Delta, protests would spur the Nigerian gov- calls home, the residents of Goi were and corrosive fumes from gas flaring ernment to unleash a campaign of mostly smallholder farmers and fish- at wellheads. (According to indepen- appalling violence against the Ogo- ermen who depended mainly on their dent records, from 1982 to 1992 ni, the impact of which resonates in immediate environment for subsis- alone, 1,626,000 gallons of oil were the region to this day. (Saro-Wiwa and tence. He recalls life in the village spilled from Shell’s operations in Ni- eight Ogoni leaders of the Movement before the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Roy- geria.) Eric says birds in the poultry for the Survival of the Ogoni People al Dutch Shell first discovered oil in operation started dying, as did the fish were tried on a trumped-up murder the 1950s, roughly 70 miles from his in the ponds and rivers.