Saturday 28 December 2019

Atomic cheerleaders ignore nuclear's significant carbon content

Letter submitted to the Financial Times:
 
Your correspondent Dr John Law from the Clean Energy Revolution organization (“A nuclear option to aid the fight for the planet,” December 27; www.ft.com/content/a32de3ee-258c-11ea-9a4f-963f0ec7e134) makes a very similar erroneous argument as he did three months ago in an earlier letter (“Merkel can meet emissions targets with tweak to energy mix,” September 24, 2019; www.ft.com/content/7cb2b566-de09-11e9-9743-db5a370481bc).

Both repeat the false arguments promoting presumed low carbon emission benefits of nuclear power deployment made by Dr James E. Hansen and his colleagues in another recent letter you published. (“EU must include nuclear power in its list of sustainable sources”, December 17; https://www.ft.com/content/0b9ea00a-2004-11ea-b8a1-584213ee7b2b ). Dr Hansen is a brilliant analyst of the atmospheric climate change problem, but his suggested solution of more nuclear power is demonstrably misguided

Both old nuclear power plants as mentioned by Dr Law, and new nuclear plants advocated by Prof Hansen require uranium fuel. Uranium is energy intensive in its mining, milling, enrichment and fuel fabrication, all carbon emission-rich processes.

All nuclear plants - whether Gigawatt-scale giants or small modular reactors (SMRs) -will embody huge amount of carbon in their construction materials, especially concrete.

In a newly completed chapter “Evaluation of Nuclear Power as a Proposed Solution to Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Security”  in a forthcoming energy book 100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything’ Mark Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University - and director of its Atmosphere/Energy Program - argues cogently:

There is no such thing as a zero- or close-to-zero emission nuclear power plant. ..all plants also emit 4.4 g-CO2e/kWh from the water vapor and heat they release. This contrasts with solar panels and wind turbines, which reduce heat or water vapor fluxes to the air by about 2.2 g-CO2e/kWh for a net difference from this factor alone of 6.6 g-CO2e/kWh.” (https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/WWSBook/WWSBook.html)  

He concludes that overall, emissions from new nuclear are between 78 and 178 g- CO2/kWh, not close to the zero atomic advocates often claim.

 

Thursday 26 December 2019

'Doomtown' and the curious case of Armageddon , but not on a Sunday.....

Letter sent to The Times:
 
I was very interested to read Ben Macintyre’s chilling article on  nuclear confrontations in the Cold War that very nearly went white hot (“The ultimate a war game: Armageddon,” 21 December 2019; https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-ultimate-war-game-armageddon-rgdl7g8kl) having recently  visited a fascinating  exhibition titled on 'Protect and Survive, Britain in the Cold War' which closed in early November at  the National Archives in Kew, having opened in April,( previewed by Valentine Low in The Times on 3 April 2019,"Revealed: Britain’s secret plans for nuclear apocalypse" www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-played-war-games-to-plan-for-nuclear-attack-0g8zb6vk2).

One of the curiosities unveiled was the revelation that the regional government bunker in Wales - of which there were 14 across the UK - set aside for political big-wigs to escape the falling atomic bombs, was in Brecon, in the South Wales mountains: except, that is, for Sundays, when it was in nearby Abergavenny. This is revealed in a hitherto Top Secret classified document displayed in Kew. But no explanation was offered for the double end-of-the-world refuge in Wales. 

The exhibition also records that  in 1979, the UK Government began a series of so-called Civil Defence exercises under the title of ‘Wintex-Cimex,' and intriguingly showed a film made by a young journalist, Jeremy Paxman, reporting for a BBC Panorama programme  titled “If the Bomb drops.” (The BBC itself would have, apparently, become the WBS, the Wartime Broadcasting Service). 

Meantime, it is salutary to note from a Pathe News film shown at the National Archive exhibition, that the name given to the small community constructed in the Nevada desert - to see what would be the destructive effect of blast on building of different construction, from British atomic bombs of different explosive capacity detonated nearby - was ‘Doomtown’

Sunday 22 December 2019

'Classic Dom' defence review should start with Trident

Letter sent The Guardian:
 
Your former defence and security correspondent Richard Norton-Taylor used his15 years coverings defence issues for the Guardian very wisely in his picking apart of the prime minister’s top advisor, ‘classic Dom’ Cummings’ plans to radically review defence and security expenditure, especially  procurement (“Dominic Cummings is right – if only about Britain’s dysfunctional defence spending,” 18 December 2019; https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/17/dominic-cummings-britain-defence-spending-mod).
But Richard overlooked one huge component of “defence” spending: the renewal of the Trident nuclear WMD system, both submarine carriers/launch platforms and multiple nuclear-tipped missiles.

There is a debate over how much this renewal ie replacement and upgraded modernisation will cost. As a new independent study, released on 17 December by the House of Commons library  (The Cost of the UK’s strategic nuclear deterrent https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8166) points out: “Ascertaining historical costs for the nuclear deterrent is difficult and complex, as this information is not easily available from public sources. Many records no longer exist, while others were classified. In the past the Government has also often not discussed costs on the grounds of operational security.”

The authors stress that the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) projected that that the costs of design and manufacture of four new Trident submarines will be £31 billion, with an additional £10bn contingency also set aside.
If projected lifetime operational, repair and refit costs are added, according to calculations by the Nuclear Educational Trust in a study released in June 2018, this takes the total cost of Trident replacement to between £140bn and £205bn (www.nucleareducationtrust.org/sites/default/files/NET%20Defence%20Diversification%20%20%20%20%20Report.pdf)

This is where the Cummings review needs to start.

Thursday 19 December 2019

Hypocritical chutzpah by British Ambassador to the UN over nuclear weapons


On the eve of last Thursday’s catastrophic General Election result, Ambassador Karen Pierce, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, made an extraordinary speech to a  Security Council briefing on North Korea (DPRK): it was a model of gross hypocrisy - a speciality of British diplomacy. (“UK urges North Korea to begin process of irreversible denuclearisation,” 11 December 2019;  https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/uk-urges-north-korea-to-begin-process-of-irreversible-denuclearisation). Understandably, it received no  media coverage.

Ambassador Pierce began by asserting “International peace and security is under threat, owing to the unabated development of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons technology by North Korea. Despite concerted and good faith efforts by the US to negotiate a solution, this year has seen 13 sets of illegal ballistic missile tests.”

At the very same time the UK is embarked in renewing the Trident nuclear WMD system, at a total lifetime cost of £205,000,000,000 (£205bn) to British taxpayers. (The Cost of the UK’s strategic nuclear deterrent,” House of Commons Library briefing; https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8166)

The good Ambassador then went on:  We gather today also to send a message to Pyongyang: it is not too late. You can prevent the situation worsening. You should seize this diplomatic opportunity that has already been repeated in the Council this session. The united expressed will of the Security Council is that North Korea should begin a process of complete, verifiable and irreversible de-nuclearisation. The UK will continue to work with international partners to support this goal.”

The UK is not only a signatory, but is also a depositary state ( which includes the responsibility to protect and further the stated aims of the treaty) and a drafting nation for the 1968 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Article 6 of this treaty reads in part:

Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective

measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear

disarmament … under strict and effective international control.”

Not one nuclear weapon nor a single nuclear warhead has been disarmed or dismantled  by the UK  following multilateral or bilateral negotiations  in the  51 years since the UK signed the treaty. ‘Do as we say, not as we do’ is the clear message from British diplomacy.

Ambassador Pierce then rises to her task, saying: “it bears repeating what is at stake. As the China Permanent Representative said, this is truly and quintessentially a matter for the Security Council and only the Security Council of international bodies can really deal with such a challenge deriving from weapons of mass destruction and proliferation. It’s a vital issue.”

So if other nations develop or deploy nuclear WMDs, they are deemed to be dangerous and proliferation. But, if a nation – such as the UK- already self-declared as a nuclear weapons state for over 70 years spends over £200bn on upgrading the range, explosive capacity, lethality and targeting accuracy of its own nuclear WMD system, that is legitimate renewal of its purely defensive national security protection system

Ambassador Pierce then has the hypocritical hutspa (Chutzpah) to pray-in-aid of the NPT – held in such clear contempt by successive British Governments for fifty years-  arguing “ There are further implications in possessions of such weapons. It’s in no member state’s interest to see North Korean technology and expertise proliferate across borders. As next year we face the anniversary of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it becomes a very important moment to resolve this issue.”

The Ambassador may be aware that North Korea is not an NPT member state: it withdrew, as it was legitimately allowed to do, on 10 January 2003 (https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/8/issue/2/north-koreas-withdrawal-nuclear-nonproliferation-treaty)

North Korea has no obligation to follow the articles of the NPT; the UK, on the other hand, does: but successive UK Governments have brazenly declined to do so, to significant diplomatic opprobrium from the international community

The Ambassador ended her highly politicised peroration with yet more hypocrisy, asserting: “We urge North Korea to change course, to engage in meaningful negotiations with the United States and to begin a process of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.”

When will the UK  join such negotiations to achieve the very same aim of “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation”?

 

 

 

UK urges North Korea to begin process of irreversible denuclearisation

Statement by Ambassador Karen Pierce, UK Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Security Council briefing on DPRK


 

Published 11 December 2019

From:


Delivered on:

11 December 2019 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)

Karen Pierce

Thank you, Madam President.

Madam President, we gather today in the name of prevention. International peace and security is under threat, owing to the unabated development of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons technology by North Korea. Despite concerted and good faith efforts by the US to negotiate a solution, this year has seen 13 sets of illegal ballistic missile tests.

We gather today also to send a message to Pyongyang: it is not too late. You can prevent the situation worsening. You should seize this diplomatic opportunity that has already been repeated in the Council this session. The united expressed will of the Security Council is that North Korea should begin a process of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation. The UK will continue to work with international partners to support this goal.

Madam President, it bears repeating what is at stake. As the China Permanent Representative said, this is truly and quintessentially a matter for the Security Council and only the Security Council of international bodies can really deal with such a challenge deriving from weapons of mass destruction and proliferation. It’s a vital issue. It is hard to discern, Madam President, what lies behind the provocative and dangerous moves by North Korea.

Since May 2019, they have tested three different types of short range ballistic missiles, and these tests have demonstrated substantial progress for this illegal and reckless weapons programme. As other representatives have said, each test is a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. And the Council needs to support the rigorous enforcement of its sanctions in the face of such violations. And I just wanted at this point to endorse what the French representative said about the humanitarian angle with which we agree wholeheartedly. The sanctions regime imposed by the Council will remain in place until North Korea takes concrete steps towards denuclearisation. Further breaches of Security Council resolutions, whether they’re ballistic missile launches, space launch vehicles or nuclear tests, will only harden the resolve of the Council.

There are further implications in possessions of such weapons. It’s in no member state’s interest to see North Korean technology and expertise proliferate across borders. As next year we face the anniversary of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, it becomes a very important moment to resolve this issue.

Madam President, we should not forget the suffering of the North Korean people. The human rights situation in North Korea is disturbing. They are the worst offender on the Global Slavery Index, and 179th out of 180 in the Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index. Human rights has a critical role to play, and we urge North Korea to concentrate on improving the lives of its most vulnerable people.

Madam President, all states have an obligation to enforce this council’s sanctions. We urge action to address the continued reports of fuel shipments to North Korea in violation of the mandated annual imports cap. And we urge vigilance against North Korea’s illegal fundraising activity, including its use of cyber attacks. And we remind states, if I may, Madam President, that all North Korean overseas workers earning income should be repatriated by 22 December this year.

Madam President, our message as a Council must be united and it is clear. Continued development of programmes in violation of Security Council resolutions will not be tolerated. We urge North Korea to change course, to engage in meaningful negotiations with the United States and to begin a process of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.

Thank you.

Thursday 12 December 2019

Why climate change reportage was replaced by anti-semitism assertions in election campaign


Stephen Buranyi wonders what happened to the looming climate catastrophe in the General Election debate. (“This was supposed to be the climate crisis election. So what happened?, “Comment, on line, 9 December; www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/09/climate-crisis-election-tories-brexit-media)

It is really quitter simple: the Conservative- supporting press, especially The Times, Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Daily Express, have decided to set an election political agenda around a persistent character s assassination of Jeremy Corbyn, led by mainly bogus allegations of anti-semitism by Corbyn himself and within the Labour Party he leads.

Then disgracefully, the broadcast media - radio and TV - which are supposed to be covered by strict media regulator Ofcom rules of balance and fairness during elections, have taken this pernicious agenda from these right wing papers, and perpetuated a series of half-truths and down-right lies.

Then, when people are asked in endless radio and TV vox pops how they might vote, many say they won’t vote Labour because they cannot stand Corbyn.

The important and obvious follow-up question of ‘why?’ is rarely asked, or if it is, it is not broadcast.

In such a malign media frenzy of lies and distortions, such trivia as saving the planet an making it liveable for future generation cannot find any place.

With the right wing press owned by extremely rich media magnets, who mostly already do not live in the UK, they will be able to afford a bolthole when the sea levels  and temperatures rise.

But the vast number of people who make up humanity will, however, suffer terribly.

Monday 9 December 2019

Voting Anything But Conservative is a vote for the Green New Deal- new assessment

Following my last blog  highlighting the rank ordering by Friends of the Earth on green policies of the major political parties in their 2019 General election manifestos and wider promises, the blog below was published yesterday by Professor Richard Murphy, challenging the FOE analysis, concluding the Green Party has the most environmentally sound policies. I agree, but as they cannot form a Government, Labour is the next best bet.

Posted: 08 Dec 2019 04:04 AM PST
Friends of the Earth have announced that Labour has the strongest green manifesto in this election, but only after securing extra-manifesto commitments from them.
The assessment, published today, looked at the manifestos of the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Green parties. These were scored against Friends of the Earth’s election asks – which covered ten areas including, climate targets, energy, transport, food and nature. The manifestos were marked out of 45.
The final assessment saw Labour, Lib Dems and Greens all marked highly, but with the Labour Party given a slightly higher score overall. The Conservative Party scored poorly: its manifesto was judged to be missing significant commitments in numerous areas, inadequate policies in others, and actively damaging policies in transport.
• Labour: 33
• Green: 31
• Liberal Democrat: 30
• Conservatives: 5.5
I admit that relying on a letter suggesting Labour would go further than the manifesto is not, in my opinion, a good way of appraising green commitments. I prefer Greenpeace's approach, which ignores such additional information. As they have noted of their appraisal:
To help you decide where to place your vote, Greenpeace policy experts have analysed the manifestos and other relevant commitments published by the main parties. Each party has been graded on how well its promises match up to key things that need to be done in four really important areas. Whatever happens with Brexit, these have to be a priority to tackle the twin threats of the climate crisis and the breakdown of nature.
They end up with this league table:

This is their Green Party analysis:

Labour looked like this:

That looks to be objective to me. As does this for the SNP:

And this for the LibDems:

And in the interests of balance this was their assessment of the Tories' poor showing:
I have to say that looks generous to me.
Who do I think overall has the best policies? I am astonished Friends of the Earth think it is Labour. I am afraid nothing they say comes close to the Greens overall on this issue, and Greenpeace call that correctly.
But there is a comfort: however you vote ABC (Anything But Conservative) the commitment to green issues is high whilst voting Conservative would be to ignore the issue. It is that blunt.

Saturday 7 December 2019

Labour top, Tories bottom in policies to save the planet, says leading green group


Election manifestos: Labour tops Friends of the Earth’s climate and nature league table


Climate and ecological crisis must be at the top of next government's agenda, says Friends of the Earth  

Friends of the Earth  Media, 7 December 2019   


 

The Labour party has come out top in Friends of the Earth’s environmental assessment of the main UK-wide party manifestos, with the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats also putting forward a wide-range of significant policies to respond to the climate and ecological crisis.

The assessment, published today, looked at the manifestos of the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and Green parties. These were scored against Friends of the Earth’s election asks – which covered ten areas including, climate targets, energy, transport, food and nature. The manifestos were marked out of 45.

The final assessment saw Labour, Lib Dems and Greens all marked highly, but with the Labour Party given a slightly higher score overall. The Conservative Party scored poorly: its manifesto was judged to be missing significant commitments in numerous areas, inadequate policies in others, and actively damaging policies in transport.

• Labour: 33

• Green: 31

• Liberal Democrat: 30

• Conservatives: 5.5

Dave Timms, Friends of the Earth’s head of political affairs, said:

"Environmental issues have been given greater priority in this election than ever before – and with the world in the midst of an ecological and climate crisis this must be the next government’s top priority.

“Many of the policies that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Green party have put forward are commensurate with, or striving to meet, the challenges we face. It is disappointing we have not yet seen the same urgency, ambition or consistency from the Conservative party.

“We don’t have time for yet more dither and delay – the next government needs to urgently start the work of transforming our economy and infrastructure, and restoring nature to deliver a safer, brighter future.”

Friends of the Earth sent the parties an initial score following publication of their manifestos. They were then allowed further time to provide additional pledges, clarifications or restatements of existing policies, which might have been left out of manifestos but form part of the party's policies for government.

A letter sent exclusively to Friends of the Earth from four Labour Shadow Secretaries of State (and published with the scoring) went further than the manifesto in key areas. It included a strong preference for a frequent flyer levy to manage demand for aviation, promised to review the Aviation National Policy Statement against much tougher carbon targets - and said expansion at Heathrow airport would be cancelled if it wasn't consistent with these targets. The letter also pledged that a Labour government would take funds directly from the road building programme for public transport projects.

The Lib Dems set out addition pledges to its manifesto in a letter to Friends of the Earth recommitting to the policies in its previously published Climate Emergency policy document. However, the Green's did not provide any additional clarification or restate previous pledges in a number of policy areas ahead of Friends of the Earth's deadline.

 
Dave Timms, Friends of the Earth’s head of political affairs,added:
 

"Labour’s manifesto contains strong, funded policies on home energy efficiency and renewables. This was boosted by significant additional pledges during the campaign on plans for tree planting, food policy, public transport and cycling - as well as a commitment to strong environmental law and enforcement.

"The Lib Dems and Greens both scored similarly and had a suite of policies which were consistently judged to meet, and sometimes exceed, Friends of the Earth's policy demands. Both had especially strong policies on home energy efficiency and renewables, but scored slightly lower than Labour overall.

"Despite the Conservative Party manifesto offering decent policies on plastics and agricultural subsidies and restatement of the moratorium on fracking, in sector after sector its commitments were invariably weaker than the other parties, entirely absent or just plain bad.

“Their manifesto consistently failed to step up to address the climate and nature emergencies, which are hurting communities right now and will deliver catastrophe in the future. We were concerned that they failed to restate commitments to some existing positive government policies."

Earlier this week Friends of the Earth published a list of over 1000 general election candidates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have taken a Friends of the Earth pledge to make the climate crisis a deal-breaker in how they would vote in parliament if elected.

Notes to editors:

1. Friends of the Earth is independent of all political parties and does not endorse or favour any particular party. We are calling on all political parties to adopt these policies in their manifestos and will hold them to account for any promises made following the election.

And here is an excellent new report demonstrating how to deliver the Green New Deal


As is apparent from the cover, the foreword has been written by Caroline Lucas, who hopes to once again be MP for Brighton Pavillion next week.
The report answers a question that no one else has tackled, which is who might buy the £100 billion of bonds that might need to be issued each year to fund the Green New Deal. Unless that question can be answered the Green New Deal can't happen. We think we have the answer.
The press release on the report says:
Funding the Green New Deal
How we could Save for the Planet
____________
Funding the £100 billion a year needed for the Green New Deal from UK ISA and pension savers
____________
Almost everyone now realises that we need a Green New Deal if we are to tackle the climate crisis. And almost without exception politicians now realise that this will require that we borrow to fund the investment in the future of our society that the Green New Deal represents. But there has, to date, been a big unanswered question about this borrowing. No one has actually said who it is that will buy the bonds that will have to be sold to fund the Green New Deal.
In a new report entitled 'Funding the Green New Deal: How we could Save for the Planet', Richard Murphy and Colin Hines, who are both members of the Group that wrote the first Green New Deal report in 2008, seek to answer that question. As they show, over 80% of UK financial wealth is held in tax incentivised accounts, whether they be pensions or ISAs. As a result it is to these sources that they look for the funding. What they suggest is that by simple changes to the tax reliefs applicable on both types of account up to £100 billion of funds can be directed towards the Green New Deal each year. This is as much funding as anyone suggests might be needed at present.
The changes are simple. With regard to ISAs it is suggested that the government should back the issue of Green New Deal bonds paying interest at an average rate of 1.85%, which is the average UK government cost of borrowing at present, and it is only these that should be available to ISA savers in the future. This could raise up to £70 billion a year in funds.
With regard to pensions, in exchange for the tax relief given on pension contributions, which currently cost £54 billion a year, the requirement would be that 25% of all new pension contributions would be invested in Green New Deal related activity.
Taken together the measures would ensure that tax reliefs are aligned to society's need for a Green New Deal.
Caroline Lucas, who has been the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion since 2010 and who is standing again in the current election, has written a foreword to the report. In it she says:
"As Murphy and Hines remind us, people investing in pensions and savings will largely be from older generations who can thus play a vital part in the Green New Deal. They can save for their own benefit and at the same time benefit all of us, and in particular, younger generations. This inter-generational rebalancing could be another key element of the Green New Deal, and merits further investigation. Working together, we can create a better future. For all of us, and for the planet we share."
The report is available at: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/GNDFunding1219.pdf

Foreword
 
 
There is growing consensus on the urgent need for a Green New Deal to transform

our economy and society to meet the challenges of the climate and nature crises,

and to reverse inequality. There is also growing recognition that it is both sensible

and necessary for the government to borrow to invest in the future of our society, so

that we can modernise our economy and move beyond fossil fuels. An economic

system based on endless credit fuelling endless emissions while flooding wealth up

to those who already have most has driven us to the point of climate, ecological and

social collapse. Now we must find ways to rein in the power of big finance and

channel credit responsibly to where it is needed, into a Green New Deal.

With even the International Monetary Fund’s former chief economist, Olivier

Blanchard, acknowledging that with interest rates at record lows, now is the time for

governments to borrow to invest, Richard Murphy and Colin Hines ask who could

provide the funds for that investment. There is a healthy market for government

bonds but, as they show, ordinary savers could also play a vital role in channelling

investment into Green Bonds. According to this briefing, over 80 per cent of UK

financial wealth is held in accounts that benefit from a tax incentive of some kind,

whether they be pensions or ISAs. They suggest that by making small changes to the

tax reliefs due on both types of account, funds can be redirected into Green Bonds

and towards the Green New Deal, providing both a safe place for our pensions and

savings, and the means to invest in our collective future.

As Murphy and Hines remind us, people investing in pensions and savings will largely

be from older generations who can thus play a vital part in the Green New Deal.

They can save for their own benefit and at the same time benefit all of us, and in

particular, younger generations. This inter-generational rebalancing could be

another key element of the Green New Deal, and merits further investigation.

Working together, we can create a better future. For all of us, and for the planet we

share.

Caroline Lucas

Green party parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion

December 2019
 



 

Monday 2 December 2019

Corbyn raises tone of international debate on security and climate change


 

Today two very important inter-governmental meetings start in Madrid and near London (Watford) respectively. The former is the latest of a long running series of the Conference of Parties (COP 25) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, so far ratified by 185 countries, but from which the United States has  controversially withdrawn under the instructions of  US President Donald Trump(“Climate crisis: what is COP and can it save the world?”, Guardian, 2 December 2019; www.theguardian.com/news/2019/dec/02/climate-crisis-what-is-cop-and-can-it-save-the-world).

The latter – which actually fully starts tomorrow - is the 70th Anniversary gathering of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the nuclear-armed military alliance led  by the United States. (www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/events_171229.htm; https://www.ap.org/live-and-location-services/events/annual-nato-meeting). It is happening against a backdrop if significant opposition, barely mentioned by the media (https://www.no-to-nato.org/counter-actions-in-london-nato-summit-2019/".

On the eve of the NATO meeting, its Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg argued on the Marr Programme on BBC television that the world would not be safer if NATO members got rid of their nuclear arsenals. This followed repeated assertions by Scotland First Minister, Minister Nicola Sturgeon, said she would never use nuclear weapons and  called once more for the "immoral" Trident nuclear system, based on the Clyde, to be scrapped.

Mr Stoltenberg, who was formerly the Norwegian prime minister, also added:"Nato's goal is a world without nuclear weapons but we have to arrive there through viable, balanced nuclear arms control and disarmament. The world will not be safer if Nato got rid of all its nuclear weapons while countries like Russia, China, North Korea and other countries maintain their nuclear weapons…So yes, we would like to see a world without nuclear weapons but as long as there are nuclear weapons, Nato will remain a nuclear alliance."
(“Nato Secretary General responds to Sturgeon's desire to scrap nuclear weapons, “ Herald Scotland Online, 1 December 2019; www.heraldscotland.com/news/18072549.nato-secretary-general-responds-sturgeons-desire-scrap-nuclear-weapons/)

António Guterrez, the United Nations secretary general, said before the COP 26 meeting opened: “The technologies that are necessary to make this possible are already available. Signals of hope are multiplying. Public opinion is waking up everywhere. Young people are showing remarkable leadership and mobilisation. [But we need] political will to put a price on carbon, political will to stop subsidies on fossil fuels [and start] taxing pollution.: adding “In the crucial 12 months ahead, it is essential that we secure more ambitious national commitments – particularly from the main emitters – to immediately start reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a pace consistent to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.”

Lord Stern of Brentford, one of the world’s leading climate economists, said: “It’s very important that this COP is not just tidying up, but starting [the process] of the next one. It’s positive that finance ministers and central bank governors will come this year, and countries like the EU and China need to show leadership.”



A worker walks past a COP25 logo at the IFEMA Convention Centre in Madrid.

 

 

(“COP25: youth ‘leadership’ contrasts with government inaction, says UN chief,” 2 December 2019; https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/dec/01/island-states-want-decisive-action-to-prevent-inundation



Striking school students march in London last week

 

Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, made his keynote speech in the General Election campaign on international affairs in York on Sunday, 1 December, linking together these two aspects of international security: the twin axis of defence &diplomacy, and climate change.( https://labour.org.uk/press/full-text-of-jeremy-corbyns-speech-in-york/)

Here are some highlights:

“This is the third time during a general election campaign that we have witnessed a horrific terrorist attack on the people of our country and, it seems clear, on our democratic process itself.

At times like this we all feel hurt by this appalling crime. And we feel anger,  that it was carried out on our streets, in the heart of our community….No government can prevent every attack. No one would believe any political leader who said they could. But the government can act to make such acts of terror less, rather than more likely. It is our duty to look calmly and seriously at what we need to do to give people real security.

“You can’t keep people safe on the cheap. Real security doesn’t only come from strong laws and intelligence, it comes also from effective public services that have the funding they need. Real security demands more than the correct operational decisions by trained and properly funded professionals. It requires political leadership as well.

For far too long, our country’s leaders have made the wrong calls on our security. Their mistakes in no way absolve terrorists of blame for their murderous actions. The blame lies with the terrorists, their funders and recruiters. But if we are to protect people we must be honest about what threatens our security.

The threat of terrorism cannot and should not be reduced to questions of foreign policy alone. But too often the actions of successive governments have fuelled, not reduced that threat. Sixteen years ago, I warned against the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I said it would set off a spiral of conflict, hate, misery, desperation that will fuel the wars, the conflict, the terrorism and the misery of future generations. It did, and we are still living with the consequences today. I was also one of the few in parliament who warned against the NATO-led intervention in Libya in 2011. Britain should not have joined that conflict which has created a vast ungoverned space, contributed to misery in the region and made us less safe at home.

The war on terror has manifestly failed.”

“Britain’s repeated military interventions in North Africa and the wider Middle East, including Afghanistan, have exacerbated rather than resolved the problems. Now we risk being dragged into a further conflict with Iran on the side of a Saudi regime

Labour will stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen and work to end the war there, not actively support it as the Conservative government has done. And we will press for action to end human rights abuses in both Saudi Arabia and Iran.

We will also support the UN Human Rights Binding Treaty to enforce accountability for human rights abuses perpetrated by corporations all around the world.

Real security requires calmly making the right calls at moments of high pressure, often against the grain of conventional wisdom.”

“It is time for Britain to stop clinging on to Donald Trump’s coat-tails. Boris Johnson has been the world’s leading sycophant towards the US President. From climate change denial to unconditional support for the Israeli far right, from racism to confrontation with China, Trump is taking the world on a dangerous path. Britain must make its own foreign policy free from a knee-jerk subservience to a US administration which repudiates our values.

“Under Labour, Britain will have its own voice in the world standing tall for security, peace and justice. That’s the path to real security. Our foreign policy will be defined by our commitment to human rights, international justice and peace – not enthusiasm for foreign wars that fuel, rather than combat, terrorism and insecurity.

We will introduce a War Powers Bill to ensure that no prime minister can bypass democracy when taking our country to war. As things stand, the prime minister has the power to launch military action without consulting parliament. I will be a very different kind of prime minister: one who is prepared to limit my own power in the public interest and empower parliament to hold government to account.

“We are determined to work at the heart of the United Nations and the Commonwealth to promote conflict resolution, women’s rights and human rights, and that means building support for democratic reform in the UN in particular.

And in Nato, we will work for the alliance to reduce tensions in Europe and beyond. That should be the focus of this week’s Nato summit in London. President Macron is right to press the case for a change of direction in Nato policy, including the need to de-escalate conflict with Russia and a wider perspective on the most serious threats to our common security.

And a Labour government will actively lead multilateral efforts as part of our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to work for nuclear disarmament and a nuclear-free world.

“The threats to global security in the 21st century, including the climate and environmental crisis and the conflicts it can trigger, as well as the huge scale of global inequality, which means 26 billionaires now own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population. And the movements of people across the world, with more refugees and displaced people than at any time since the Second World War, demand a new response.

I look forward to hosting next year’s UN climate conference in Britain, where we will lead the campaign to go much further than the Paris accord. At the moment, Britain is not set to meet its targets until 2099, and the rest of the world even later. We have to act now, which is why our manifesto puts the Green Industrial Revolution at its heart.

To help settle conflict and promote human rights, in our trade and aid policy as well as foreign policy, and deliver ambitious global climate agreements, Labour’s new internationalism means we will create a peace and conflict-prevention fund, and invest an extra £400 million to expand our diplomatic capacity and increase oversight of arms exports to ensure we’re not fuelling conflicts, as in Yemen and in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“I think all of us want to feel proud of the role Britain plays in the world.Our standing on the world stage and the resources at our disposal mean we have enormous capacity to be a force for international solidarity and peace, which is why we will commit £100 million more to UN peacekeeping operations.

And on the international stage, it’s about standing up for the values we share of justice, human rights and democracy and working with others to keep people safe, by ending conflict and tackling the climate emergency.

I want us to be proud of all of the work we do all around the world.

That is real security.

That is real change.”

It is a long time since a potential leader of the UK made such a truly internationalist speech. What a pity the media barely covered it.

 

 

ANNEX


 


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Sunday 1 December 2019 / 12:10 PM Jeremy Corbyn

Full text of Jeremy Corbyn’s speech in York

***Check against delivery***

This is the third time during a general election campaign that we have witnessed a horrific terrorist attack on the people of our country and, it seems clear, on our democratic process itself.

My heart goes out to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in such an appalling act of terror, to the injured and to all those in shock at what they witnessed on London Bridge on Friday.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to our emergency services – to the incredibly brave police officers who put their own lives on the line to save others and to all our emergency service workers, ambulance crews and fire and rescue teams involved in responding to the incident.

And again, we saw extraordinary bravery from members of the public who ran towards the attacker and put themselves in harm’s way to stop him doing harm to others.

You are an example to us all and we all give you our very deepest thanks.

At times like this we all feel hurt by this appalling crime.

And we feel anger, that it was carried out on our streets, in the heart of our community.

I had a personal experience of this in the attack in Finsbury Park two years ago and how our local community came together.

When we learn of the distress of others we cannot help but share a fraction of their pain.

And those individual strands of compassion become the ties that connect us one to another.

It is now, more than ever, that we must come together in our communities.

That is solidarity and it is central to everything we believe.

In the aftermath of an outrage such as we saw on Friday, people have a right to know from political leaders what steps they will take to ensure public safety.

I will always do whatever is necessary and effective to keep our people safe.

First of all, the police who put themselves on the line to protect us will have the authority to use whatever force is necessary to protect and save life.

If police believe an attacker is wearing a suicide vest and innocent lives are at risk, then it’s right they are able to use lethal force.

No government can prevent every attack. No one would believe any political leader who said they could.

But the government can act to make such acts of terror less, rather than more likely.

It is our duty to look calmly and seriously at what we need to do to give people real security.

Our public services are the glue that binds our society together.

Community policing, the probation service, mental health, youth and social services, all play a vital part.

When those public services are cut back, as they have been during the past decade, they leave behind gaps.

That can lead to missed chances to intervene in the lives of people who go on to commit inexcusable acts, whether it’s during their childhood, their first brush with the law, their first conviction or in prison through rehabilitation programmes.

Take the probation service, part-privatised in 2014, resulting in disaster.

The most serious cases stayed in a justice system badly undermined by austerity cuts.

A failure to recruit has left huge staffing shortfalls, with staff supervising more cases than ever expected, posing a serious risk to our security.

You can’t keep people safe on the cheap.

Real security doesn’t only come from strong laws and intelligence, it comes also from effective public services that have the funding they need.

Real security demands more than the correct operational decisions by trained and properly funded professionals. It requires political leadership as well.

For far too long, our country’s leaders have made the wrong calls on our security.

Their mistakes in no way absolve terrorists of blame for their murderous actions.

The blame lies with the terrorists, their funders and recruiters.

But if we are to protect people we must be honest about what threatens our security.

The threat of terrorism cannot and should not be reduced to questions of foreign policy alone.

But too often the actions of successive governments have fuelled, not reduced that threat.

Sixteen years ago, I warned against the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

I said it would set off a spiral of conflict, hate, misery, desperation that will fuel the wars, the conflict, the terrorism and the misery of future generations.

It did, and we are still living with the consequences today.

I was also one of the few in parliament who warned against the NATO-led intervention in Libya in 2011.

Britain should not have joined that conflict which has created a vast ungoverned space, contributed to misery in the region and made us less safe at home.

The war on terror has manifestly failed.

Britain’s repeated military interventions in North Africa and the wider Middle East, including Afghanistan, have exacerbated rather than resolved the problems.

Now we risk being dragged into a further conflict with Iran on the side of a Saudi regime which is an enemy of human rights prolonging a desperate humanitarian crisis in Yemen, interfering in its neighbours’ affairs and murdering journalists.

This policy has not made us one bit safer – if anything, it has made us less safe.

Labour will stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen and work to end the war there, not actively support it as the Conservative government has done. And we will press for action to end human rights abuses in both Saudi Arabia and Iran.

We will also support the UN Human Rights Binding Treaty to enforce accountability for human rights abuses perpetrated by corporations all around the world.

Real security requires calmly making the right calls at moments of high pressure, often against the grain of conventional wisdom.

That requires the courage and strength to chart an independent course when we think our friends and allies are doing the wrong thing.

It is time for Britain to stop clinging on to Donald Trump’s coat-tails.

Boris Johnson has been the world’s leading sycophant towards the US President.

From climate change denial to unconditional support for the Israeli far right, from racism to confrontation with China, Trump is taking the world on a dangerous path.

Britain must make its own foreign policy free from a knee-jerk subservience to a US administration which repudiates our values.

And neither should we ignore evidence of Russian oligarchs and their money being used to try and buy influence in our politics.

So I ask Boris Johnson today, in what I hope will be one of his final acts as Prime Minister, to release the report we know has been cleared by the security services. What has he got to hide?

And it is the Conservatives who still refuse to release the report into Saudi funding of extremist groups in Britain.

Given Friday’s events and the continuing terror threat it is simply unacceptable that this report is not in the public domain.

Under Labour, Britain will have its own voice in the world standing tall for security, peace and justice.

That’s the path to real security.

Our foreign policy will be defined by our commitment to human rights, international justice and peace – not enthusiasm for foreign wars that fuel, rather than combat, terrorism and insecurity.

We will introduce a War Powers Bill to ensure that no prime minister can bypass democracy when taking our country to war.

As things stand, the prime minister has the power to launch military action without consulting parliament.

I will be a very different kind of prime minister: one who is prepared to limit my own power in the public interest and empower parliament to hold government to account.

Of course our relationship with Europe – and the need to bring to an end three years of Tory failure over Brexit, and get Brexit sorted by giving people the final say on a good deal – will continue to be at the heart of Labour’s foreign policy and new internationalism.

That includes a strong role in the Council of Europe – the only international body which includes the whole of Europe, including Russia – as the custodian of the European Convention and Court of Human Rights.

We are determined to work at the heart of the United Nations and the Commonwealth to promote conflict resolution, women’s rights and human rights, and that means building support for democratic reform in the UN in particular.

And in Nato, we will work for the alliance to reduce tensions in Europe and beyond. That should be the focus of this week’s Nato summit in London. President Macron is right to press the case for a change of direction in Nato policy, including the need to de-escalate conflict with Russia and a wider perspective on the most serious threats to our common security.

And a Labour government will actively lead multilateral efforts as part of our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to work for nuclear disarmament and a nuclear-free world.

The threats to global security in the 21st century, including the climate and environmental crisis and the conflicts it can trigger, as well as the huge scale of global inequality, which means 26 billionaires now own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world’s population. And the movements of people across the world, with more refugees and displaced people than at any time since the Second World War, demand a new response.

There are now 65 million refugees around the world, stretching from the shores of Europe to Bangladesh, where Rohingya people have sought safety from persecution in Myanmar, and the huge refugee flows driven by poverty and inequality in Latin America.

I look forward to hosting next year’s UN climate conference in Britain, where we will lead the campaign to go much further than the Paris accord. At the moment, Britain is not set to meet its targets until 2099, and the rest of the world even later. We have to act now, which is why our manifesto puts the Green Industrial Revolution at its heart.

To help settle conflict and promote human rights, in our trade and aid policy as well as foreign policy, and deliver ambitious global climate agreements, Labour’s new internationalism means we will create a peace and conflict-prevention fund, and invest an extra £400 million to expand our diplomatic capacity and increase oversight of arms exports to ensure we’re not fuelling conflicts, as in Yemen and in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Labour stands behind the international consensus of a genuine two-state solution – a secure Israel alongside a secure and viable state of Palestine.

That’s why Labour supports an end to half a century of Israeli occupation and the illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, and a Labour government will recognise the state of Palestine.

I think all of us want to feel proud of the role Britain plays in the world.

Our standing on the world stage and the resources at our disposal mean we have enormous capacity to be a force for international solidarity and peace, which is why we will commit £100 million more to UN peacekeeping operations.

When I speak to members of the Armed Forces who went to West Africa to deal with the Ebola crisis, or members of the Royal Navy who plucked drowning refugees from the Mediterranean Sea, they tell me how proud they are of what they achieved.

So I am proud that in April 2020 a Labour government will deliver a 5% pay rise to our Armed Forces, as we will to all public service workers.

And when I speak to veterans of the D-Day landings, as I did at the 75th anniversary commemorations this year, it is truly humbling.

That generation of men and women showed unimaginable heroism. Many laid down their lives to defeat fascism.

I have huge confidence and faith in the British people’s spirit and commitment to decency, fairness and community.

It’s your country. That’s why Labour is on your side.

I am patriotic about the people of this country.

Patriotism is about supporting each other, not attacking somebody else.

It’s about caring for the whole of society, for all our people, and not walking by on the other side when they need help and support.

It’s about loving your country enough to make it a place where nobody is homeless or hungry, held back or left behind.

And on the international stage, it’s about standing up for the values we share of justice, human rights and democracy and working with others to keep people safe, by ending conflict and tackling the climate emergency.

I want us to be proud of all of the work we do all around the world.

That is the kind of country we all want to live in.

That is the kind of government I want to lead.

That is real security.

That is real change.

Thank you.