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Issue No. 347 (2021/1)
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COVER:
The ‘net-zero emissions’ fallacy
The
fallacy of net-zero emissions being ambitious
Current targets
for achieving net-zero carbon emissions fall far short of what is needed
to contain climate change and allow the developed countries to evade
their fair share of climate action.
By Meena Raman
Deconstructing
declarations of carbon neutrality
The current push for all countries to pledge to halt their net carbon
emissions is both inadequate to keep global warming in check and unfair
to the developing world.
By T Jayaraman and Tejal
Kanitkar
As
US rejoins Paris Agreement, Biden urged to do ‘fair share’
Civil society groups have called on the US to do its ‘fair share’ to
curb climate change by phasing out domestic fossil fuel use and supporting
developing countries’ own climate response efforts.
By Victor Menotti
Climate
change and peace and security – the Chinese and Indian views
On 23 February, a high-level debate was convened at the United Nations
Security Council by the United Kingdom. Among the developing countries
which took part were China and India. Here are some of the main messages
from their speeches.
Pressure
mounts to commence negotiations virtually at UNFCCC
Moves to conduct the UN climate change negotiations in a virtual setting
have raised concern among developing countries worried this could hamper
their effective participation in the already difficult and highly charged
talks.
By Meena Raman
Climate-related
migration a reality in South Asia
Over 60 million people are at risk of displacement by 2050 just due
to slow-onset impacts of climate change, finds a study on climate-related
migration across South Asia.
By Indrajit Bose
What
does a post-coal future for India mean?
If an economy is to be decarbonised, planning for it should begin now,
but just transition plans in developing countries may look very different
from those in the developed world, says a study in India.
By Indrajit Bose
ECOLOGY
The
dismantling of environmental protections in Brazil
Environmental protection agencies and regulations in Brazil are being
severely weakened under the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro.
By Sue Branford and Thais
Borges
Fossil
fuels caused the Texas freeze
The fossil-fuel-heavy electricity network in the US state of Texas broke
down during February’s unprecedented cold wave – and it is also fossil
fuels that are making such extreme weather events more likely.
By Basav Sen
Cold
truth: The Texas freeze is a catastrophe of the free market
Texas’s epic power failure was also a failure of the deregulatory ethos
behind the operation of the state’s electricity grid.
By James K Galbraith
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HEALTH
& SAFETY
The
political economy of COVID-19 vaccines
Vaccine grabs, the refusal to relax patents to enable mass production,
and the use of vaccines for diplomacy run the risk that poorer nations
may not be protected against COVID-19 quickly enough. This will prolong
the pandemic, even for the richer nations.
By Jayati Ghosh
Protests
erupt in Overseas France against pesticide poisoning
Over two decades of use of the pesticide chlordecone in banana plantations
in Guadeloupe and Martinique have left behind a toxic legacy in these
French Caribbean territories.
By T Rajamoorthy
ECONOMICS
Biden’s
package and its pitfalls
The massive fiscal stimulus package put forward by US President Joe
Biden will not benefit the developing countries but instead widen
the gulf separating them from the rich economies.
Neoliberal
finance undermines poor countries’ recovery
Having borne the adverse impacts of financial liberalisation, developing
countries now find themselves in dire need of funds to weather the
COVID-19 crisis.
By Anis Chowdhury and
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Why
do farmers in India feel the deck is stacked against them?
India’s new farm laws threaten to leave farmers at the mercy of large
agribusiness and undermine the country’s food security.
By Biswajit Dhar
The
CFA franc as a vivid symbol of colonial continuities in Francophone
Africa
Monetary policy in Africa has been dominated by a consensus formed
in Europe and the United States. In France’s former colonies in West
and Central Africa, this has helped preserve the substance of empire
long after its formal end.
By Ndongo Samba Sylla
WOMEN
Endemic
violence against women ‘cannot be stopped with a vaccine’ – WHO chief
A UN report has found that violence against women is ‘devastatingly
pervasive’, affecting a third of all women.
TRIBUTE
Remembering
Nawal El Saadawi, the feminist pioneer who paved the way for women
around the world
The great Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi, who passed away on 21
March, waged a courageous lifelong struggle against patriarchy and
oppression.
POETRY
Black
ore
René Depestre (1926- ) is a poet, essayist and novelist seen as one
of the leading figures in Haitian and Caribbean literature.
René Depestre.
Third World Resurgence
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