China pledges $2bn for developing world

Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to establish a $2bn (£1.3bn) fund to assist developing countries and to significantly increase investment.

Media capti

Addressing a UN summit on development goals, Mr Xi said investment would reach $12bn over the next 15 years.

He also said China would cancel debts to the world's least developed nations, including small island nations (SIDS).

Beijing, he added, would assist in 600 overseas projects in the next five years and offer more scholarships.

'End poverty' - and 16 more UN Global Goals

"Looking around the world, the peace and development remain the two major themes of the times," the Chinese leader said at the summit in New York.

"To solve various global challenges, including the recent refugee crisis in Europe, the fundamental solutions lie in seeking peace and realising development.

"Facing with various challenges and difficulties, we must keep hold of the key of the development. Only the development can eliminate the causes of the conflicts," Mr Xi said.

His pledges of aid give a big boost to the launch of the UN's new Global Goals for Sustainable Development - the day after all members states committed themselves to a hugely ambitious programme, the BBC's James Robbins in New York reports.

The plan aims to eradicate poverty and hunger by 2030.

It was China's extraordinary record shifting so many families out the ranks of the poor which ensured that the overall global record in poverty reduction under the previous Millennium Development Goals was substantial, our correspondent says.

But it was very patchy, he says, adding that now China is offering to help other countries - particularly in Africa - make the same transformation.

This new initiative also suggests China is willing to take on more of the responsibilities that go with its status as emerging superpower, our correspondent adds. More

 

©

The Lessons of the Loess Plateau

From John Dennis Liu here are the bare bones of what I have learned studying the Loess Plateau. There is more detail for those who crave knowledge.

John Dennis Liu

1. Functional ecosystems gave rise to life and are necessary for life to continue.

2. Ecosystem degradation has local, downstream (regional) and global impacts suggesting that we must rethink the way we see our relationship with the Earth. This is an essential part of globalization.

3. Human activity without ecological understanding leads to ecosystem collapse.

4. 4. Poverty and ecological destruction are interrelated. You must solve them together.

5. The collapse of ecosystem function is linked to the collapse of civilization.

6. It is possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems and restore ecosystem function that has been lost over vast areas.

7. It is necessary to differentiate and designate ecological and economic land to ensure that there will be at least some land that is able to function ecologically.

8. In order to restore ecosystem viability it is necessary to address the root causes of the degradation and so all unsustainable agricultural practices must end.

9. In order for unsustainable agricultural practices to end, policies must reflect these principles, alternative livelihoods must be identified, training and investment must be provided to help transition the poorest toward sustainable behaviors. They cannot do this alone.

10. Land tenure ensuring uninterrupted access to agricultural land for those who live near subsistence agriculture is required or they will be forced to devastate common ecological lands to survive.

11. Governments must understand these lessons and their policies must reflect these principles.

12. Ecosystem function and the ecosystem benefits that accrue have not been valued by traditional economic systems and so those systems are false.

13. The survival of people who live in or near large degraded ecosystems and the survival of people who live in wealth far from these places in the developed world, are both dependent on restoring viability to large ecosystems that have been disrupted or destroyed by human activity.

14. Learning these lessons will ensure that future generations will enjoy rushing rivers, forests, wildlife and more efficient, productive farms, as well as living in peace and prosperity.

15. We need to understand what is at stake. History provides strong, compelling evidence that ignoring these lessons will lead to ecosystem collapse and the end of our civilization.

16. When we look toward the future do we see growing deserts, more people living lives of desperation and poverty, or do we see forests, rivers, healthy and wealthy people with a sustainable future? These are two different paradigms. When we achieve the second paradigm the entire dynamic changes. This is exactly what is needed now to address climate change, poverty, and ecosystem health. The lessons of the Loess Plateau help to illustrate a sustainable future for humanity and represent "EARTH’S HOPE".

 

 

©

Peabody Coal buys coal from U.S. taxpayers for cheap, sells it abroad for huge profit

Yesterday, I wrote about the issue of public land in the Powder River Basin being leased to coal companies for cheap, so they can strip-mine it and sell the coal abroad at an enormous profit.

Also yesterday, the feds held a “competitive lease sale” for the South Porcupine Tract, which contains almost 402 million tons of mineable coal.

Guess how many companies bid in this “competitive auction”? One: Peabody Coal, the company that filed the original application [PDF] for the lease.

This was actually the second auction for the tract. The first ended with no sale because BLM rejected Peabody’s lowball offer of $0.90 a ton. The winning price in Thursday’s sale? $1.11 per ton.

Again: $1.11 per ton.

The price of a ton of Powder River Basin coal on U.S. spot markets?$9.15 per ton, as of May 11.

The price of a ton of coal exported to China? It averaged $97.28 per ton [PDF] in 2011. It’s now up to $123 per ton.

And exports are only likely to go up:

So, to summarize: You, the U.S. taxpayer, just leased another huge chunk of your land to Peabody Coal at $1.11 per ton of coal. Peabody will strip-mine that land and take the coal to China, where it will sell it for over $100 per ton. Peabody pockets enormous profits*, the U.S. taxpayer gets devastated land, and China accelerates global warming. More


And for the rest of the world, specially the Small Island Developing States and coastal cities, sea level rise, flooding and eventual evacuation. Will you give us a passport President Barak Hussain Obama? Editor.