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Category: World Touch

Bishops Criticize Four Rivers Project

According to Bishop Kang, “the damage which could result from this rash development, born of greed, will be a burden to ourselves and future generations, who will have to live with the consequences.” And he added: “We should avoid actions that could destroy the creative work of God which took tens of thousands of years to achieve.”  The Four Rivers Project is being relentlessly pursued by the Korean government without any real discussion about the massive damage which will inflict on an environment that is already under severe threat. Before South Korea was industrialized in the years following the Korean War, its rivers cascaded down mountains, through gullies into fast running rivers before flowing through the wetlands, coastal plains and into the oceans.  This natural relationship between mountains, rivers and wetlands no longer exists. By the later part of the 20th century, almost every river in the country has been dammed and forced into concrete channels. Even though it is a small country, there are already over 18,000 dams in Korea. China holds the world record in terms of the numbers of dams at 87,000, but China is roughly 100 times larger than Korea. The Korean government responded to the recent recession by investing at least $18 billion in new construction projects designed to re-engineer four important rivers – the Han, Nakdong, Keumand and Youngsan. The scale of the plan is truly massive. It involves constructing 16 new dams, rebuilding 87 existing dams, reinforcing 209 miles of river banks, dredging 570 million cubic meters of sediment from the rivers. The government’s rationale for the project is that it will prevent water shortages, bolster flood control and create ‘eco-friendly’ space for tourism. Little thought has been given to the ecological consequences of this enormous engineering venture.  The project is the brainchild of the current president of Korea, Myung-bak Lee. Before he entered politics, he was the chief executive officer of Hyundai Construction Corporation. Many critics claim that Hyundai will benefit substantially from this investment. The president argues that construction will create an estimated 960,000 jobs, but since the vast majority of these jobs are in construction, they are only temporary. One way in which Catholics are expressing their opposition to the project is by celebrating Mass on the banks of the threatened rivers, but they are not the only ones opposed to the Four Rivers Project. The Abbot of the renowned Palgong-san Seonbonsa Gathawi Temple said that many Buddhist monks were also opposed to the project and that 10,000 of them had met at a prayer service.  Even government employees, such as Nam Kwang-Hee, the Director-General of the Deagu Regional Environment Office, admit their surprise that the work is being carried out at such a frenetic pace, involving three, eight-hour shifts. His rationale is that they need to complete the bulk of the work before the rains arrive in June. Others are more skeptical and believe that the president wants to push through with the project as quickly as possible before

Fr. Seán McDonagh, SSC

G(Irls)20 Summit In Toronto

On June 26 and 27, G20 leaders will gather in Toronto to discuss measures to promote global financial stability and ways to achieve a sustainable economic growth and development. All organizations and businesses striving for economic growth and development understand the need to utilize all resources – financial, material and human. Similarly, world leaders must recognize the importance of leveraging the world’s 3.3 billion girls and women in the search for innovative, sustainable and socially responsible solutions to global challenges. That’s why, from June 16 to 18, twenty girls from the G20 countries will come together in Toronto to present, discuss and promote tangible, innovative and scalable solutions that will put girls and women in front and in the centre of the G20 leaders’ agenda. 

WM

Patents On Human Genes Invalidated

The case to strike down the patent had been brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Public Patent Foundation at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, medical organizations across the U.S. and a number of individuals who objected vigorously to the concept of patenting living organisms. They argued that genes are a product of nature and, therefore, should not be patentable. One of the criteria for patenting anything is that it must be new. The coalition argued that genes were not new and that all the geneticist did was identify the gene.  The decision is very good news, especially for women who may have these genes and a history of breast cancer in their family. They will no longer have to pay royalties to Myriad Genetics, the company which holds the gene, for either diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. These groups also argued that, since the controversial judgment of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Diamond versus Chakravarty case in 1980, patent have hindered and stifled research in both the medical and biological areas. Researchers were more interested in patenting their discoveries than in sharing their ideas with other scientists for the benefit of everyone. In fact, many scientists were often reluctant to research a particular area since they may have to pay royalties to a number of companies which had taken out patents on the organism.  Myriad Genetics, the company that holds the patents in conjunction with the University of Utah Research Foundation, had petitioned the court to dismiss the case. They argued that, “the work of isolating the DNA from the body, transformed it and made it patentable. In his judgment, Judge Robert W. Sweet, argued that patents have been improperly granted because they involved the laws of nature. He continued, “many critics of gene patents consider the idea that isolating a gene made it patentable, ‘a lawyer’s tick’ that circumvents the prohibition on the direct patenting of the DNA in our bodies but which, in practice, reaches the same results.” This ruling will have enormous implications. Very few people realize and are shocked and outraged when they learn that about 20% of human genes have already been patented. A multibillion-dollar industry has been built on the royalties which accrue from the intellectual property rights that patents grant to corporations.  Because patenting presented biotech companies, such as Monsanto Syngenta, with an easy, inexpensive milking cow which generated billions of dollars, one can be sure that the biotech corporations will do all in their power to overturn Judge Sweet’s judgment.  They have already begun spinning a justification for patenting life. Kenneth Chahine, a visiting law professor from the University of Utah, who filed a brief on behalf of Myriad Genetics, said that, “if a decision like this were upheld, it would have a pretty significant impact on the future of medicine.” He didn’t, of course, provide any evidence to support this claim, since the bulk of research supports the other side.  

Fr. Seán McDonagh, SSC

Is Humanitarianism Genetic?

The suicidal defenders of food stores and the sterile workers of the social insect world are the “extreme altruists.” But the lineage of a colony means everyone is related. So, the authors conclude, nature’s altruists are actually boosting the chances of passing on their genes – either directly or indirectly – by being selfless, and ensuring the growth of the nest.  Is the altruism of humanitarians a genetically programmed function to preserve our global hive? “By asking if humanitarianism is genetic, you assume aid work is attached to altruism, which I do not believe to be the case for all aid workers by any stretch,” commented one aid worker, who has been in the field for a decade, and asked to remain anonymous.  Genetics cannot explain all behaviors, Stuart West, co-author of the report commented. “There does seem to be some evidence that genes directly influence the level of helping in humans. However, this is relatively negligible when compared to other factors such as environmental conditions [and] learnt behaviors.”  

www.irinnews.org

Numbers Of Unsafe Water Crisis

− Around 90% of diarrhea cases, which kill some 2.2 million people every year, are caused by unsafe drinking water and poor hygiene.  − Over 50% of malnutrition cases globally are associated with diarrhea or intestinal worm infections.  − Over half the world’s hospital beds are occupied by people suffering from illnesses linked to contaminated water.  − Almost 900 million people lack access to safe drinking water, and an estimated 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. South Asia (around 221 million) and sub-Saharan Africa (330 million) have the highest proportion of people living without basic sanitation.  − Ninety percent of wastewater discharged daily in developing countries is untreated. Eighty percent of all marine pollution originates on land – most of it wastewater – damaging coral reefs and fishing grounds.  − People in developed countries generate five times more wastewater per person than those in developing countries, but treat over 90% of their wastewater, compared to only a few percent in developing countries.  − Agriculture accounts for 70 to 90% of all water consumed, mainly for irrigation, but large amounts return to rivers as run-off; nearly half of all organic matter in wastewater comes from agriculture.  − Industrial wastes, pesticides from agriculture, and tailings from mining also create serious health risks and threats to water resources, costing billions of dollars to monitor, much more to clean.  − Use of bottled water is increasing, but it takes three liters of water to produce one liter of bottled water. In the USA alone, an additional 17 million barrels of oil per year are used to make plastic containers. Worldwide, 200 billion liters of bottled water are produced every year, creating an enormous problem of how used plastic bottles could be disposed of.  − Wastewater generates methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide (CO2). It also generates nitrous oxide, which is 310 times more powerful than CO2.  − It is estimated that, in just a decade, wastewater-linked emissions of methane will rise by 25% and that of nitrous oxide, by 50%.  − Increased flooding, as a result of climate change, can overwhelm ageing sewage infrastructure in cities and towns.   

WM

Poverty Reduction Is An Urgent Priority

“What is also very alarming is the amount of phosphate and nitrogen that is lost as agricultural refuse; projections show that we can run out of phosphate very soon,” he warned. Nearly half the agricultural phosphate applied each season is washed away and ends up in rivers and oceans, where it contributes to triggering algae blooms that could damage ecosystems and fish stocks, Nelleman said. Wastewater treatment plants should be sophisticated enough to harvest the phosphates.  The report urged countries to draw up national and local strategies to cope with the wastewater production and invest in infrastructure to manage it. 

www.irinnews.org

Poverty Reduction Is An Urgent Priority

On the positive side, the archbishop noted, the crisis has “given rise to unprecedented international political cooperation, evident in the three successive high-level G-20 meetings in Washington, London, and Pittsburgh during 2009.” These meetings “were able to reach agreement on emergency measures to reignite the world economy, including fiscal and monetary stimulus packages that have prevented a global catastrophe,” he affirmed. Nevertheless, Archbishop Migliore added, “the stabilization of some economies, or the recovery of others, does not mean that the crisis is over.” “Indeed, the whole world economy, where countries are highly interdependent, will never be able to function smoothly if the conditions that generated the crisis persist, especially when fundamental inequalities in income and wealth among individuals and between nations continue,” he asserted. Thus, the Holy See representative emphasized the view “that we cannot wait for a definitive and permanent recovery of the global economy to take action.” He explained that “a significant reason is that the reactivation of the economies of the world’s poorest people will surely help guarantee a universal and sustainable recovery.” And added: “But the most important reason is the moral imperative: not to leave a whole generation, nearly a fifth of the world’s population, in extreme poverty.” He underlined the “urgent need to reform, strengthen and modernize the whole funding system for developing countries as well as U.N. programs, including the specialized agencies and regional organizations, making them more efficient, transparent, and well coordinated, both internationally and locally.” “In the same vein,” the archbishop added, “the crisis has highlighted the urgent need to proceed with the reform of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, whose structures and procedures must reflect the realities of today’s world and no longer those of the post World War II period.”  Archbishop Migliore concluded: “We should not forget that the same world that could find, within a few weeks, trillions of dollars to rescue banks and financial investment institutions, has not yet managed to find 1% of that amount for the needs of the hungry.”  

Sophia Nicole Garcia

Asia Most At Risk From Natural Disasters

African countries at extreme risk are Ethiopia, Sudan and Mozambique, with 95% of casualties due to drought. Since 1980, drought has caused 9,800 deaths in Ethiopia, 5,300 in Sudan (ranked fifth) and over 3,400 in Mozambique (ninth). According to experts, unlike earthquakes and storms, drought damage is more difficult to detect, both in terms of human lives and economic loss because it is a slow onset disaster. Whereas France and Italy, ranked 17 and 18, respectively, are the most vulnerable countries in Europe because of the 40,000 people who died in heat waves in 2003 and 2006, the US, with more than 8,000 lives lost over 30 years, is highly susceptible to hurricanes and storms and ranked 37th.  Haiti and China are, respectively, at numbers 8 and 12 among the countries at highest risk. The earthquake in Qinghai Province on April 13, 2010, of almost the same magnitude of that that hit Haiti on January 12, cost the lives of 2,187 people – against 230,000 who died in Haiti. The countries least at risk are Andorra, Bahrain, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Qatar, San Marino and the United Arab Emirates.  In line with the data produced by Maplecroft, a study by the UN Development Program says that 85% of the people exposed to earthquakes, tropical cyclones, floods and droughts in the past 10 years live in countries having either medium or low human development. Pedro Dabase, head of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (ISDR) Regional Office for Africa, underlined: “In these types of rankings, the variables to look at are the time period of analyzed data, types of hazards and vulnerabilities to natural disasters. This is because countries that face similar patterns of natural hazards often experience widely differing impacts when disasters occur, depending, in large part, on the kind of development choices they have made.”  The expert added: “If one looks at the frequency of earthquakes and cyclones in Haiti in the past 100 years, the situation of the country would not be considered as worrisome, unlike the past 10 years, with great human losses caused by flooding almost every year and hurricanes in 2004, 2005 and 2008. In terms of impacts for example, the recent earthquake in Chile, of the same magnitude of that in Haiti, recorded about 100,000 deaths but, in terms of economic losses, it registered US$22 billion, versus the $8 billion estimated for Haiti. Therefore, the vulnerability of Chile in terms of economic loss is higher than Haiti which, instead, caused more losses in terms of human lives.”  Figures produced by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at the beginning of 2010 highlighted that, in the past 10 years, 3,852 disasters killed more than 780,000 people, affecting more than two billion and causing an economic loss of $960 billion. According to ISDR, earthquakes, followed by storms (22%) and extreme temperatures (11%) are the deadliest natural hazards of the past 10 years and remain a serious threat to millions of

www.irinnews.org

The Authority To Evangelize Comes From The Holy Spirit

Referring to a phrase from his latest encyclical, the Holy Father said: “Evangelization is an immense mission, especially in our time, in which humanity suffers from a certain lack of reflection and deep thought and in which a humanism is spreading that excludes God. Because of this, it is still more urgent and necessary to illumine the new problems that arise with the light of the Gospel which does not change.” Christ is the main propelling force for true human development, the Pontiff affirmed, and he quoted his words from the beginning of his pontificate: “The purpose of our lives is to reveal God to men. And only where God is seen does life truly begin.” In this context, the Bishop of Rome affirmed that the “preaching of the Gospel is an inestimable service that the Church can offer the whole of humanity that journeys in history.” He noted how the Gospel proclamation is a “message that penetrates history” and thus offers its guidance through the changes that humanity endures. “The preaching of the Gospel is the call to the freedom of the children of God,” the Pontiff continued.  However, Benedict XVI also acknowledged that “whoever participates in Christ’s mission must inevitably face tribulations, rejection and sufferings, because he is confronted with the resistance and powers of this world.” He added: “As the Apostle Paul demonstrated the authenticity of his apostolate with the persecutions, the wounds and the torments suffered, so persecution is also proof of the authenticity of our apostolic mission.” Nevertheless, it is the Holy Spirit that gives the Church authority to proclaim the Gospel, the Holy Father said. And in that regard, he affirmed that “evangelization needs Christians with arms raised to God in a gesture of prayer, Christians moved by the awareness that the conversion of the world to Christ is not done by us, but is given.”  

www.zenit.org

“Greening” Fisheries Could Calm Troubled Waters

Yet, despite the important role of fisheries in maintaining economic and social well-being, “fisheries around the world are being plundered or exploited at unsustainable rates,” said Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP). Speaking about the release of the UNEP’s Green Economy Report: A Preview, Steiner argued that the current fishing industry “is a failure in management of what will prove to be of monumental proportions unless addressed.” The report, scheduled for release later this year, argues that investment in “greening” the economy across a range of sectors – including agriculture, fisheries, and water – can drive global economic recovery and lead to future prosperity, job creation, and improved environmental conservation. Currently, some 52% of the world’s marine fisheries are fully exploited and producing at – or close to – their maximum limits. Another 28% of the world’s marine fisheries are categorized as overexploited, depleted, or recovering from depletion, thus producing less than their maximum potential. And when fisheries collapse, there is more than just the loss of fish life to worry about; livelihoods, communities, and entire economies are ruined. Though the current outlook on fisheries may be troubling, researchers say that all is not lost. According to the report, an $8 billion annual investment in rebuilding and “greening” the world’s fisheries could have a positive, and lasting, impact on the fishing industry worldwide. Researchers say this investment has the potential to both increase fish catches and generate $1.7 trillion in long-term economic returns over the next four decades. Some possible methods for “greening” fisheries highlighted in the report include providing job training in alternative jobs industries; reducing the size of fishing fleets to limit excess harvesting capacity; and providing additional funding for fishery management to expand marine protected areas.  

www.worldwatch.org (Stephanie Pappa)
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