The UK cannot replace foreign labor in the agriculture and food sectors with UK laborers, according to food sector groups, as farming chiefs and supermarket bosses gathered for a summit at No 10 Downing Street on Tuesday. Home Secretary Suella Braverman recently called for “less dependency” on foreign labor, saying, “no good reason” why the UK can’t train enough butchers and fruit pickers, however, many industry leaders disagree, pointing to shortages and increasing costs to consumers.
UN reports extensive flooding damage in central Somalia
The Toronto Star
23-05-16 11:07
The annual rains have caused flooding across Somalia leading to destroyed homes and farmland as well as the shutdown of health facilities. More than 460,000 people have been impacted with nearly 219,000 being displaced from the floods. The Hiiraan region of the central Somali state of Hirshabelle has been the most severely hit with the largest population in the area being forced to relocate. Rising waters in Beledweyne have meant important facilities such as government offices and at least one hospital have closed. The Horn of Africa nation faces drought conditions in some areas, while an ongoing insurgency by Islamic extremists is underway in the capital, Mogadishu.
Wildfires in the Canadian oil-producing province Alberta are continuing to spread, with 90 active and 23 out of control. Earlier attempts to get the wildfires under control had led oil and gas producers to shut in at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or 3.7% of national production. However, benchmark Canadian heavy crude prices are now at their highest levels in months due to concerns over the wildfires. Thousands of residents have already been evacuated and there are fears that the problem could be exacerbated by tinder-dry weather and shifting winds.
UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, urges Britain to become less dependent on low-skilled foreign labour and claimed that shortages can be filled with domestic workers. The home secretary is among the right-wing Conservative MPs urging Rishi Sunak to drive down net migration after it soared to a record of more than 500,000 in the year to June. However, industries such as agriculture, food processing and logistics, as well as gaps in the National Health Service are still experiencing staff shortages. More than 70,000 temporary worker visas were granted in 2022, and over half of those were for seasonal workers including jobs in agriculture and poultry farming. However, despite the rise, several sectors are still reporting staff shortages that are driving up wages in attempts to recruit and maintain staff, and increasing costs to consumers.
Wildfires are continuing to spread throughout Western Canada, forcing thousands of evacuations and leading to air quality warnings due to smoke as far east as northern Ontario. Some fires have been labelled as out of control, with around 2,500 firefighters combatting blazes throughout the region. Residents of the City of Fort St. John have been advised to evacuate, while those residing in Buffalo Narrows have already received a mandatory order to evacuate, which has been carried out. The situation in British Columbia is expected to improve as winds begin to calm, allowing the British Columbia Wildfire Service to assess the extent of the damage.
A cyclone has caused widespread destruction, at least 21 deaths and has left hundreds of others believed missing in Myanmar and Bangladesh. Cyclone Mocha made landfall with winds of up to 130 miles per hour on 5 May. Myanmar took the greatest impact from the storm, with 11,532 houses, as well as schools, hospitals and government buildings, damaged. Bagan, one of Myanmar’s major tourist attractions, was also damaged. The 21 reported dead, and many of the missing, came from ramshackle displacement camps in Myanmar, populated by members of the Muslim Rohingya minority, who lost their homes in a 2017 counterinsurgency campaign.
Ontario's environment has been improving over recent decades, but air and water pollution and the loss of wetlands and forests remain a concern, according to a report from the province's auditor general and environment commissioner. Greenhouse gas emissions have increased, leading to a decrease in Great Lakes ice cover and in the frequency of weather-related disasters. Of Ontario's monitored rivers and streams, 60% are struggling for biological health, while increasing algae blooms in Lake Erie and rising levels of microplastics in Lake Ontario are causing worry.
According to a report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), existing technologies and major policy changes could reduce plastic pollution by 80% globally by 2040. This would be accomplished through strategic change in reorientation from recycling to alternative packaging. Measures supported by UNEP include reuse, recycling and reorientation of packaging materials with the report estimating government promotion of systems using refillable bottles could reduce plastic waste by 30% over the next 22 years. While some campaigners have said that the UNEP blueprint doesn’t go far enough, a second round of discussions in Paris next week on the subject are aiming for global agreements on production cuts and the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies.
Lithium Americas Corp has cleared an obstacle in the development of the Thacker Pass mine project in Nevada, after the US Department of the Interior found nearly all of the site contained lithium. Claims had previously been made that the project would cause unnecessary harm to the environment and be blocked due to the land it was on not containing valuable minerals, although officials found that over 98% of claims held by the Canadian mining company contained lithium mineralisation. The ruling will enable Lithium America to build and develop the project, which it is working on with General Motors.
Two EPA officials, Office of Transportation and Air Quality director Sarah Dunham and Office of Air and Radiation official Joseph Goffman, have declined to appear at a hearing on the Biden administration's proposal to cut vehicle emissions and increase electric vehicle sales. The hearing was titled "Driving Bad Policy: Examining EPA's Tailpipe Emissions Rules and the Realities of a Rapid Electric Vehicle Transition." The EPA stated that the officials had previously scheduled meetings with members of Congress and representatives of the regulated community on the hearing's date, and the proposed rules are currently open for public comment.
Two poultry workers have tested positive for bird flu on a single poultry farm in England, with health officials stating there are no signs yet of person-to-person transmission of the disease. The cases have been linked to exposure to sick birds on the farm where the workers had recently worked. A very low risk of the disease spreading to the general population has been stated.
Canada’s federal fisheries minister, Joyce Murray, has created a task force to create clarity for regulating tidal power in the Bay of Fundy. The move follows Sustainable Marine Energy, the UK-based tidal power developer, filing for bankruptcy protection. The unnamed task force - made up of private firms and government officials - will explore the process of requirements for fish protection and reducing turnaround times for approvals to reduce potential future investment loss. Sustainable Marine Energy estimated it had suffered up to $40m in private losses due to regulatory differences with the Fisheries Department.
The Canadian government will establish a task force to clarify regulations and improve communication for projects developing tidal energy from the Bay of Fundy, following U.K. firm Sustainable Marine Energy (SME) blaming Ottawa for the loss of funding it said had forced it into insolvency. Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray said the task force, co-chaired by Natural Resources Canada, will explore industry grievances and look for solutions, but the regulatory environment would remain in place. Several tests lie ahead for tidal energy companies looking to harness energy from the Fundy, including monitoring marine impact and staying afloat commercially.
Old litter on a beach near Great Yarmouth has highlighted the problem of single-use plastic, with pre-decimalisation crisp packets from the 1960s among the items discovered. Experts and crisp manufacturers say that change is necessary, with Fairfield Farm Crisps commit to plastic reduction. The company has trialled one-ply packaging, a move from three-ply to two-ply and a reduction in weight thickness. However, it has encountered difficulties using compostable bags, which can be rejected by some authorities, while recyclable bags are not always recycled. The cost and shorter shelf-life of cellulose packaging pose additional issues.
UK businesses could benefit from hiring overseas workers as labour shortages continue to impact industries such as agriculture and hospitality, according to British Chambers of Commerce Director-General Shevaun Haviland. The government should adopt a “shortage occupation list” to secure the necessary labour, she suggested. Social care, fruit picking and meat processing also face labour shortages and the National Farmers' Union has called for a rolling five-year worker scheme to address the absence of seasonal workers on British farms.
US approves emergency use of bird flu vaccine to save California condors
Reuters
23-05-16 23:46
US officials have announced the emergency use of a bird flu vaccine to protect the California condor, which has already bounced back once from the brink of extinction. After finding a California condor dead from avian influenza in March, the US Fish and Wildlife Service sought help from the Department of Agriculture. At least 13 condors with bird flu have died, all near the Arizona-Utah border, alarming given the world population of California condors was estimated at 561 at the end of last year.
More than a dozen California condors, classified as a critically endangered vulture species, have recently died due to bird flu (known as H5N1), putting the already threatened population at further risk. In response to the fatalities, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has given the go-ahead for a vaccine to be developed, and a pilot safety study on North American vultures will begin this month to check for any adverse effects.
The UK has announced it will speed up plans to protect London from flooding and rising sea levels in response to studies that show the increased risk from climate change. The new climate adaptation programme will bring forward the deadline for defences around the city to 2050, rather than the 2065 target it originally set in 2012. The scheme had initially proposed the protection of millions of people and hundreds of billions of pounds' worth of property from the River Thames by increasing defences by up to one metre in sections of the river.
Southern Europe is headed toward a summer of intense drought, with parts of the region already experiencing water shortages and farmers expecting the worst yields in decades. Climate change has contributed to multiple years of drought in the area, leading to a depletion of groundwater reserves. Struggling Spain is seeking EU assistance, with Agriculture Minister Luis Planas sending a letter on April 24 requesting the aid. France experienced its driest winter since 1959, while Portugal is already suffering the impact. Italy faces a 70% deficit in snow water reserves and a 40% shortage of soil moisture.
Renewable fuels from a second Neste facility in Singapore, along with the completion of two further phases of progress at the company's US renewable diesel joint venture with Marathon Oil, will drive growth despite falls in oil product margins in Q2 of this year, according to CEO Matti Lehmus. Neste has ramped up production at its Singapore plant, opened a joint venture fuel storage scheme for sustainable aviation fuel for Singapore's Changi Airport, and has supplied such fuel to numerous airports in Japan and New Zealand.
