Yearly Archives: 2024

DWP under investigation by equalities regulator over treatment of disabled people

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/05/dwp-under-investigation-by-equalities-regulator-over-treatment-of-disabled-people/

EHRC ‘extremely worried’ about the treatment of disabled benefits claimants by the government department

An investigation has been launched into whether the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) broke equality law over its treatment of disabled benefits claimants. 

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is investigating a suspicion that the department failed to make reasonable adjustments for people with learning disabilities or long-term mental health conditions when carrying out benefit health assessments. 

A further probe will be carried out into whether the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions’ was compliant with equality commitments when developing, implementing and monitoring policy guidance into health assessments. 

The regulator first started looking into the department after a group of MPs recommended in 2021 an investigation into the deaths of vulnerable claimants, including by suicide, between 2008 and 2020. 

Following this, the EHRC found further action was required and has now decided to pursue a formal investigation, the first of its kind into a government department. 

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Article continues at https://leftfootforward.org/2024/05/dwp-under-investigation-by-equalities-regulator-over-treatment-of-disabled-people/

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Could the global cost of climate change really be six times worse than thought?

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https://www.energymonitor.ai/features/could-the-global-cost-of-climate-change-really-be-six-times-worse-than-thought/?cf-view

Landscape of the North Pole where climate change has caused melting ice caps. Photo: Mongkolchon Akesin/Shutterstock.

A paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that each degree of global heating could reduce global GDP by 12%.

A new paper written for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) suggests that the global economic cost of climate change could be around six times higher than previous estimations.

The paper, written by Northwestern economics professor Diego Känzig and Harvard economics professor Adrien Bilal, suggests that every one degree of atmospheric warming reduces global GDP by 12%.

It uses global heating data cross-referenced against aggregated national GDPs to come to a higher figure. The authors believe that this model provides a more complete picture, as many of the shocks, including extreme wind and precipitation, are affected by global conditions rather than localised heating.

It also places the social cost of carbon (SCC) at over $1,000/tCO2. This global measure estimates the economic damage caused by every tonne of carbon emitted and has historically been set far lower. According to the authors, their own calculations would only place the SCC at $151/tCO2 if evaluating local rather than global temperature shocks.

What does this mean for global economies?

The findings of this paper are clearly worrying as they suggest the threat to markets posed by climate change is significantly higher than previously quantifiable. The authors of the paper describe the impacts of a 1°C as “of the same magnitude as the growth impacts that typically occur after severe banking or financial crises,” and the long-term impacts of climate change as “comparable to the economic damage caused by fighting a war domestically and permanently [italics theirs].”

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Article continues at https://www.energymonitor.ai/features/could-the-global-cost-of-climate-change-really-be-six-times-worse-than-thought/?cf-view

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Shell is suing Greenpeace for a peaceful protest.

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https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/shell-suing-greenpeace-legal-fund/

Shell is suing Greenpeace – threatening a multi million dollar lawsuit and a protest ban. We need your help to fight in court.

Earlier this year, six Greenpeace International activists managed to board and occupy a moving Shell oil platform. The platform was making its way towards the North Sea to unlock new oil wells.

Our demand was clear: Shell must stop drilling for new oil and gas, and start paying up for causing decades of climate damage.

The protest continued for 13 days and almost 4,000km. During this time, Shell reported record annual profits of nearly $40bn. But they won’t pay a penny towards fixing the climate chaos they’ve caused.

Like so many of us, the activists who occupied Shells’ platform all experience the climate crisis in different ways – from rising energy bills and flooding to heatwaves and typhoons. This protest took the fight for climate justice straight to Shell, in a way they couldn’t ignore. Standing with millions of people worldwide, who are losing their lives, loved ones and homes to climate breakdown caused by fossil fuel giants.

Well, we got Shell’s attention. Now they’re suing Greenpeace UK and Greenpeace International, threatening a multi million dollar lawsuit and a protest ban.

These bullying tactics threaten the global fight for climate justice. Will you help us stand up to Shell and donate today to the Stop Shell Appeal?

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Article continues at https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/shell-suing-greenpeace-legal-fund/

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Scientists Use Solar Power to Generate Enough Heat to Smelt Metal

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https://www.ecowatch.com/solar-power-heat-metal-smelting-cement-quartz.html

A glowing quartz rod at the end of an experiment in absorbing solar radiation, in which it reached a temperature of 1,050°C. Solar process heat above 1,000°C can decarbonize industrial applications such as cement manufacturing and metallurgical extraction. Emiliano Casati, Leo Allgoewer and Aldo Steinfeld

Industrial processes like smelting metals or manufacturing cement can be carbon-intensive, as they typically rely on fossil fuels to generate enough energy to produce high temperatures. But researchers have found a way to use solar thermal trapping, rather than fossil fuels, to reduce the emissions of some industrial processes.

“To tackle climate change, we need to decarbonize energy in general,” said corresponding author Emiliano Casati, of ETH Zurich, Switzerland, as reported by Science Daily. “People tend to only think about electricity as energy, but in fact, about half of the energy is used in the form of heat.”

Scientists used semitransparent materials, including synthetic quartz, to capture sunlight with a thermal trapping effect. The team connected a synthetic quartz rod, partially lined with platinum, to an opaque silicon carbide disk, which would absorb the sunlight, and exposed one end of the quartz rod to concentrated solar radiation.

After exposing one end of the rod to the concentrated solar radiation, the silicon carbide disk reached 1,050 degrees Celsius (1,922 degrees Fahrenheit), hot enough for smelting metal or cooking cement, among other industrial processes. While that end reached over 1,000 degrees Celsius, the other end of the quartz rod stayed at a temperature of 600 degrees Celsius (1,112 degrees Fahrenheit). The researchers published their findings in the journal Device.

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Article continues at https://www.ecowatch.com/solar-power-heat-metal-smelting-cement-quartz.html

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Kemi Badenoch: Trading on Gaza’s genocide

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https://www.declassifieduk.org/kemi-badenoch-trading-on-gazas-genocide/

Kemi Badenoch and Nir Barkat. (Photo: Department for Business / Flickr)

Britain’s business secretary wants to strike a new trade deal with Israel amid its brutal onslaught on Gaza.

  • Badenoch is negotiating with an Israeli minister who threatens to “wipe out” its enemies 
  • UK-Israel trade talks took place a week after the IDF killed three British aid workers
  • She decided to continue arms exports to Israel at the same time

The UK government, led by business secretary Kemi Badenoch, has been trying to finalise a new trade agreement with Israel throughout its invasion of Gaza. 

The latest – and fifth – round of negotiations between officials of the two countries began on 8 April.

That was just seven days after three British aid workers were killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza. 

The talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) continued even as UN agencies reported over 33,000 Palestinians had been killed by Israel and the Israeli government announced a date had been set for invading Rafah.

These negotiations were hosted by the UK, with a delegation of Israeli officials travelling to London for in-person discussions. 

“An upgraded trade deal will play to British strengths and unlock trade for our world-leading services and digital sectors”, the UK’s Department for Business and Trade noted.

The negotiations are another aspect of Britain’s complicity in genocide, adding to its military and diplomatic support for Israel as it engages in mass attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza.

On the same day the trade talks began in April, Badenoch also authorised continued British arms exports to Israel.

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Article continues at https://www.declassifieduk.org/kemi-badenoch-trading-on-gazas-genocide/

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