Ar C.J. Walsh Technical Blog – Registered Architect, Fire Engineer & Independent Technical/Building Controller …… International Expert on Accessibility for All (including Fire Safety) + 'Real' Sustainability Implementation !
2024-09-25: As we approach the 1st Anniversary of the latest phase in the continuing Palestinian #Nakba … now is an appropriate moment to closely examine the controversial and ambiguous 2016 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Definition of Anti-Semitism. Let’s see what it actually says, and what it doesn’t say.
[ The #IHRA … https://holocaustremembrance.com … is an inter-governmental organization with a mandate focused on addressing contemporary challenges related to the #Holocaust during the 2nd World War in Europe, and #Genocide of the Roma. It fosters education, remembrance, and research about what happened in the past, to build a world without Genocide in the future. ]
The 2016 IHRA Definition is a non-legally binding working definition, which was adopted on 26 May 2016 in Bucharest, Romania ; it is short … and I would agree that it is a good beginning, worthy of support. However, I am more than a little curious as to why ‘non-Jewish’ individuals were included in the actual definition. What does that mean ? Does anybody know ??
‘Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-semitism are directed towards Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, towards Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.’
Unfortunately, there is a glaring difficulty with the appended ‘examples’ which ‘may serve as illustrations’ in order ‘to guide IHRA in its work’. Some examples constrain legitimate freedom of expression which is NOT anti-semitic. Other examples, as is obvious in the context of current criminal and barbaric Israeli State Political Policies and Military Actions in Occupied Palestine and Lebanon, must never be supported.
Of particular note, in passing, is the following sentence directly under the boxed definition on Page 1 …
‘ However, criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-semitic.’
The fundamental flaw, and error, with this document … and the reason for its ‘bad’ and ‘ugly’ aspects, is that it utterly fails to distinguish between the Jewish Religion … and the secular, racist and colonialist Zionist Ideological Project, founded in Europe during the 1890’s, aimed at establishing a Greater Israel (“from the river to the river” – the Euphrates to the Nile) in lands which are already inhabited by other peoples in #Palestine, #Lebanon, #Jordan, #Kuwait, and parts of #Türkiye, #Syria, #Iraq, #SaudiArabia and #Egypt. Today, the world continues to see torrents of horrific scenes, on their television/computer/smartphone screens, of what happens to those vulnerable indigenous peoples.
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Graphic Image, in black and white, showing Page 1 of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Definition of Anti-Semitism, which was adopted on 26 May 2016 in Bucharest, Romania. This page contains the short working definition (boxed text), with some appended examples of what the ambiguous definition purports to mean. Click to enlarge.Graphic Image, in black and white, showing Page 2 of the 2016 International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Definition of Anti-Semitism. This page contains some more examples of what the ambiguous definition on Page 1 purports to mean. Click to enlarge.
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As a direct response to the many flaws and errors in the IHRA document above … the 2021 Jerusalem Declaration on Anti-Semitism was adopted, after much consultation, on 25 March 2021. See the extensive list of international scholars in the fields of Holocaust history, Jewish studies, and Middle East (including Palestine) studies who developed and signed the Declaration … https://jerusalemdeclaration.org
The Jerusalem Declaration’s simpler and much better definition is as follows …
‘Anti-Semitism is discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews (or Jewish institutions as Jewish).’
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Graphic Image, in colour, showing Page 1: Preamble of the Jerusalem Declaration on Anti-Semitism, which was adopted on 25 March 2021. Click to enlarge.Graphic Image, in colour, showing Page 2: Definition & Guidelines of the Jerusalem Declaration on Anti-Semitism, which was adopted on 25 March 2021. Click to enlarge.
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Notes:
With regard to Guideline A.2 in the 2021 Jerusalem Declaration … the public at large in very many countries has become fully acquainted with the widespread, aggressive lobbying activities of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee ( https://www.aipac.org ). #AIPAC does control the #USA Government with the almost ‘hidden hand’ of many, many USA Dollars. Refer to #TrackAIPAC … https://trackaipac.com
Anti-Semitism or Antisemitism ? The spelling format adopted by the Jewish Virtual Library is ‘Anti-Semitism’. This is also my own preference, as it is easier to read. Follow the interesting discussion … https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/anti-semitism-or-antisemitism
2024-09-14: Inclusive Accessibility of the Built Environment – ‘Accessibility for All’ – is a dynamic, continuously evolving concept … the effective implementation of which is essential if we are to realize a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment … for ALL, i.e. including everybody, every ‘Person’ in society … particularly ‘Vulnerable People’.
Whether it’s People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF), or #Refugees, or #Migrants … how does ‘Inclusion’ differ from ‘Integration’ ?
Graphic Image, in colour, showing the meaning of ‘social inclusion’… and differentiating that concept from ‘integration’, ‘segregation’, and ‘exclusion’. Always grateful to Solidarité Lilloise Étudiante (So’Lille – France) for this very clever and informative image. Click to enlarge.
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Vulnerable People :
Those people – in a community, society or culture – who are most at risk of being physically, psychologically or sociologically wounded, hurt, damaged, injured, or killed … and include, for example, people with disabilities, young children, people with health conditions, frail older people, women in late pregnancy, refugees, migrants, prisoners, the poor, and homeless.
People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF) :
Those people, of all ages, who are unable to perform, independently and without assistance, basic human activities or tasks – because of a health condition or physical / mental / cognitive / psychological impairment of a permanent or temporary nature.
Accessibility of a Building :
Encompasses the complete cycle of independent use of a building – in a dignified manner and on an equal basis with others – including the approach, entry and usability of the building and its facilities, services and information/communication systems, egress from the building during normal conditions and removal from its vicinity and, most importantly, evacuation during an emergency to a place of safety remote from the building and reached by way of an accessible route … by all of the building’s potential users, with an assurance of their health, safety, welfare and security during the course of those activities.
Successful Accessibility Implementation : [ Principle 2 – 2015 Dublin Declaration on ‘Fire Safety for All’ in Buildings ]
Successful Accessibility Implementation … meaning high quality accessibility performance in the built environment … is reliant upon:
A robust Legal Base mandating accessibility for all and fire safety for all ;
Determined Political Will ;
Sufficient public Financial Resources ;
A compassionate and understanding Bureaucracy at all levels ;
Competence … meaning duly educated, trained and experienced in accessibility and fire safety design … spatial planners, architects, structural engineers, fire engineers, quantity surveyors, technical controllers, industrial designers, building managers, and people at all levels in construction organizations ;
Independent Monitoring of accessibility and fire safety performance ;
Innovative, well-designed accessibility and fire safety related Products and Systems which can be shown to be ‘fit for their intended use’.
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Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan :
Colour Photograph (1 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2024-04-13. Click to enlarge.Colour Photograph (2 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2024-04-13. Click to enlarge.
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Colour Photograph (3 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2024-04-13. Click to enlarge.Colour Photograph (4 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2024-04-13. Click to enlarge.Colour Photograph (5 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2024-04-13. Click to enlarge.
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Colour Photograph (6 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2024-04-13. Click to enlarge.Colour Photograph (7 of 7) showing an Accessible Train Toilet Room in Japan. Photograph by CJ Walsh. 2024-04-13. Click to enlarge.
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Principle 9 – 2004 Rio Declaration on Sustainable Social Development, Disability & Ageing :
Concerted and properly resourced programmes of #Disability and #Age Related education and training should be provided in every U.N. Member State … at all levels … to politicians, educationalists, bureaucrats, administrators, and technical personnel connected, directly or indirectly, with the spatial planning, design, construction/de-construction, operation, management and maintenance of the Human Environment – in order to ensure that the implementation and monitoring of disability and age related Sustainable Social Policies, and the requirements of International Law, are competent and effective.
The #Dignity, #Privacy, #Autonomy and #Independence of every #Person should be respected.
Every U.N. Member State should adopt measures for the production and management of national disability and age related #Statistics – within an agreed and harmonized international framework – which are impartial, reliable, objective, scientifically independent, and accessible to the Public.
For #Survival and #Liberation, the priority targets for a comprehensive range of disability and age related sustainable social policies should be …
– Residential Buildings ;
– Public Transport … including buses, coaches, taxis, trams, trains, ferries, ships and planes ;
– Educational Buildings ;
– Places of Work.
Good #Education, within a context of Lifelong Learning for All, and Good #Employment are important keys to Social Inclusion.
For #Health and #SocialWellbeing, the priority targets for a comprehensive range of disability and age related sustainable social policies should be …
– Health Facilities ;
– Electronic, Information & Communication Technologies (#EICT’s) ;
– Civic Buildings ;
– Existing Buildings & Infrastructure … of Historical, Cultural or Architectural Importance.
In the short term, properly resourced programmes of work should be carried out and monitored in all U.N. Member States – in order to ensure that the Human Environment (social, built, institutional and virtual) is effectively Accessible for All.
2024-09-06:The International Court of Justice (ICJ) published an Advisory Legal Opinion / Avis Juridique Consultatif on 19 July 2024.
Following is an Extract from that Document … Section VII B … Paragraphs 278 & 279 … which set out, very clearly, the legal consequences for ALL OTHER MEMBER STATES of the United Nations (#UN) concerning their dealings with the State of Israel …
ALL OTHER MEMBER STATES of the United Nations are OBLIGED to comply, and without undue delay … in stark view of the State of Israel’s criminal political and military environment.
Taking note of the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly, the International Court of Justice is of the view that Member States are under an obligation not to recognize any changes in the physical character or demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the territory occupied by Israel on 5 June 1967, including East Jerusalem, except as agreed by the parties through negotiations, and to distinguish in their dealings with Israel between the territory of the State of Israel and the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. The Court considers that the duty of distinguishing dealings with Israel between its own territory and the Occupied Palestinian Territory encompasses, inter alia, the obligation to abstain from treaty relations with Israel in all cases in which it purports to act on behalf of the Occupied Palestinian Territory or a part thereof on matters concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory or a part of its territory ; to abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory or parts thereof which may entrench its unlawful presence in the territory ; to abstain, in the establishment and maintenance of diplomatic missions in Israel, from any recognition of its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory ; and to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (see Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970), Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1971, pp. 55-56, paras. 122, 125-127).
Moreover, the Court considers that, in view of the character and importance of the rights and obligations involved, all States are under an obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. They are also under an obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It is for all States, while respecting the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, to ensure that any impediment resulting from the illegal presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to the exercise of the Palestinian people of its right to self-determination is brought to an end. In addition, all the States Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention have the obligation, while respecting the Charter of the United Nations and International Law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention.
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Israel’s Expanding Colonial Occupation of Palestine …
Graphic Image, in colour, showing a sequence of Maps – at years: 1917; 1946; 1947; 1967; Present Day – of a Shrinking Palestine with the corresponding Expanding Colonial Occupation by Israel. Not shown are the post-1967 occupied Golan Heights in Syria and Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Click to enlarge.
Notes …
1882 – The first Zionist Colony (Hebrew: ‘Aliyah’, the act of going up towards the holy city of Jerusalem) … Rishon LeZion … established in Ottoman Palestine by Jewish immigrants from what was then the Russian Empire (today’s Kharkiv in #Ukraine).
1916 – Long before World War I ended in 1918 … the British & French (Sykes-Picot) Agreement to carve up the Ottoman Middle East between them. Russia was excluded.
1917 – The Balfour Declaration … British Government statement of support for (‘view with favour’) the establishment of a ‘national home for the Jewish people’ … ‘it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine’.
1948 – #Nakba (Arabic: ‘catastrophe’) … Ethnic Cleansing / Expulsion of 750,000+ Palestinians … mass killings and violent displacement, with expropriation of lands, property and belongings … no right of return.
1967 – Arab-Israeli War (5-10 June), fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab States, primarily Egypt, Syria, Jordan … after which Israel illegally occupied: the Golan Heights in #Syria ; the West Bank including East Jerusalem in #Jordan ; the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza in #Egypt.
2024-08-27: Have you – Yes YOU – ever noticed increasing references, over the past few years, to the International Rules-Based Order (RBO) in mainstream media … heavily promoted by USA and certain European political cliques ?
Are You Curious WHY ?
What is this #RBO ? Where are these Rules written down ?? Are they enforceable … and if yes, by what internationally agreed mechanism ???
How does the RBO relate, if at all, to the United Nations (#UN) Charter, International Law, the International Court of Justice (#ICJ), or the International Criminal Court (#ICC) ?
How were the #USA / #UK / #NATO able to justify the use of their illegal ‘shock and awe’ force against, for example, #Iraq (2003) … followed by #Libya (2011) and #Syria (2014) ?
How and why is the USA able to prop up and shield the Criminal Apartheid Racist State of #Israel – a Twisted Zionist Polity – and its political and military leaders from international accountability before the UN Security Council, the ICJ and the ICC … for War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide ?
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Read & Weep … Pay Attention & Be Warned …
A very interesting Editorial by John Dugard SC was published in 2023. He is a former Member of the UN International Law Commission, Judge ad hoc of the International Court of Justice, and UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories …
‘ The RBO is something other than International Law. It is an alternative regime outside the discipline of International Law which inevitably challenges and threatens International Law. Charitably it may be seen as an order comprising values of a liberal order. Less charitably, it may be seen as a competing order advocated by some Western states, particularly the United States of America, which seeks to impose the interpretation of International Law that best advances the interests of the West, particularly those of the United States of America. Unlike International Law, it does not seem to be a universal order. Instead, it is an order employed by the West, again particularly the United States of America, to ensure its dominance.’
2024-03-22:The United Nation’s 4th Global e-Waste Monitor (#GEM) Report has revealed that the world’s generation of Electronic Waste is rising five times faster than documented e-Waste Recycling.
The 62 Million Tonnes of e-Waste generated in 2022 would fill 1.55 million 40-tonne trucks, roughly enough trucks to form a bumper-to-bumper chain encircling the equator.
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Colour Photograph showing various types of e-Waste … a typical scene at a Recycling Centre. Not every Centre is properly managed. And there are many parts of the world where there are no Centres at all, and e-Waste goes straight to landfill causing serious health and environmental problems for local communities. Click to enlarge.
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Less than one quarter (22.3%) of the year’s e-Waste Mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled in 2022, leaving over Euro €57 Billion worth of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for, and increasing pollution risks to local communities. Worldwide, the annual generation of e-Waste is rising by 2.6 Million Tonnes annually, on track to reach 82 Million Tonnes by 2030, a further 33% increase from the 2022 figure.
E-waste, any discarded product with a plug or battery, is a health and environmental hazard, containing toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury, which can damage the human brain and co-ordination system.
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Colour Image showing the Title Page of the United Nation’s 4th Global e-Waste Monitor (GEM) Report. Click to enlarge.
The Report foresees a drop in the documented collection and recycling rate from 22.3% in 2022 to 20% by 2030 due to the widening difference in recycling efforts relative to the staggering growth of e-Waste generation worldwide. Challenges contributing to the widening gap include technological progress, higher consumption, limited repair options, shorter product life cycles, society’s growing ‘smartness’, design shortcomings, and inadequate e-Waste management infrastructure.
The Report also notes that the world ‘remains stunningly dependent’ on a few countries for rare earth elements, despite their unique properties crucial for future technologies, including renewable energy generation and e-Mobility.
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Colour Image showing the e-Waste Status of Africa in 2022. Click to enlarge.
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31 Million Tonnes … Estimated weight of metals embedded in e-Waste in 2022, along with 17 Million Tonnes of plastics and 14 Million Tonnes of other materials (minerals, glass, composite materials, etc.)
17.6 Kg … Per Capita e-Waste generation in Europe, followed by Oceania (16.1 kg) and the Americas (14.1 kg)
5.1 Million Tonnes (8.2% of Global Total) … e-Waste shipped across borders in 2022, of which approximately 3.3 Million Tonnes (65%) was shipped from high-income to middle/low-income countries through uncontrolled, undocumented movements
NOTE: Cross national border ‘exporting’ of e-Waste – ANY Waste – Is NOT Recycling !
33% (20.4 Million Tonnes) … Proportion of e-waste made up of small devices (e.g. toys, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, e-cigarettes), of which 12% are recycled
Sustainability Impact Assessment (#SIA): A continual evaluation and optimization process – informing initial decision-making, design, shaping activity / product / service realization, useful life, and termination or final disposal – of the interrelated positive and negative social, environmental, economic, institutional, political and legal impacts on balanced and equitable implementation of Sustainable Human & Social Development.
2024-03-22: In this balanced documentary, October 7 … Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) carried out a forensic analysis of the extreme events on 7 October 2023 … a day which transformed politics throughout the Eastern Mediterranean Region. By examining hours of footage from Closed Circuit TV (CCTV), dash-cams, personal phones and the head-cams of dead Hamas fighters, and listening to the testimonies of hundreds of survivors … the I-Unit reveals human rights abuses by Hamas fighters, and Gazan civilians who later followed after the early morning co-ordinated and multi-pronged attacks into Israel. But the investigation also found that many of the horrific stories presented by Israeli individuals and authorities in the weeks following the attacks were glaringly false.
Also revealed are the severe Israeli intelligence and military failures, and the callous implementation of the Hannibal Directive.
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Colour Image – a screen grab from the Al Jazeera Documentary: ‘October7’ – showing the 10 breach points in the eastern and northern high-walled security barrier which separates the Occupied Gaza Ghetto from Israel. These Hamas attacks took place on 7 October 2023. Click to enlarge.
October 7 is a detailed examination of events which led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people … the significance of which will reverberate, in the Arab world and the Global South, for decades to come.
2024-03-01: Too many strategic mistakes are being made, and too much uninformed ‘group-think’ is evident, in the – NOW – frantic human scramble to head off Climate Disruption … and attain Sustainable Human & Social Development … an intricate, open, dynamic and continuously evolving concept which is still not properly understood.
In a Split Human Personality which is clearly observed amid today’s geopolitical turmoil … much of one ‘personality’ is involved in this positive, yet arduous Ecological Rescue Attempt … while the other ‘personality’ stubbornly ignores the enormous negative impacts on that Task by: (i) the #USA #UK #NATO Proxy War in #Ukraine ; (ii) the ongoing Extermination of the Palestinian People & Culture in Illegally Occupied Territories by #Zionists intent on establishing a Greater Israel ; and (iii) the growing Hostility of the Global South towards the #West caused by (i) and (ii), just when global unified and concerted action on climate disruption is urgently required.
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Uninformed Group-Think …
Sustainability Impact Assessment of Electric Vehicles
Rowan’s well-reasoned conclusion … “Sadly, keeping your old petrol car may be better than buying an Electric Vehicle (#EV). There are sound environmental reasons not to jump just yet.”
EV’s should properly be evaluated using Full Life Cycle Sustainability Impact Assessment … not just checking one, very beneficial but isolated, type of performance, i.e. zero exhaust emissions.
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Colour photograph showing a raging Electric Vehicle / Car Fire on a narrow road. The car is turned upside down. The photograph shows the scene after the initial Lithium-Ion Battery related explosion, and when the fire is being attended to by Fire Services. In the far background, a large group of onlookers has gathered to view these strange events. Click to enlarge.
Without even mentioning the #FireSafety Issues associated with Lithium-Ion Batteries in e-Cars (and e-Scooters, e-Bikes, e-Wheelchairs, etc.) … Rowan was / is correct … yet he was swamped with a ‘tonne of abuse’ for daring to voice an unfashionable opinion … to question the current majoritarian group-think on EV’s.
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Mining Cobalt for Lithium-Ion Batteries – Serious Rights Violations in DRC
‘ Our world is increasingly powered by Lithium-Ion Batteries, ranging from the ones found in everyday mobile technologies, such as smartphones and laptop computers, to those in electric vehicles. There is also a growing interest in using super-sized rechargeable batteries to help store electricity generated from solar and wind sources and deliver it to consumers more efficiently. These technologies are attractive because of their perceived sustainability. But as their use becomes more and more widespread, in what some are calling the ‘clean energy revolution’, it is necessary to ask whether the energy powering this revolution is as ‘clean’ as it is claimed to be.
Cobalt is an element critical for powering the clean energy revolution. More than 50% of the world’s cobalt supply originates in the Democratic Republic of Congo (#DRC).’
The 2017 Report builds on an earlier report: ‘This is What We Die For’, first published by Amnesty International and #Afrewatch in 2016, which showed how #Cobalt mined by young children and adults – in very hazardous conditions and in serious violation of their Human Rights – entered the supply chains of many of the world’s biggest brands. The new report assesses the policies and practices of 29 companies and how much their cobalt-sourcing practices have improved since then.
Did anybody really care that these Human Rights Violations were taking place in #Africa ? NO.
Was the strength and pace of mushrooming world Lithium-Ion Battery production in any way affected by the 2017 AI Report ?? NO.
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Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA)
Important Policy and Decision Making Mistakes can be attributed to the lack of rigorous Sustainability Impact Assessment. ( Environmental Impact Assessment ignores the other important aspects of Sustainable Development … and therefore is limited, inadequate, and out-of-date.) Instead, #SIA should be deeply embedded in both processes as a matter of regular routine …
Sustainability Impact Assessment: A continual evaluation and optimization process – informing initial decision-making, design, shaping activity / product / service realization, useful life, and termination or final disposal – of the interrelated positive and negative social, environmental, economic, institutional, political and legal impacts on balanced and equitable implementation of Sustainable Human & Social Development.
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Signs & Symptoms
Environmental Signs of Planet Breakdown include: Climate Disruption, Biodiversity Loss, Ocean Acidification, Coral Reef Destruction, Extreme Heatwaves and Droughts, Intense Wildfires, Polar Ice Cap Retreat and Collapse, Amazon Forest Dieback, etc., etc.
The example of Electric Vehicles above is a small indication that something more serious is wrong with Human Behaviour generally. It is a Human Symptom … one which opens up the potential of exploring a different approach to solving the World’s Ecological Overshoot.
This very interesting Paper points to the start, and elaborates a beginning – not the end – of an innovative Human Behaviour Research Path … with the practical aim of effectively heading off Climate Disruption and attaining Sustainable Human and Social Development.
Scientific Paper’s Abstract
Previously, Anthropogenic Ecological Overshoot has been identified as a fundamental cause of the myriad signs we see around the globe today from biodiversity loss and ocean acidification to the disturbing rise in novel entities and climate disruption. In the present paper, we have examined this more deeply, and explore the human behavioural drivers of overshoot, providing evidence that overshoot is itself a symptom of a deeper, more subversive modern crisis of human behaviour. We work to name and frame this crisis as the Human Behavioural Crisis and propose the crisis be recognised globally as a critical intervention point for tackling ecological overshoot. We demonstrate how current interventions are largely physical, resource intensive, slow-moving and focused on addressing the signs of ecological overshoot (such as climate disruption) rather than the real cause (maladaptive behaviours). We argue that even in the best-case scenarios, sign level interventions are unlikely to avoid catastrophe or achieve more than ephemeral progress.
We explore three Drivers of the Behavioural Crisis in depth: (a) Economic Growth ; (b) Marketing & Advertising ; and (c) Pro-Natalism. These three drivers directly impact the three Levers of Ecological Overshoot: 1.Over Consumption ; 2.Excessive Waste ; and 3.Population Growth. We demonstrate how the maladaptive behaviours of overshoot stemming from these three drivers have been catalysed and perpetuated by the intentional exploitation of previously adaptive human impulses.
In the final sections of this paper, we propose an Interdisciplinary Emergency Response to the behavioural crisis by, amongst other things, the shifting of social norms relating to reproduction, consumption and waste. We seek to highlight a critical disconnect that is an ongoing societal gulf in communication between those that know, such as scientists working within limits to growth … and those members of the citizenry, largely influenced by social scientists and industry, that must act.
Paper Conclusion
In summary, the evidence indicates that Anthropogenic Ecological Overshoot stems from a crisis of maladaptive human behaviours. While the behaviours generating overshoot were once adaptive for Homo Sapiens, they have been distorted and extended to the point where they now threaten the fabric of complex life on Earth. Simply, we are trapped in a system built to encourage growth and appetites that will end us.
The current emphasis for overshoot intervention is Resource Intensive (e.g. the global transition to renewable energy), and Single Environmental Sign Focused. Indeed, most mainstream attention and investment is directed towards mitigating and adapting to climate disruption. Even if this narrow intervention is successful, it will not resolve the meta-crisis of ecological overshoot. In fact, with many of the current resource-intensive interventions, it is likely to make matters worse. Psychological interventions are likely to prove far less resource-intensive and more effective than physical ones.
We call for increased attention on the behavioural crisis as a critical intervention point for addressing overshoot and its myriad signs ;
We advocate increased interdisciplinary collaboration between the social and behavioural science theorists and practitioners, advised by scientists working on limits to growth and planetary boundaries ;
We call for additional research to develop a full understanding of the many dimensions of the behavioural crisis (including the overwhelming influence of power structures) and how we can best address it ;
We call for an emergency, concerted, multidisciplinary effort to target the populations and value levers most likely to produce rapid global adoption of new consumption, reproduction and waste norms congruent with the survival of complex life on Earth ;
We call for increased interdisciplinary work to be carried out in directing, understanding and policing widespread behaviour manipulation.
The Clock Is Ticking not only because the health of the natural systems upon which we are utterly dependent is deteriorating, but also because broad sweep interventions are only possible when a society holds together and is capable of coherent action. As the effects of overshoot worsen, the likelihood of societal breakdown increases. We still have an opportunity to be proactive and utilise the intact systems we have in place to deliver a framework for shifting social norms and other necessities for addressing the behavioural crisis. However, the day may come when societal breakdown will make intervention impossible, locking the planet into an unguided recovery that may salvage much of Nature but be inhospitable to human life.
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Are We Trapped in a System built to encourage growth and appetites that will end us ?
OR …Are Humans a Virus intent on devouring the last of this Planet’s Limited Resources (as postulated by Agent Smith) ??
2024-02-17: A very recent Report: The Fraud of Plastic Recycling – How Big Oil and the Plastics Industry Deceived the Public for Decades and Caused the Plastic Waste Crisis … published by the Centre for Climate Integrity ( www.climateintegrity,org ), in Washington D.C., #USA … raises serious issues about whether Any Plastic Recycling is technically or economically viable at scale … and serious questions, by implication, about Statistical Reliability in the European Union (#EU) concerning Recycling generally, and Plastics Recycling in particular.
Could this also be the Reason why the Global North is so busy dumping Un-Recyclable Plastics in the previously colonized territories of the Global South ???
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Short Extract From This Report’s Introduction …
Plastic Pollution is one of the most serious Environmental Crises facing the world today. Between 1950 and 2015, over 90% of plastics were landfilled, incinerated, or leaked into the environment. Plastic Waste is ubiquitous – from our rivers, lakes, and oceans to roadways and coastlines. It is in ‘the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink’. One study estimates that humans ingest up to five grams, or the equivalent of one credit card worth of plastic per week. Some of the largest Oil and Gas Companies are among the 20 petrochemical companies responsible for more than half of all single-use plastics generated globally. #ExxonMobil, for example, is the world’s top producer of single-use plastic polymers.
Underpinning this Plastic Waste Crisis is a decades-long campaign of #Fraud and #Deception about the #Recyclability of #Plastics. Despite their long-standing knowledge that recycling plastic is neither technically nor economically viable, petrochemical companies – independently and through their industry trade associations and front groups – have engaged in fraudulent marketing and public education campaigns designed to mislead the public about the viability of plastic recycling as a solution to Plastic Waste.
By deceiving consumers, policymakers, and regulators about the viability of Plastic Recycling, petrochemical companies have ensured the continued expansion of plastic production, which has led to a Plastic Waste and Pollution Crisis for communities across the country. The costs of managing and cleaning up Plastic Waste are largely borne by municipal and state governments – and those costs are projected to increase exponentially in the coming decades, given that Plastic Waste generation in the United States of America is expected to increase from 73 million metric tonnes in 2019 to more than 140 million metric tonnes by 2060.
If not for the Big Oil and the plastic industry’s lies and deception, municipalities and states would not have invested in plastic recycling programmes and facilities – many of which have been shut down due to foreseeable economic losses. The industry not only misled municipal and state agencies to believe that Plastic Recycling was a viable solution to Plastic Waste but also discouraged them from pursuing other, more Sustainable Waste Management Strategies (e.g., waste reduction, reuse, bans, alternative materials) in favour of plastic recycling.
Fossil fuel and other petrochemical companies should now be held accountable for their deliberate campaign of deception and the resulting harms, much like tobacco and opioid companies that employed a similar playbook. Based on the growing body of evidence, municipalities and states are likely to pursue litigation, which could put an end to the industry’s deception, make the companies pay for the devastating harms they have caused to communities, and open the door to real solutions that are currently out of reach.
2023-10-11: Theory is one thing, but the practical working out and implementation of Sustainable Fire Engineering Design is something else …
The (Sustainable) Fire Engineer will already be an active, contributing member of a collaborative Project Design Team. So, very early on in the Design Process for a Simple Building / Complex Building / Innovative Building / High-Rise Building / Tall Building or Group of Buildings (whatever) … he or she has a relatively mature sketch design on which to work, and major elements of the design can still be modified, without cost implications, based on her or his Creative Solutions which positively support and aid – not hinder, weaken or dilute – the Project Team’s Design Intent.
The Sustainable Fire Engineer should always / must, therefore, have a minimum competence with regard to Building Design and Construction in order to effectively communicate and creatively collaborate in these Design Teams.
[ Recommendation: Instead of looking down on, or discriminating against, Architects … they should be warmly welcomed into the International Community of Fire Engineering … where their particular expertise is badly needed.]
A blank sheet of paper, pencil in hand … or, if you prefer, an empty monitor screen, with mouse poised to move … and how to proceed … should it be this fire safety strategy (?) … or a different, more appropriate fire safety strategy (?)
Incorporate Ease & Reasonable Cost of Post-Fire Reconstruction.
At this early stage in the Design Process … treat Conventional Fire Codes as an irrelevancy in the context of the above Design Objectives … question the adequacy of out-dated, simple prescriptive solutions … and forget about European and North American biases with regard to Passive and Active Fire Protection Measures. Investigate new Sustainable Building Materials & Smart Technologies. Incorporate Factors of Safety throughout the Fire Engineering Design Process. Always remember Defence in Depth and Redundancy. Prioritize Construction Reliability.
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Sustainable Design: Green Walls & Fire ?
‘Green Walls’ (also known as Planted Facades, Living Walls, Vertical Gardens, and Vertical Landscapes) is a general term which covers the architectural use of natural vegetation as a vertical element in buildings, both externally and/or internally ; intrinsically, each ‘Wall’ is different. To be absolutely clear from a fire engineering viewpoint, there is no such thing as a ‘standard’ green wall which can be fire tested in a laboratory. There are many benefits and advantages to these Walls … but, in future, they will play an important role in dealing with Climate Disruption, particularly the Urban Heat Island Effect in cities and large towns.
If properly installed and maintained … properly nourished and watered depending on local environmental conditions … Green Walls will not pose a fire hazard. But those are a lot of ‘ifs’ !
Remembering Defence in Depth … the installed ‘sub-soil’ watering system for a Green Wall may be interrupted or break down, so a Smart Water Mist System will help with hydration of the vegetation, and cooling for building occupants/users, as Climate Disruption intensifies. Some of the trees, shrubs or plants may wither and die, so a Water Sprinkler/Deluge (as appropriate) Fire Suppression System will deal with any accidental or intentional outbreaks of fire.
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Photograph, in colour, showing a street view at the rear of the Twin Tower, Multi-Storey Bosco Verticale Project in Milan, Italy. In the view shown, ‘Green Wall’ covers a wide range, from a simple planted façade on the left to a vertical forest (Italian: bosco verticale) on the right. With natural vegetation, similar types of ‘Wall’ can be very different. Photograph by CJ Walsh 2023-06-07. Click to enlarge.
Colour Photograph showing the Twin Tower, Multi-Storey Bosco Verticale Project in Milan, Italy. Designed by Ar.Stefano Boeri, it was completed in late 2014. Early research based on an examination of the 900 trees (23 species) in the Project revealed that some adapted better to a challenging high-level environment than others, and trees on the upper floors were more stressed, requiring 20 percent more water. Photograph by CJ Walsh 2023-06-07. Click to enlarge.
