Prof. David Burigana, Professor in International History of Science and Technology and History of International Organizations at the University of Padua, shares his insights on the European Union (EU)'s Defence Strategy. He talks about the main issues regarding a common European army, the historical precedents of European cooperation at the strategic and militarly level, and the development of a coherent procurement and defence policy at the European level.
Interviewer: Danilo delle Fave.
This is ITSS Verona Member Series Video Podcast by the Military Strategy and Intelligence Team.
ITSS Verona - The International Team for the Study of Security Verona is a not-for-profit, apolitical, international cultural association dedicated to the study of international security, ranging from terrorism to climate change, from artificial intelligence to pandemics, from great power competition to energy security.
For its third event of the 2021/22 Webinar Series, ITSS Verona members Ludovica Brambilla, Chiara Aquilino, Sarah Toubman, and Julia Hogdings discuss with world-leading cyber security expert Andrea Rigoni the question of cyber security in Italy, with particular reference to the creation of the new Cyber Security Agency and its current and future implications.
The ITSS Verona's International System's Team focussing on China and Asia interview Joanna Chiu, a senior journalist for the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper, and the author of China Unbound: A New World Disorder. As a globally-recognized authority on China, she is a commentator for international broadcast media and was previously based for seven years in Beijing and in Hong Kong as a foreign correspondent, including for Agence France Presse (AFP) specializing in coverage of Chinese politics, economy and legal affairs for one of the world’s biggest news operations.
She shares her insighs on China's relationship with Italy, the Hong Kong protests and elaborates on China's human rights violations in the Uyghur Province and United Front Organisation which she touches upon in her book as well. A review of her book by Sandra Parcels, member of the ITSS Verona’s China and Asia team can be found here.
We regret that due to technical error the video was cut short abruptly. Nonetheless, we thank Joanna for her time and for her valuable insights on the pressing issues related to China.
Interviewing Team: Sandra Watson Parcels and Carlotta Rinaudo.
Tyra Tucker shares her insights about the changing nature of digital diplomacy in the post-pandemic world, and the barriers and triumphs experienced in her journey to becoming a global voice for cultural affairs.
Tyra Tucker is the Founder of Culture Scoop, a digital platform creating educational, yet interesting, content about world cultures. She holds a Post Graduate degree from Oxford University in Diplomatic Studies and is also a member of the ITSS Verona Expert Team.
Interviewers: Leigh Dawson, Julia Hodgins, Sofia Staderini.
Today, with our guest Andrej Movchan, we had the chance to probe today's geopolitical situation, so that we can understand as best as possible what our future holds. We discussed the contrasts between Russia and Japan, its relations with Ukraine and Afghanistan, the northern development and how the Federation is facing the large demand for gas from European states.
Andrej Movchan is a Russian economist and a nonresident scholar in the Economic Policy Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. His research focuses on Russia's economy, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the future of Russia's economic relations with the EU. Movchan has been a top executive for Russian and international financial institutions since 1993. He was an executive director of Troika Dialog for six years. From 2003 to 2009, Movchan headed Renaissance Investment Management Group, which he founded, and from 2006 to 2008, he was the CEO of Renaissance Credit Bank. He also founded the Third Rome investment company, and was its CEO and managing partner from 2009 until the end of 2013. Movchan has also authored numerous publications on economics and finance. His op-eds and commentary regularly appear in the media. He won two PRESSzvaniebusiness journalism awards in 2011 and 2013.
Interviewers: Alessio Calzetti and Igor Shchebetun.
Finland is currently seeking to replace its aging F-18 with a global competition dubbed H-X worth $11 billion. It is expected that a decision will be made public before the end of 2021. Arguably, fighter jets represent a crucial component of States’ security and a decisive hard power asset in every conflictual context. This article aims at uncovering the underlying dynamics of the Western defense industry implied by the evolution of the Finnish tender.
As of December 2021, the Finnish Ministry of Defense has received responses for its request for information from the European Eurofighter Typhoon, the Swedish Saab Gripen, the French Dassault Rafale, and the American Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin F-35.
Divided European contenders open the way for American offers
The Finnish request for information received answers from all major Western fighter jets producers; hence the comparison of contenders allows us to identify several factors shaping the evolutions of the industry. The very fact that Finland launched its fleet’s renewing process very close to the expected decommission date for its current Hornets, as their “structural fatigue” denounces, exemplifies how procurement programs are not at the top of policy-makers agenda (Finnish Ministry of Defense).
The cost borne by single states with limited expenditure margins is becoming increasingly untenable, especially where political pressure on taxpayers’ spending is large (e.g., the United Kingdom). Moreover, countries may not dispose of design and production capacity over the entire technological spectrum, such as Italy and Spain. The relative political frenzy generated in recent decades made transnational fighter jets’ fleets a common feature of Western air forces. However, the pan-European Eurofighter Typhoon underwent difficulties showcasing the complexity of such projects, with reluctant transfers, unclear directions, and soaring costs due to fragmented production.
Meanwhile, the individual offers from France and Sweden do not seem greatly superior. The Dassault Rafaleand the Saab Gripen offer suffer from their limited interoperability and relatively isolated stance in the current geopolitical equilibrium. Indeed, the political logic of defense procurement programs vastly supersedes the economic aspects of the choice. Was Finland to purchase the Saab Gripen underdog from its neighbor, its strategic prospects would be very limited and centered on Russian containment. The Rafale, in turn, would signify Finland’s alignment on the French posture of European strategic autonomy from the U.S. The 1,340km-long border Helsinki shares with Russia makes this perspective impossible. Therefore, although the Rafale has recently been sold to Croatia and Greece, Dassault’s offer seems compromised.
The American bidders consequently benefit from the lack of unity of European actors and put forward the geopolitical continuity they represent as a sales’ argument. The Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet proposal would minimize the H-X program costs due to pre-existing maintenance and operating capacities while selecting the F-35 would guarantee the acquisition of new, cutting-edge capacities.
A degrading security environment
In recent years, we have witnessed a degradation of the international security environment with Russia’s resurgence and the growing assertiveness of China’s behavior. Primarily concerned with Russia, Finland finds itself in a delicate position as it is the E.U. member that shares the largest border with Russia. Russia has been particularly active in recent years by bolstering its military, as demonstrated by its intervention in the Syrian front, its attempts to upset the status quo, and its destabilization of NATO from within. Growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine are fueling a sense of regional insecurity with a Russian troop buildup as well as creating some levels of uncertainty regarding Russia’s intentions. Amid a large scale rearmament program, Russia has been able to field the SU-57, a modern stealth fighter aircraft, and develop lighter fifth-generation aircraft, the Checkmate, focused on export markets and somewhat reminiscent of the F-35.
Given the growing insecurity of its regional environment, Finland may be looking to maintain its strategic relationship with the U.S. and reinforce its indirect relationships with NATO. A critical political and strategic factor to consider is the interoperability of weapon systems within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Although Finland is not a member of the Alliance, the Lockheed Martin’s F-35 and Boeing’s F-18 Super Hornet would expand the reach of NATO and its ability to share data, engage in secure communication, and increase interoperability capabilities between the U.S. and other U.S.-allied European assets. Thus, beyond the interoperability aspect of those deals, acquiring the F-35 or the F-18 does bring diplomatic benefits and strengthen relationships with the United States.
The case of buying a strategic relationship with the U.S.
When it comes to large military hardware procurement, countries’ decisions are influenced by the prospect of a future strategic relationship with the procuring country. Buying U.S. material implies future interoperability, a valuable prospect in a world of growing tensions. In addition, the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) framework is largely seen as a political instrument by Washington to deepen relationships with key allies. As such, the F-35 initially developed to replace aging F-16s, is poised to become one of America’s biggest exports. By strengthening military interoperability with U.S. allies across the globe and elevating their airpower capabilities, the F-35 is instrumental to America’s containment military strategies. Furthermore, some experts argue that the F-35 program acts as America’s Belt and Road Initiative, at least from a strategic and military standpoint. It provides a network and a platform acting as ‘a generator of wealth and peaceful co-existence on a global scale.’
Even soaring costs do not prevent countries from buying the F-35. Small players such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland have already chosen to buy the F-35 jets, notwithstanding questionable financial dispositions. This perfectly illustrates the underpinning political challenge at stake. For example, Switzerland agreed to buy 36 F-35As in July 2021 and Patriot air defense systems, even though the decision was controversial and considered overkill.
Thus, buying American-made fighter jets does bring significant commercial, industrial, and geopolitical benefits. Indeed, by buying American fighter jets, Finland would essentially strengthen its strategic relationship with the U.S.
Conclusively, given the degrading security environment Finland finds itself in and the growing importance of the U.S. strategic relationship, Finland is more likely to acquire U.S. technologies to replace its aging F-18s. Arguably, the F-35 appears better suited to meet Finland’s short and long-term requirements by strengthening its military and political relationship with the U.S. and acquiring an aircraft that could address the existing and emerging military threat as Russia deploys additional advanced stealth combat airborne platforms.
Global supply chain issues have recently manifested as a consequence of lockdowns implemented by world governments to curb the impact of Covid-19. Due to restrictions on movement, many producers are unable to adequately deliver goods across international borders in a timely manner, posing severe implications to both economic and food security across the globe. In Italy, these global supply chain issues have directly impacted consumers by raising the average costs of food, and limiting the earnings of the country’s large agricultural sector, which is a leading exporter of many goods, including pasta, wine, and olive oil. In the past three years, global demands on pasta surpassed production due to an increase in consumption as well as an inadequate response to the spike in demand by supply chain leaders. This has resulted in the loss of 3 million tons of wheat, causing an increase in pasta prices. Overall, supply chain problems in Italy compound pre-existing international economic and food insecurity caused by Covid-19 by decreasing the variety and quantity of key exports.
While Italy’s agricultural supply chain has no doubt been harmed by the impacts of Covid-19, it is this new complication in conjunction with other variables which has had such a severe impact on agricultural exports. For example, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Italy lacked a robust labour force of truck drivers compared to other European countries. Additionally, Italy sources a large percentage of the wheat it uses to make pasta from Canada and Russia. Supply chain issues alone could have hampered the import of Canadian and Russian grain into Italy, but both countries also experienced ecological disasters in 2021 which led to poor wheat harvests. Canadian wildfires in the summer of 2021 and an exceptionally cold winter 2021 in Russia damaged both countries' harvests.
Difficulties concerning imports from Canada have particularly impacted the Italian supply chain. As Italy’s primary foreign provider of wheat, the poor harvest in Canada halved imports of the grain into Italy from 6.5 to 3.5 million tons. Already, this scarcity has caused the costs of wheat to increase by 60%, and prices are forecasted to rise by a further 15% by the end of December 2021.
At present, supply chain resilience is the main solution being promoted to tackle the ongoing issues undermining agricultural output. There has been an outstanding trend in the encouragement of reshoring strategies, which are aimed at redirecting the supply chain production within national borders, and by integrating artificial intelligence into supply chain processes to optimize and improve the time management of production. While Italy imports around 40% of wheat necessary for the supply chain to meet the demand, according to Coldiretti (National Confederation of Growers), the spike in pasta prices can be dealt with by encouraging the Italian production of wheat. For this reason, growers have been advocating for agreements between agricultural and industrial businesses in order to establish prices that will not go below production costs. Fostering the Italian production of wheat to cope with the current supply chain crisis would also ensure better regulated goods, as Italy forbids the use of chemical herbicide for agricultural purposes, in contrast to Canada.
The Italian pasta and wheat industries have not been the only ones affected by Covid-19 induced supply chain issues. Italian exports of milk and dairy products, beef cattle, eggs, flowers, and wine all fell between March-May 2019 and March-May 2020, with the latter plummeting by a shocking 37%. However, this dramatic decrease likely resulted from the global closures of the bar and restaurant sectors in addition to supply chain issues. A few industries even saw modest improvements in production despite the lockdowns, with Italian exports of fruits, vegetables, oil, cereal, pigs, and sheep and goats increasing between March-May 2019 and March-May 2020. Most major Italian trade partners imported fewer goods in 2020, with only Switzerland and China importing more agricultural products, food, and drinks from the country than they had in 2019. Germany, typically the top importer of Italian products, decreased its agricultural imports by 21% and food and drinks by 28% in 2020.
Particularly in the first few months of the lockdown of 2020, Italian industry suffered from labour shortages, slowed operations, and supply chain bottlenecks. Many farm and factory workers were ill with Covid-19 or in a mandatory quarantine, and consequently unable to work. Borders closures also meant that the fruit and vegetable agricultural sectors were unable to rely on seasonal workers from elsewhere in the European Union as usual. Thus, in the early months of the pandemic, the Italian supply chain was suffering more in the production stage than in transport and distribution. Challenges with the transport and distribution side of the supply chain in Italy have instead emerged more recently.
While the Italian agricultural sector remained functional during periods of lockdown, it suffered from secondary effects related to the pandemic. Other areas of production in the Italian economy were directly closed or restricted as part of measures taken by the government to slow the spread of the virus. It has been estimated that government restrictions “locked” up to 52% of the Italian state GDP due to the closure of sectors deemed nonessential. For example, 40% of Italy's twenty most economically crucial sectors were locked, including the retail trade and food services by an April 2020 decree of the Italian Prime Minister. Agricultural production in Italy is deeply interconnected with some of these other sectors, specifically hospitality. As a result, the closure of these sectors poses a risk to the economic security of Italian agri-business.
Difficulties and shortages jeopardised Italian agricultural and economic security even prior to the global pandemic crisis generated by the outbreak of Covid-19. Labour shortages, supply chain bottlenecks, closures and an extended lockdown inevitably impacted demands from the international market. At the same time, further economic insecurity due to the pandemic stemmed from Italy’s difficulty in importing essential goods such as wheat. Continued issues with rising food prices, struggles in meeting the demand and limited earnings can be tackled through resilience strategies to lift the sector up using national production and innovative approaches.
Italiano
Problemi nella supply chain globale si sono recentemente manifestati come conseguenze di lockdowns implementati dai governi per frenare l’impatto del Covid-19. A causa delle restrizioni implementate, molti produttori sono impossibilitati a fornire adeguatamente beni destinati al mercato internazionale rispettando tempistiche adeguate, compromettendo la sicurezza economica ed alimentare a livello globale. In Italia queste problematiche hanno diretto impatto sui consumatori a causa dell’incremento nella media dei prezzi degli alimenti e del limitato guadagno del paese nell’esteso settore agricolo, esportatore leader di numerosi beni,tra cui pasta, vino e olio d’oliva. Negli ultimi tre anni, la domanda di pasta a livello economico globale ha superato la produzione a causa di un incremento nella consumazione e di un’adeguata risposta a questo picco. Il risultato è stata la perdita di tre milioni di tonnellate di grano duro e l’aumento dei prezzi della pasta. Problemi relativi alla supply chain italiana risalivano all’epoca pre-Covid-19 e alla preesistente insicurezza economica ed alimentare, che è poi stata ulteriormente peggiorata dalla pandemia e dalla diminuzione di varietà e quantità di esportazioni cruciali.
La filiera agricola italiana ha senza dubbio subito l’impatto del Covid-19, una crisi che si è sommata ad altre variabili che già da tempo avevano avuto un severo impatto su esportazioni agricole. Ad esempio, prima della pandemia l’Italia soffriva di una forte mancanza di manodopera di autotrasportatori rispetto ad altri paesi europei. Inoltre, l’Italia acquista una grande percentuale del grano duro utilizzato nella sua produzione di pasta da Canada e Russia. Le questioni relative alla catena di approvvigionamento da sole avrebbero potuto ostacolare l'importazione di grano canadese e russo in Italia, ma entrambi i paesi hanno inoltre subito disastri ecologici nel 2021 che hanno portato a raccolti di grano poveri. Gli incendi in Canada nell'estate del 2021 e un inverno 2021 eccezionalmente freddo in Russia hanno infatti danneggiato i raccolti di entrambi i paesi.
Le difficoltà relative alle importazioni dal Canada hanno avuto un impatto particolare sulla filiera italiana. Come primo fornitore straniero di grano all'Italia, il cattivo raccolto in Canada ha dimezzato le importazioni di grano in Italia da 6,5 a 3,5 milioni di tonnellate. Questa carenza ha già causato un aumento del 60% dei costi del grano, e i prezzi potrebbero aumentare di un ulteriore 15% entro la fine di dicembre 2021.
Attualmente, la resilienza della catena di approvvigionamento è vista come soluzione principale ed è promossa per affrontare le questioni in corso che minano la produzione agricola. C'è stata una tendenza eccezionale nell'incoraggiare strategie di reshoring, che mirano a riorientare la produzione della catena di approvvigionamento all'interno dei confini nazionali, e integrare l'intelligenza artificiale nei processi della catena di approvvigionamento per ottimizzare e migliorare la gestione dei tempi di produzione. Mentre l'Italia importa circa il 40% del grano necessario alla filiera per soddisfare la domanda, secondo la Coldiretti (Confederazione Nazionale dei Coltivatori), l'impennata dei prezzi della pasta può essere affrontata incoraggiando la produzione italiana di grano. Per questo motivo, i coltivatori hanno chiesto accordi tra aziende agricole e industriali al fine di stabilire prezzi che non scendano al di sotto dei costi di produzione. Promuovere la produzione italiana di frumento per far fronte all'attuale crisi della filiera garantirebbe anche una migliore regolamentazione delle merci, in quanto l'Italia vieta l'uso di diserbanti chimici per scopi agricoli, a differenza del Canada.
L'industria italiana della pasta e del grano non è stata l'unica ad essere colpita da problemi di supply chain indotti da Covid-19. Le esportazioni italiane di latte e prodotti lattiero-caseari, bovini da carne, uova, fiori e vino sono diminuite tra marzo-maggio 2019 e marzo-maggio 2020, con quest'ultimo che precipita di un impressionante 37%. Tuttavia, questa drastica diminuzione è probabilmente dovuta alla chiusura globale dei settori bar e ristoranti, oltre che a problemi di supply chain. Alcune industrie hanno visto anche modesti miglioramenti nella produzione nonostante i blocchi, con l'aumento delle esportazioni italiane di frutta, verdura, olio, cereali, suini e ovini e caprini tra marzo-maggio 2019 e marzo-maggio 2020. La maggior parte dei principali partner commerciali italiani ha importato meno merci nel 2020, con solo la Svizzera e la Cina che importano più prodotti agricoli, cibo e bevande dal paese rispetto al 2019. La Germania, tipicamente il primo importatore di prodotti italiani, ha ridotto le sue importazioni agricole del 21% e il cibo e le bevande del 28% nel 2020.
In particolare nei primi mesi del blocco del 2020, l'industria italiana ha sofferto di carenze di manodopera, rallentamento delle operazioni e strozzature della catena di approvvigionamento.
Molti lavoratori agricoli e di fabbrica sono stati affetti da Covid-19 o in una quarantena obbligatoria, e di conseguenza incapaci di lavorare. La chiusura delle frontiere ha inoltre impedito ai settori dell'agricoltura di contare, come di consueto, su lavoratori stagionali provenienti da altri paesi dell'Unione europea. Così, nei primi mesi della pandemia, la filiera italiana soffriva più in fase di produzione che di trasporto e distribuzione. Le sfide legate al trasporto e alla distribuzione della supply chain in Italia sono invece emerse più di recente.
Altre aree di produzione nell'economia italiana sono state direttamente chiuse o limitate nell'ambito delle misure adottate dal governo per rallentare la diffusione del virus. È stato stimato che le restrizioni governative "hanno bloccato" fino al 52% del PILdello Stato italiano a causa della chiusura di settori ritenuti non essenziali. Ad esempio, il 40% dei venti settori economicamentepiù cruciali dell'Italia sono stati bloccati, tra cui il commercio al dettaglio e i servizi alimentari da un decreto del primo ministro italiano dell'aprile 2020. La produzione agricola in Italia è profondamente interconnessa con alcuni di questi altri settori, in particolare l'ospitalità. Di conseguenza, la chiusura di questi settori rappresenta un rischio per la sicurezza economica dell'agroindustria italiana.
Nel complesso, l'indebolimento delle difficoltà e delle carenze aveva messo a repentaglio la sicurezza agricola ed economica italiana anche prima della crisi pandemica globale generata dal Covid-19. La carenza di manodopera, le strozzature della catena di approvvigionamento, le chiusure e un blocco prolungato hanno inevitabilmente inciso sulla domanda del mercato internazionale. Allo stesso tempo, l'ulteriore insicurezza economica dovuta alla pandemia deriva dalla difficoltà dell'Italia di importare beni essenziali come il grano. Indubbiamente, l'aumento dei prezzi dei prodotti alimentari, le lotte per soddisfare la domanda e i limitati guadagni devono ora essere affrontati attraverso strategie resilienti che possono aiutare a risollevare il settore, basandosi soprattutto sulla produzione nazionale e su approcci innovativi.
Debora Pinzana, human rights and gender advisor, in occasion of the International Campaign “16 days of activism” discusses about the concept of gender-based violence, the importance of GBV prevention and the significant impact of women’s inclusion and participation during transition, taking as an example the situation in Lybia.
Interviewers: Arianna Caggiano, Diletta Cosco.
This is ITSS Verona Member Series Video Podcast by the Human Rights Team.
ITSS Verona - The International Team for the Study of Security Verona is a not-for-profit, apolitical, international cultural association dedicated to the study of international security, ranging from terrorism to climate change, from artificial intelligence to pandemics, from great power competition to energy security.
2020 was a historical year in many aspects, most of them not positives. However, 2020 was a turning point in Europe when it comes to environmental policies: last year, the EU Commission introduced, for the first time, a classification of economically sustainable activities. Also known as EU taxonomy, this tool is essential in providing clarity in a still heterogeneous legal framework concerning sustainability. Indeed, the taxonomy establishes four conditions that an activity needs to meet to be classified as sustainable:
Contributing substantially to one of the environmental objectives established by the Commission - examples include climate change mitigation and adaptation, transition to circular economy, prevention of pollution, and so on;
Complying with the environmental law principle of “do no significant harm”;
Complying with minimum social safeguards;
Complying with the technical screening criteria.
However, the establishment of the framework has sparked a debate in the business sector and concerning nuclear energy, whose inclusion remains disputed.
The impact on businesses
The taxonomy will foster sustainable corporate governance in three ways: first, reducing “greenwashing” by setting strict standards; second, providing preferences when marketing the products; third, driving sustainable investors to compete to finance like-minded businesses in terms of sustainability. The second aspect, however, deserves particular attention. Indeed, we need to make distinctions between different industries.
According to data, the positive impact of the classification will vary according to the businesses concerned: in 2019, the Joint Research Center (JRC) published a technical report on the financial impact of the taxonomy, which highlights how the green transition is more prominent in two specific industries - energy-intensive sector and transports. Moreover, the JRC’s report indicates that the adoption of this scheme will lead to a significant increase in the issuance of green bonds and loans. Nonetheless, this increase can be estimated around 4.9% in the energy intensive sector and around 6% in the transport sector.
In addition to this, some industrial sectors can hardly be framed as “green” or not green with mathematical confidence; in fact, substantial criticalities concerning de-carbonizing policies deal with measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV). These activities, paramount to a sustainable economy, do not apply equally in all sectors.
Still, by the inclusion or exclusion of particular products rather than others, the EU taxonomy fosters investments in some sectors rather than others, thus enlightening debates moved by concerns of losing competitiveness and seeing interests hampered. Such arguments apply to the case of the inclusion of nuclear energy into EU taxonomy.
Hot knots: Nuclear Energy
In the EU there are 106 nuclear power reactors, which operate on the soil of 13 out of 27 Member States and are responsible for one-quarter of the electricity generated in the Union. The production of more than half of the total consumption locates in France, which, consequently, has a keen interest in fostering nuclear energy as a driver for renewable energy production.
On October 22, European Commission President Von der Layen announced the intention to include the nuclear into EU taxonomy, giving new impetus to a debate that can hardly find its synthesis. Already in 2019, a coalition formed by France, Britain and some Eastern European Countries threatened to play the veto card on the advancement of the taxonomy regulation in case it excluded nuclear energy. Although the Joint Research Centre (JRC) argued that there was no evidence showing atomic energy was a significant cause of harm to human and environmental health compared to other technologies, the issue sparked a debate that needed a political solution rather than experts’ consultation. Hence, a compromise was required.
If the matter followed parallel lines in the first stage, focusing on the alternative options of ‘inclusion – non-inclusion’, today it has assumed a narrower shape. What is at stake is how to introduce nuclear energy into the taxonomy in a way that would advance green transition. Among the proposed solutions, Mairead McGuinness suggested to add to the actual outline of the taxonomy one category that would identify not completely green activities that are nonetheless helpful for the transition. Specifically, the section named “Amber” would complement the existing framework composed by the labels “Green”, “Enabling”, and “Transition”.
Despite similar attempts, however, frictions remain. On top of the UN Cop26 held in Glasgow, Germany, Denmark, Luxembourg, Austria, and Portugal jointly expressed concerns relative to the inclusion of nuclear energy in the taxonomy, since its “too risky, too expensive” character would undermine the policy’s “integrity, credibility and therefore its usefulness”. According to those countries, the controversial nature of nuclear energy would thus hamper the objective of the taxonomy. Evidently, however, positions about the inclusion of nuclear energy in the taxonomy reflect the different strategic importance that countries assign to it.
Conclusion
One should not dismiss that often one single policy synthesizes an ampler network of interests and concerns. In general, the estimated positive impact of the taxonomy on businesses, whether it will include nuclear energy or not, is sizable. Therefore, statements in favour and against atomic energy need a critical assessment to provide a sounder understanding of what is at stake; indeed, where is the boundary between sustainable policies and (energy) security concerns?
Recently, unmarked graves of hundreds of Indigenous children were discovered in various locations in Western Canada, in the territory of residential schools. These schools operated between the end of the 19th century until 1996, and were mostly run by the Catholic Church. The official number of Indigenous children who died in these schools because of mistreatment is 4120, but it is claimed that the actual number could be much larger.
Evidence from various studies prove that approximately 150,000 indigenous children were subject to forceful assimilation in these institutions, after having been separated from their families. Physical, psychological, and sexual abuse were among the practicesused in these schools. The high death rate of Indigenous students can be connected to the extremely bad conditions of the schools— such as poor nutrition, the lack of nurses or the inadequate construction or use of the buildings — and to the lack of proper medical treatment provided to indigenous children, among other inhuman practices. The leading cause of death was tuberculosis, easily caught by malnourished children.
The practices of the residential schools have been described as a genocide by several scholars. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, after having examined testimonies from thousands of survivors, also announced that these acts are to be classified as cultural genocide against Indigenous people.
After the discovery of the graves, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau guaranteed financial aid and support to the Indigenous communities in Canada. Furthermore, an initiative of the Survivors of the Mohawk Institute at Six Nations of the Grand River — a large reserve in Canada — aimed at uncovering more details about the dark legacy of the schools’ past with a death and criminal investigation. Questions still remain about the responsibility, the accountability, and the compensation, regarding the Canadian state and the Catholic Church.
However, the discrimination of indigenous communties in Canadais not solely a past phenomenon - according to some studies ongendered violence and on the unequal treatment of indigenous people in Canada, Indigenous minorities still face a very different set of circumstances compared to the majority society. We must also consider that the controversy surrounding the Canadian case is not a localized issue, but the latest in a global movement of recognition and redress led by indigenous communities.
The Global Context for Indigenous Rights
Currently, there are 370 million Indigenous people around the world, spanning over 90 countries, 5,000 communities, and 4,000 languages. As such, the struggle of the indigenous movement is not an ancient issue, but a current and contemporary human security challenge. While there has been progress – most notably marked by the 2007 United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (ratified by 143 countries) – indigenous abuses are still erased and forgotten, as we have mentioned in the case of Canadian residential schools.
The legacy of indigenous communities has been marked by a rich history and vital contributions to our culture and environment (for example, in safeguarding 80% of global biodiversity) – however, it has also been defined by horrific atrocities. Well-known is the case of Native American communities, numbering over 10 million before European colonization, and decimated to under 300.000 by the 1900s. Indigenous peoples continue to face continuous and pervasive human rights abuses – ranging from assimilation policies, to land dispossession, the criminalization of protest, or abuses by armed forces. These abuses extend globally – having worsened in recent years and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic – and most severely affect communities defending their rights and lands. This has led to intergenerational trauma in many indigenous communities. Today, the most prominent topic in discussions and advocacy within indigenous communities remains the issue of land rights and the resources they harbor.
Indigenous Peoples have a special relationship with natural resources. But from the times of colonisation to the present day, theirrights over these resources have been continuously violated. Even though they make up five-percent of the world’s population, they account for about fifteen-percent of the extreme poor. The major cause of this discrepancy owes to the history of colonisation, subjugation, and oppression. They regularly lack formal recognition over their lands and other natural resources, and are often last to get public investments, access to justice, political participation, and face various obstacles to partake in the formal economy.
Around a quarter of all land outside Antarctica belongs to Indigenous Peoples. But much of this land occupied by them is undercustomary ownership, and most of the governments all over the world acknowledge only a small percentage of this land as lawfully belonging to Indigenous Peoples. The unstable land tenancy is a cause of conflict, environmental degradation, and inadequate economic and social development. This endangers Indigenous Peoples’ culture and knowledge systems both of which have an extremely valuable contribution in maintaining ecological integrity and conserving nature and biodiversity.
As per World Bank, ‘’Improving security of land tenure, strengthening governance, promoting public investments in quality and culturally appropriate service provision, and supporting indigenous systems for resilience livelihoods are critical to reducing the multidimensional aspects of poverty while contributing to the SDGs.’’
The crucial role of social movements
It appears that legal frameworks for the protection of Indigenous People’s rights have been established, but land rights are not yet addressed by state actors and international organizations. Often, aboriginal communities lament a pattern of broken promises and a series of failures within development projects that have been promoted by such actors. This is due in part to the difficulty in questioning the power relations within the structure in which they operate. What is also elided by the mainstream narrative, are the continuities between the colonial past and the present. A postcolonial perspective on the matter has been proposed by many indigenous scholars that investigate colonial legacies to explain the nowadays imbalances between indigenous people and the broader society. Inequities are evident in regard to the land and resources issues but encompass almost every aspect of society, most notably healthcare. A postcolonial approach has been put into practice by many social movements, activists, and advocates for Indigenous People’s rights. Protests and movements, like Idle No More in Canada, emerge from the aboriginal communities and amplify their voices in the many arenas in which decisions are made. They represent the opportunity to contrast the structural violence they face, through ‘grassroots’ discourses around their conditions and demands and cooperations with governments and international actors. In response to the recent discovery of yet another atrocity committed in the residential ‘schools’, Idle No More has asked to cancel Canada Day to ultimately acknowledge the legacy of settler colonialism and violence in Canada’s history; Fifty municipalities have accepted the proposal out of respect and justice.
The Canadian case serves to illustrate what remains an evolving redress and human rights struggle for indigenous communities around the world. Indigenous human security continues to be precarious in most states, and despite the increasing recognition of these transnational advocacy movements, much remains to be done. As states seek to fulfil their obligations to ensure the wellbeing of their communities, a renewed focus must be placed on the recognition of indigenous peoples and their voices as rightful custodians of their land, resources, and culture. If the promises of a post-colonial global order are to be realized, it is indigenous communities that will define and lead the way to achieving it.
