Despite pandemic’s disaster, brewers insist on EU climate goals

13 November 2020

The EU beer industry has vowed to continue investing in sustainable practices in their brewing processes to meet EU Green Deal goals despite disastrous implications of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

While the COVID-19’s impact is indeed enormous, it also paves the way for greener options, Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, the secretary-general of the Brewers of Europe, told ‘The Brewers of Europe Sustainability Forum’.

“The impact of the pandemic has been amplified by the great uncertainty around how the situation will evolve, leading to stress and worry for all involved growers, business owners, our supply chain employees and their families. The societal impact of the pandemic has struck the heart of our sector,” he said.

“But it also creates a need to bounce back better and stronger, to create a greener, more resilient and sustainable Europe,” Bergeron added.

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The beer industry and the hospitality sector in general have been hit hard by the pandemic, which brought partial and total lockdowns across Europe to curb the spread of the virus. Pubs and bars have subsequently been closed for the second time this year.

A number of supportive measures have been taken at the member state level; however, the post-pandemic era does not look bright financially as many are not planning to reopen their stores.

Despite these circumstances, EU brewers, who employ more than 130,000 people in the EU, have taken a number of innovation-driven initiatives to adjust to a greener economy.

The European Green Deal, together with the Recovery Fund, will help member states modernise and adjust their structures in resilient and greener economies in the long run.

Industry stakeholders have already made moves to put initiatives in practice. In the case of brewers, they have come up with a sustainability plan focusing on areas such as waste, packaging and transport.

MEP: Brewers are leading green innovation

Slovak MEP Ivan Štefanec said the brewers’ contribution to the Green Deal is already remarkable and constantly evolving.

“I think we have to talk also about the whole food industry, but the beer industry is definitely the leader. And I’m happy that I can at least go create a legislative framework for that,” he said.

Belgium, the “Mecca” of beer lovers, has once again seen one of its flagships industries severely impacted by a second lockdown.

Mark Demesmaeker, a member of the Senate of Belgium, said many small brewers in the Flanders region are making strong efforts to find their way toward green innovation.

Some of them, he said, have joined forces and established partnerships with organic farmers., while others have focused on sustainable packaging.

“It is key for the sector in the first place to make sure that they design their packaging in a way that it can be recycled, without any problems. And then, of course, it’s up to the authorities,” he said.

Referring to specific examples in Flanders, he said good collection schemes and recycling facilities have been established.

“This is something we have taken up as well in the revision of the EU waste directives, with new targets […] it is key for all the member states to implement them as good and as soon as possible,” he said.

Demesmaeker said it was necessary to back these efforts on a policy level considering that the number of breweries has doubled in five years, while the number of beer producers – who make innovative recipes – has more than doubled.

Hospitality sector: Re-connecting EU citizens after the pandemic

Bars, cafes and restaurants are going to be vital to the process of “re-connecting” European citizens socially after the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Europe’s hospitality sector, which mainly consists of small and medium sized companies, has been badly hit by the lockdown …

A collaborative approach

Paolo Lanzarotti, CEO of the brewing company Asahi Europe and International, said a holistic approach is needed moving toward more collaborative schemes within the industry and across the supply chain.

“We sat down with one of our partners, and we made a long-term agreement. We basically moved or helped them move their can packaging and production facilities closer to our production sites,” he said, calling this a win-win situation.

“The advantage for them is that they get obviously an anchor customer while for us, is that we get better working capital. The advantage for the planet is we reduce the environmental footprint.”

Asked if the innovation push in the beer industry is driven by potential profit, Lanzarotti replied: “I think our innovation strategy needs to both meet consumer demands, sustainability, and ultimately, profitability. And I think the three actually go together.

The Recovery Fund and EU budget

But the industry’s push for greener options depends on what happens with the Recovery Fund and the post-2020 EU budget.

Rozalina Petrova, a cabinet member of EU environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius, said EU funds need to be channelled quickly to the member states.

“And then member states have a key role in also making sure that those funds are spent for green investments,” she said.

But the rule of law conditionality puts a quick approval of the EU funds at risk, as Poland and Hungary have already threatened to veto the budget deal.

Another thorny issue for the hospitality sector is the rising level of private debt.

There have been some liquidity-supportive measures at the EU level to help businesses cope with the current liquidity shortage. However, these are loans which increase private debt and have to be repaid at some point.

Critics suggest that SMEs may need further assistance or softer tax regimes to be able to survive in the post-COVID era.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

Global Rosary is centrepiece of Mary’s Meals virtual pilgrimage – Vatican News

officialinstitutions

13 November 2020

By Lydia O’Kane

This year, the world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to spread unabated. However, despite restrictions and even lockdowns in many countries, it hasn’t stopped pilgrimages, from taking place, albeit virtually.

This year for the first time, the global school feeding charity Mary’s Meals will host its first virtual family pilgrimage.

Since 2017, members of the charity have been coming together to reflect, pray and offer thanks at the Marian Shrine in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the charity has its roots.

Although the programme will be in a virtual setting, those participating from around the world will join together to pray the Rosary in numerous languages.

“It was a bit difficult, very sad when we realized that we couldn’t do it [the pilgrimage] this year physically; and then my wife Julie started saying, ‘Why don’t we just do it online?'” says Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, Founder and CEO of Mary’s Meals.

“At first I thought that it was a pretty crazy idea; I couldn’t really imagine a pilgrimage in which we didn’t physically travel somewhere, and then the more I thought about it, in this situation we’re all in, we thought, ‘Why not?’”

Listen to the interview

Table of Contents

Global Rosary

He goes on to say that what they are most excited about right now is the Global Rosary, which will be recited by children from Africa and India and includes participation from Rome, Poland, Myanmar and Haiti.

Mr MacFarlane-Barrow also points out that there will be two languages representing the two ethnic groups in South Sudan who have had a history of conflict. “They will be reciting the Rosary together for peace,” he says.

The CEO notes that “the Daughter of Charity Sisters who are partners in Tigray in Ethiopia recorded their decade just before the fighting erupted in Tigray over the last days, and their prayer for peace just becomes even more poignant.”

During the weekend pilgrimage there will be opportunities to attend Holy Mass and Holy Hour online, streamed from St James’ Parish in Medjugorje, and to pray together and give thanks to Our Lady Queen of Peace.

The pilgrimage will also give people the chance to pray and fast on Friday November 13 in order to show solidarity with the 1.6 million hungry children who receive daily meals through the charity’s school feeding programmes.

Virtual pilgrimage

Despite the fact that COVID-19 has wrought havoc on so many people’s lives, Mr MacFarlane Barrow points out that “sometimes when we find a way through it – a way round it – it opens up new opportunities we wouldn’t have previously thought of.” He is keen to stress however, that although “the opportunities that new technology offers us are enormous and are a huge blessing,” nothing can replace human contact.

The CEO emphasizes the virtual pilgrimage is open to anyone who wants to join in prayer, regardless of faith background or any previous involvement in Mary’s Meals.

All those who would like to join the virtual Mary’s Meals family pilgrimage this year can find out more, and access the live stream, at www.marysmealsmedjugorje.org.

Mary’s Meals provides daily meals to children through school feeding programmes in 19 countries.

As schools return amid the global pandemic, “Mary’s Meals is working with local communities and trusted partners to reinstate school feeding where possible – and in line with local safety advice – while continuing with community distributions in places where schools remain closed.”

Commentary: Mask-wearing fanaticism sure looks a lot like a religion

Newsdesk

13 November 2020

Commentary: Mask-wearing fanaticism sure looks a lot like a religion

A prominent Christian pastor tweeted the following this week: “Two seemingly contradictory currents mark our society 1. There is a denunciation of all claims of absolute truth 2. Yet there is also a fanaticism in which one position or group is absolutely right, nothing is ambiguous, and divergent views should be destroyed.”

I feel ya, brother. But nothing contradictory is in fact going on at all. This is the logical destination of attempting to usurp the ultimate authority in all the universe. It is biblically defined double-mindedness perfected. “My truth” can’t help but become “kneel before Zod.”

As a consequence, the Beatitudes are indeed replaced with the Fanaticisms. They are ever-changing, non-eternal, entirely arbitrary power grabs that seek not to instill humility and healing but elevate lies to the level of ultimate justice.

One of the latest Fanaticisms is the wearing of masks. We are waaaaay past science on this one and firmly in the realm of voodoo now. However, it’s a voodoo that only gets more obnoxiously mandatory the more it is proven to be a total fraud.

We’ve had an Ohio mask mandate in effect for at least 112 days. A Maryland mask mandate for at least 106 days. A New York mask mandate for at least 128 days. Yet all of their governors are currently threatening more shutdowns because of a new coronavirus “surge.”

There is absolutely nowhere masks have been shown in real time to be effective at slowing Covid after months of trying. No state. No country. Nowhere. And the science published by the CDC itself even said that would be the case as a public health policy for respiratory infections before Covid came along. But now masks have been necromanced into relevance and false righteousness many times over. We’ve incredulously been told by the witch doctor atop the CDC they are better than a vaccine.

Well, they are a vaccine alright, but not really meant to kill the virus. They are meant to kill us. Our freedom. Our dignity. Our sense of reality itself. The more they don’t actually work but we continue to agree to wear them, that becomes all the more clear. We are telling the universe that our fear is our greatest certainty and the flat earth is our greatest comfort.

No wonder a dementia patient may be on on the verge of becoming president. He is the mask personified. A twice-failed presidential candidate with a nearly 50-year-long track record in public “service” of never making a damn thing better, so why don’t we try him again but only harder this time! What could possibly go wrong?

It is failure incarnate. It is failure sacramentalized. It is failure fundamentalized. The Fanaticisms are taking on all the markings of a religion because that is their dark destiny. The increasingly preposterous will become more and more enviable and inevitable as our governing idols.

That should sound to you like the reverse of the miracle of creation, where impossible grace steps into the void and compels all that is good. If God created everything ‘ex nihilo,’ then the terrible math of the Fanaticisms must use and abuse everything to anoint absolutely nothing at all. The abyss is the destination.

It is the most pathetic grift of all time. And it is working. So sayeth the mask.

Towards climate-neutral aviation: Blending mandate for the European Union

Newsdesk

13 November 2020

Towards climate-neutral aviation: Blending mandate for the European Union

Aviation is the fastest growing transport sector, and it will continue to grow despite the current COVID-19 crisis. Regulatory support is needed to achieve the sector’s emission reduction targets.

Thorsten Lange is the Executive Vice President, Renewable Aviation of Neste.

With a view to the EU’s short- and long-term climate targets, the aviation sector needs solutions for decarbonisation today. The ambition level needs to be high to achieve the EU’s climate neutrality by 2050. Existing solutions, sustainable aviation fuels, can help the sector to get there, if necessary regulatory decisions are made.

The EU needs to make sure that its aviation industry is not left behind by providing requirements that create a credible long-term market with intermediate targets, and attract the needed investments. Additionally, incentives for the development of new technologies are needed.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel – The only viable alternative to fossil liquid fuels for powering commercial aircraft

Neste’s sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) provides a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, achieving up to 80% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to fossil jet fuels, over the lifecycle and in its neat form. In addition, SAF also provides additional climate and public health benefits through substantially reduced particulate emissions. According to recent research, the non-CO2 effects of aviation can have equal or even higher climate impact than carbon emissions.

Neste’s biofuel for aviation – Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™ (SAF) – is made from 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials. It is a fully compliant drop-in solution for existing jet engines and can be blended with conventional fossil jet fuels up to a maximum level of 50% according to present standards. There are no large-scale alternatives to liquid hydrocarbons, i.e. sustainable aviation fuels, in aviation in the foreseen future.

Airports and airlines agree that SAF is the only available way for the aviation industry to reduce its net carbon emissions, together with more efficient aircraft and operational improvements. It is key to work together to offer the private consumer and corporate passengers a way to actively choose to reduce their carbon footprint and thereby cover the higher cost of SAF. However, regulatory support is required to stimulate both the demand and supply of SAF.

Why do we need a blending mandate?

SAF is still at least 3-5 times more expensive than fossil fuel, depending on the technology pathway used. Therefore, incentives are needed for airlines to be able to take this step. A blending mandate for the EU would support this development and create a credible market to attract investments.

The ramping up of global and European SAF production has already started and can continue rapidly, provided that the necessary regulatory decisions are made. Lead times for new biofuel plants are long. Thus, a mandate (1) needs to be decided as soon as possible, (2) ramp-up trajectory needs to be gradual, and (3) be designed for the long-term to provide the certainty needed to trigger investments and give enough time to accumulate returns.

A SAF blending mandate of a minimum of 10% is needed by 2030 to get the aviation sector along in contributing to the climate neutrality goal. If decided soon enough, this ambition level corresponding to the amount of 5-6 Mton of SAF in 2030 (uptake of the European jet fuel) can realistically be achieved. In addition, new plant oils (e.g. intermediate crops and crops from contaminated and degraded land) could bring more availability.

Wide feedstock pool is key

Sustainable feedstocks are available, but their eligibility in the EU legislation cannot be limited only to a narrow pool of ‘advanced biofuels’ as defined by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). All sustainable waste and residue feedstocks under the RED II need to be accepted for SAF; there are e.g. plenty of sustainable waste and residue feedstocks which are not explicitly listed in Annex IX of the RED II. For the uptake of sustainable aviation fuels and the decarbonisation of the sector, the sustainability criteria of the RED II need to be the basis for all SAF specific regulations in Europe.

Experience from on-road is clearly demonstrating that a mandate ensures most efficiently the desired uptake, while being market-based and thus cost-efficient. A stable policy framework over a sufficient time horizon would also provide airlines to pursue an efficient and more climate-friendly fuels policy.

Research and Development support and additional incentives are also needed for the future, but they alone cannot decarbonise the aviation sector soon enough nor trigger the SAF production investments needed. For example, power-to-liquid (PtL), i.e. using renewable electricity to produce liquid hydrocarbons from CO₂ and hydrogen, is a good solution, but meaningful volumes are going to be available earliest towards the end of the decade. We need to both start reducing emissions today, while also investing in new technologies for the future. Doing one but not the other is not enough.

EU4Health: MEPs pave the way for an effective EU health programme | News | European Parliament

officialinstitutions

13 November 2020

EU4Health: MEPs pave the way for an effective EU health programme | News | European Parliament

, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201109IPR91115/

Green Deal: How MEPs wish to channel EU investment to sustainable activities | News | European Parliament

officialinstitutions

13 November 2020

Green Deal: How MEPs wish to channel EU investment to sustainable activities | News | European Parliament

, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201109IPR91117/

COMECE calls for a people-centred, sustainable and multilateral EU Arctic policy

COMECE

13 November 2020

COMECE calls for a people-centred, sustainable and multilateral EU Arctic policy

COMECE contributed to the EU public consultation  on the future EU Arctic policy, highlighting the EU’s responsibility to ensure a sustainable and peaceful  Arctic  that puts its  people  in the foc. The contribution was jointly elaborated with Justice & Peace Europe in dialogue with regional Church actors.

ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== COMECE calls for a people-centred, sustainable and multilateral EU Arctic policy

In the context of the current developments impacting the Artic region, the European Union is reviewing its 2016 policy framework to address the interconnected ecological, socio-economic, human rights and geopolitical challenges.

Participating in a recent EU public consultation, COMECE and Justice & Peace Europe highlight that the future EU Artic policy should promote a partnership for sustainable and integral development of persons, families and local communities, while respecting their natural environment.

In this regard, the joint document suggests that “the human dimension should have a stronger articulation in the future policy, including health, safety and socio-economic empowerment of local communities and migrant workers present in the region”.

Along with strengthening the protection and promotion of human rights, including land, social, cultural, religious and linguistic rights of indigenous communities, the EU is encouraged to prioritse the fostering of resilience of local communities in view of the necessary adaptations induced by climate change and its ramifications.

The wealth of natural resources present in the Arctic region and their increased accessibility due to melting ice, fuels the potential for predatory practices that exploit the environment and impoverish local populations.

Echoing Pope Francis’ call for an integral ecology, safeguarding Creation and building a truly just and equitable social and economic order, in its contribution COMECE stresses for the future EU Arctic policy framework to include “a binding mechanism for corporate social responsibility, requiring companies to fully comply with internationally recognised human rights, social and environmental standards”.

In order to address the risk of a fragmentation of the region, the EU should promote new inclusive ways of multilateral engagement with all regional and local actors, including indigenous communities.

Churches, religious communities and faith-based actors, as promoters of sustainable human development and peace at the grassroots, and multipliers of awareness raising efforts, could, according to COMECE, be recognised as natural partners of the EU in jointly addressing the challenges pertinent to the Arctic region.

Download the contribution

Photo: Sergey Anisimov/Anadolu Agency

Government restrictions on religion worldwide at record levels

Newsdesk

13 November 2020

Government restrictions on religion worldwide at record levels

                <figure class="center"> <figcaption class="caption"> Sri Lankan military officials stand guard in front of the St. Anthony's Shrine, Kochchikade church after an explosion in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 21, 2019.<span class="credit">(Photo: Reuters/Dinuka Liyanawatte)</span></figcaption></figure>

Newly released data from an ongoing Pew Research Center study shows that government restrictions on religion around the world have risen to a record level amid increases in government restrictions on religion in Asia and Pacific countries, most notably.

The nonpartisan polling organization published on Tuesday results from its 11th annual study of restrictions on religion. The series of annual reports are part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project and analyze the extent that societies worldwide infringe on religious beliefs and practices.

The most recent data available is from 2018 through a study that rates 198 countries and territories by the levels of government restrictions on religion and also the levels of social hostilities toward religion in those countries. All the studies over the last decade-plus have been based on the same 10-point index.

“In 2018, the global median level of government restrictions on religion — that is, laws, policies and actions by officials that impinge on religious beliefs and practices — continued to climb, reaching an all-time high since Pew Research Center began tracking these trends in 2007,” the authors of the new report wrote.

The report was authored by Pew Research Associate Samirah Majumdar and Pew Director of Religion Research Virginia Villa.

The study’s government restrictions index (GRI) measures laws, policies and actions that restrict religious beliefs and practices. The GRI features 20 measures of restrictions that include anything from efforts by governments to ban particular faiths to prohibiting conversion and providing preferential treatment to one or more religious groups.

Pew researchers combed through more than 12 publicly available and widely cited sources of information, such as the U.S. State Department’s annual reports on international religious freedom as well as annual reports from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Also, researchers referred to reports from several European and United Nations bodies. They also combed through reports from “several independent, nongovernmental organizations.”

According to Pew, the increase from 2017 to 2018 was “relatively modest” but did help contribute to the “substantial rise in government restrictions on religion over more than a decade.”

“In 2007, the first year of the study, the global median score on the Government Restrictions Index was 1.8,” the report adds. “After some fluctuation in the early years, the median score has risen steadily since 2011 and now stands at 2.9 for 2018, the most recent full year for which data is available.”

The authors contend that the increase in government restrictions globally reflects a variety of events and trends, including a rise from 2017 to 2018 in the number of governments using force to coerce religious groups. Uses of force include things like detentions and physical abuse.

Pew found that 28% of countries (56) have “high or very high” government restrictions on religion.

According to the study, 25 countries with “high or very high” government restrictions on religion are in the Asia-Pacific region, meaning that half of the countries in the region have high or very high levels of government restrictions on religion.

In the Middle East and North Africa, 90% of the countries in the region (18) have high or very high levels of government restrictions on religion.

“Out of the five regions examined in the study, the Middle East and North Africa continued to have the highest median level of government restrictions in 2018 (6.2 out of 10),” the study found. “However, Asia and the Pacific had the largest increase in its median government restrictions score, rising from 3.8 in 2017 to 4.4 in 2018, partly because a greater number of governments in the region used force against religious groups, including property damage, detention, displacement, abuse and killings.”

The data found that 62% of countries — 31 out of 50 — in Asia and the Pacific “experienced government use of force related to religion.” The tally of 31 is up from 26 in 2017.

While the increase is largely due to concentrations of low-level government restrictions on religion in places like Armenia and the Philippines, the report stresses that the region also saw “several instances of widespread use of government force against religious groups.

The report calls out Myanmar for its mass displacement of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities, such as Christians, who were displaced by fighting between the Burmese military and ethnic groups.

The Pew report also called out Uzbekistan, which has an estimated 1,500 Muslim religious prisoners in prison on charges of religious extremism or for membership in banned groups.

The authors note that other countries like China “saw all-time highs in their overall government restrictions scores.” According to Pew, China continues to have “the highest score on the Government Restrictions Index out of all 198 countries and territories in the study.”

“China has been near the top of the list of most restrictive governments in each year since the inception of the study, and in 2018 it reached a new peak in its score (9.3 out of 10),” the report states. “The Chinese government restricts religion in a variety of ways, including banning entire religious groups (such as the Falun Gong movement and several Christian groups), prohibiting certain religious practices, raiding places of worship and detaining and torturing individuals.”

China is also said to be holding at least 800,000 and possibly up to 2 million Uighur and other ethnic Muslims in the western Xinjiang province at detention camps “designed to erase religious and ethnic identities.”

India is among the countries that reached an all-time high on its GRI score in 2018, scoring 5.9 out of 10. India has received increased pressure from international human rights groups in recent years as there has been a rise of Hindu nationalism that has led to the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. Additionally, anti-conversion laws in some states have been used to imprison Christians.

“In India, anti-conversion laws affected minority religious groups,” Pew explained. “For example, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in September, police charged 271 Christians with attempting to convert people by drugging them and ‘spreading lies about Hinduism.’ Furthermore, throughout the year, politicians made comments targeting religious minorities.”

In 2018, Tajikistan registered an all-time high with a GRI score of 7.9 out of 10 as 2018 was the year that the “Tajik government amended its religion law, increasing control over religious education domestically and over those who travel abroad for religious education.” The new law required religious groups to report activities to government officials and get state approval to appoint imams.

“Throughout the year, the Tajik government continued to deny minority religious groups, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, official recognition,” the report stated. “In January, Jehovah’s Witnesses reported that more than a dozen members were interrogated by police and pressured to renounce their faith.”

Thailand also registered an all-time high on the GRI in 2018 as the government instituted immigration raids targeting and arresting hundreds of immigrants and refugees who did not have legal status, including Christians and Ahmadi Muslims from Pakistan and Christian Montagnards from Vietnam.

In addition to the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa was the only other region in the world to experience an increase in its median level of government restrictions in 2018. Pew notes that the region also reached new highs after years of “steady rise.”

“While government use of force against religious groups decreased in the region, both harassment of religious groups and physical violence against minority groups went up,” the authors explained.

According to Pew’s data, 40 out of 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa experienced some form of government harassment of religious groups, while 14 countries had “reports of governments using physical coercion against religious minorities.”

In Christian majority Mozambique, government officials were said to have arbitrarily detained people who appeared to be Muslim in response to a rising Islamic extremist insurgency in the country.

According to the analysis, Europe showed a small decline in its median level of government restrictions on religion while the Americas “remained stable” between 2017 and 2018. The Americas continue to experience the lowest levels of government restrictions on religion compared to other regions.

Courtesy of The Christian Post

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