TEPIC, Mexico: Turning the planet’s environmental fortunes around is achievable if businesses, politicians and citizens work toward a common goal, with the biggest polluters picking up the bill, said the United Nations’ environment chief.
Highlighting the dramatic progress made by China and India, Erik Solheim, executive director of UN Environment, urged governments to take a joined-up approach to going green.
“The profit of destroying nature or polluting the planet is nearly always privatised, while the costs of polluting the planet or the cost of destroying ecosystems is nearly always socialized,” he told an international conference on sustainable development at New York’s Columbia University on Monday.
“That cannot continue,” he said. “Anyone who pollutes, anyone who destroys nature must pay the cost for that destruction or that pollution.”
There has been a “decoupling” of economic development and environmental degradation in many countries, but the World Health Organization now links a quarter of all deaths to pollution which contributes to cancer, heart attacks and respiratory problems, said Solheim.
Emphasising the role of businesses in developing new technologies to address the most pressing needs, Solheim pointed to the explosive growth of companies such as bike-sharing firm Mobike in China.
Meanwhile, the country is rapidly rolling out urban metro systems and a vast high-speed rail network to solve its transport challenge.
The dramatic slide in the cost of solar power is bringing health as well as environmental benefits around the world, Solheim added, while clean energy and technology are helping generate jobs and economic growth in countries like India.
“Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi realized he can electrify the villages and provide any number of green jobs — he can provide high economic growth, he can take care of his people, and take care of the planet by the same policies,” said Solheim.
While reaching the UN environment agency’s target of a “pollution-free planet” is achievable, action must be stepped up toward meeting that goal, said Solheim.
“Change is happening,” he said. “Economic-wise, we are on the right track, but we need to speed up because the challenge is so big.”
Polluters must pick up tab for damage to planet: UN environment chief
Polluters must pick up tab for damage to planet: UN environment chief
Julio Iglesias accused of sexual assault in Caribbean as Spanish prosecutors study the allegations
- The allegations were related to media reports from earlier this week that alleged Iglesias had sexually and physically assaulted two women
- Women’s Link Worldwide said it was representing the two women who had presented the complaint to the Spanish court
BARCELONA: Spanish prosecutors are studying allegations that Grammy-winning singer Julio Iglesias sexually assaulted two former employees at his residences in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
The Spanish prosecutors’ office told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the allegations were related to media reports from earlier this week that alleged Iglesias had sexually and physically assaulted two women who worked in his Caribbean residences between January and October 2021.
Iglesias has yet to speak publicly regarding the allegations. Russell L. King, a Miami-based entertainment lawyer who lists Iglesias as a client on his website, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by the AP.
The Spanish prosecutors’ office that handles cases for Spain’s National Court said that it had received formal allegations against Iglesias by an unnamed party on Jan. 5. Iglesias could potentially be taken in front of the Madrid-based court, which can try alleged crimes by Spanish citizens while they are abroad, according to the court’s press office.
Women’s Link Worldwide, a nongovernmental organization, said in a statement that it was representing the two women who had presented the complaint to the Spanish court. The group said that the women were accusing Iglesias of “crimes against sexual freedom and indemnity such as sexual harassment” and of “human trafficking for the purpose of forced labor and servitude.”
Spanish online newspaper elDiario.es and Spanish-language television channel Univision Noticias published the joint investigation into Iglesias’ alleged misconduct.
Spanish government spokeswoman Elma Saiz said that the media reports regarding Iglesias “demanded respect.”
“Once again I can reaffirm this government’s firm and complete commitment to take on any act of violence, harassment or aggression against women,” Saiz said Tuesday after the media reports were published.
Panky Corcino, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office in the Dominican Republic, declined to comment, saying he couldn’t confirm or deny an investigation.
By law, any case in the Caribbean country that involves sexual aggression or violence must be investigated by prosecutors, even if no one has filed a complaint.
The 82-year-old Iglesias is one of the world’s most successful musical artists after having sold more than 300 million records in more than a dozen languages. After making his start in Spain, he won immense popularity in the United States and wider world in the 1970s and ‘80s. He’s the father of pop singer Enrique Iglesias.
Julio Iglesias won a 1988 Grammy for Best Latin Pop Performance for his album “Un Hombre Solo.” He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2019.
Spain’s culture minister said Wednesday that its left-wing government, which holds women’s rights and equality among its priorities, will also consider stripping Iglesias of the state’s Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts that he was awarded in 2010.
“It is something we are studying and evaluating, because evidently we feel obliged to do so when faced by such a serious case,” Culture Minister Ernest Urtusan said.
