Britain and other rich countries will be asked to accept a compulsory levy on international flight tickets and shipping fuel to raise billions of dollars to help the world's poorest countries adapt to combat climate change.
The suggestions come at the start of the second week in the latest round of UN climate talks in Bonn, where 192 countries are starting to negotiate a global agreement to limit and then reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The issue of funding for adaptation is critical to success but the hardest to agree.
The aviation levy, which is expected to increase the price of long-haul fares by less than 1%, would raise $10bn (£6.25bn) a year, it is said.
It has been proposed by the world's 50 least developed countries. It could be matched by a compulsory surcharge on all international shipping fuel, said Connie Hedegaard, the Danish environment and energy minister who will host the final UN climate summit in December.
"People are beginning to understand that innovative ideas could generate a lot of money. The Danish shipping industry, which is one of the world's largest, has said a that truly global system would work well. Denmark would endorse it," said Hedegaard.
In Bonn last week, a separate Mexican proposal to raise billions of dollars was gaining ground. The idea, known as the "green fund" plan, would oblige all countries to pay amounts according to a formula reflecting the size of their economy, their greenhouse gas emissions and the country's population. That could ensure that rich countries, which have the longest history of using of fossil fuels, pay the most to the fund.
Recently, the proposal won praise from 17 major-economy countries meeting in Paris as a possible mechanism to help finance a UN pact. The US special envoy for climate change, Todd Stern, called it "highly constructive".
The Bonn meeting is the first climate meeting at which countries are discussing texts. These cover greenhouse gas reduction and financing developing countries' efforts to combat climate change.
Analysts said last night that the talks were most likely to stall over money. Developing countries, backed by the UN, argue that they will need hundreds of billions of dollars a year to adapt themselves to climate-related disasters, loss of crops and water supplies, which they are already experiencing as temperatures around the world rise. Yet so far, as a Guardian investigation revealed back in February, rich countries have pledged only a few billion dollars and have provided only a few hundred million.
"Developing countries will no longer let themselves be sidelined. In the past, they have been brought on board [climate negotiations] by promises of financial support. But all they got was the creation of a couple of funds that stayed empty. Developing countries will not settle for more 'placebo funds'," said Benito Müller, director of Oxford University's institute for energy studies.
Saleemul Huq, of the International Institute for Environment and Development, said that until rich countries made serious pledges, the rest of the negotiations would suffer because it would be impossible to agree actions without knowing how they would be funded.
Last week, a US negotiator, Jonathan Pershing, said that the US had budgeted $400m to help poor countries adapt to climate change as an interim measure. But that amount was dismissed as inadequate by Bernarditas Muller of the Philippines, who is the co-ordinator of the G77 and China group of countries.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Gordon Brown faces leadership battle as Labour suffers European elections battering
Gordon Brown today faces a make or break challenge to his leadership after Labour looked set to slump to just 16% of the national vote in the European elections.
The far-right British National party won its first ever seat in Europe, and the Conservatives topped the polls in Wales.
Another dismal night for Labour saw it pushed into fourth and sometimes fifth place across large swaths of the country.
Early projections suggested the Conservatives would come first, with just under 30% of the vote, the United Kingdom Independence party second, with around 20%, and Labour and the Liberal Democrats would battle it out for third and fourth place.
The BNP won 10% of the vote – more than 120,000 votes – in Yorkshire and the Humber, giving it its first ever foothold in the European parliament. In Wales, Labour lost 12% of the vote, allowing the Conservatives to emerge as the overall winners for the first time since 1918.
In the North East, the first UK region to declare, the state of the parties remained the same, with one seat going to Labour, one to the Conservatives and one to the Liberal Democrats.
Labour's share of the vote was down 9%, the Tories were up 1% and the Lib Dems saw no change.
The state of the parties also remained static in the East of England, with the Conservatives returning three MEPs, Ukip two and Labour and the Lib Dems one each.
However, Labour's share of the vote was down 6%.
Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy leader, described tonight's results as "dismal" for the party, which was pushed into fifth place in the South East with half the votes counted.
Official EU projections indicated that the centre-right parties would emerge as the largest grouping in the European parliament.
Hours before the crucial Euro results were due to be announced, Brown's hopes of survival suffered a further setback when the former lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, became the most senior figure yet to call for a leadership contest.
The peer – once Tony Blair's flatmate – warned that potential candidates were waiting in the wings, ready to mount a challenge, if Brown was not prepared to stand down as prime minister.
Meanwhile, Tessa Jowell became the first member of the cabinet to speculate openly that Brown could be prepared to step aside if he believed he had become an "obstacle" to Labour winning the next general election.
If Labour were to end up coming fourth behind the Liberal Democrats, it could be the catalyst for plotters behind the so-called "peasants' revolt" to show their hand when MPs return to Westminster tomorrow.
Brown sought to rally support with a televised address to a hastily arranged gathering of sympathetic Labour party activists in east London earlier today.
He said the public would not understand if the government gave up at a time when it was faced with tackling the recession and cleaning up parliament.
"What would they think of us if ever we walked away from them at a time of need? We are sticking with them," he said.
"We have a purpose, we have a mission, we have a task ahead. We are going to get on with that task of building a better Britain."
Falconer's call for a leadership contest was swiftly rejected by the newly promoted home secretary, Alan Johnson, who is widely regarded as the most likely successor to Brown if the prime minister is ousted.
"I don't agree that regicide gives you a unified party," he told the Politics Show. "I think that Gordon Brown is the best man for the job."
Earlier, the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, cast doubt on the ability of the plotters to put up a credible candidate against Brown.
"It would require somebody to stand against him, somebody who is raising their standard and saying that they could do a better job ... we don't have that person," he said.
He told rebels to "stop taking shots" at the prime minister and warned that they faced the prospect of having to fight an immediate general election if Brown went.
However, Nick Raynsford, another former minister who has been calling on Brown to stand down, said the party could not carry on as it was.
The flashpoint could come as soon as tomorrow's weekly meeting of the parliamentary Labour party at Westminster, when Brown is expected to address his backbench MPs.
It will be followed almost immediately afterwards by a debate on Labour's future, addressed by the former Europe minister Caroline Flint – who resigned from the government on Friday – and the arch-Blairite Stephen Byers.
The far-right British National party won its first ever seat in Europe, and the Conservatives topped the polls in Wales.
Another dismal night for Labour saw it pushed into fourth and sometimes fifth place across large swaths of the country.
Early projections suggested the Conservatives would come first, with just under 30% of the vote, the United Kingdom Independence party second, with around 20%, and Labour and the Liberal Democrats would battle it out for third and fourth place.
The BNP won 10% of the vote – more than 120,000 votes – in Yorkshire and the Humber, giving it its first ever foothold in the European parliament. In Wales, Labour lost 12% of the vote, allowing the Conservatives to emerge as the overall winners for the first time since 1918.
In the North East, the first UK region to declare, the state of the parties remained the same, with one seat going to Labour, one to the Conservatives and one to the Liberal Democrats.
Labour's share of the vote was down 9%, the Tories were up 1% and the Lib Dems saw no change.
The state of the parties also remained static in the East of England, with the Conservatives returning three MEPs, Ukip two and Labour and the Lib Dems one each.
However, Labour's share of the vote was down 6%.
Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy leader, described tonight's results as "dismal" for the party, which was pushed into fifth place in the South East with half the votes counted.
Official EU projections indicated that the centre-right parties would emerge as the largest grouping in the European parliament.
Hours before the crucial Euro results were due to be announced, Brown's hopes of survival suffered a further setback when the former lord chancellor, Lord Falconer, became the most senior figure yet to call for a leadership contest.
The peer – once Tony Blair's flatmate – warned that potential candidates were waiting in the wings, ready to mount a challenge, if Brown was not prepared to stand down as prime minister.
Meanwhile, Tessa Jowell became the first member of the cabinet to speculate openly that Brown could be prepared to step aside if he believed he had become an "obstacle" to Labour winning the next general election.
If Labour were to end up coming fourth behind the Liberal Democrats, it could be the catalyst for plotters behind the so-called "peasants' revolt" to show their hand when MPs return to Westminster tomorrow.
Brown sought to rally support with a televised address to a hastily arranged gathering of sympathetic Labour party activists in east London earlier today.
He said the public would not understand if the government gave up at a time when it was faced with tackling the recession and cleaning up parliament.
"What would they think of us if ever we walked away from them at a time of need? We are sticking with them," he said.
"We have a purpose, we have a mission, we have a task ahead. We are going to get on with that task of building a better Britain."
Falconer's call for a leadership contest was swiftly rejected by the newly promoted home secretary, Alan Johnson, who is widely regarded as the most likely successor to Brown if the prime minister is ousted.
"I don't agree that regicide gives you a unified party," he told the Politics Show. "I think that Gordon Brown is the best man for the job."
Earlier, the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, cast doubt on the ability of the plotters to put up a credible candidate against Brown.
"It would require somebody to stand against him, somebody who is raising their standard and saying that they could do a better job ... we don't have that person," he said.
He told rebels to "stop taking shots" at the prime minister and warned that they faced the prospect of having to fight an immediate general election if Brown went.
However, Nick Raynsford, another former minister who has been calling on Brown to stand down, said the party could not carry on as it was.
The flashpoint could come as soon as tomorrow's weekly meeting of the parliamentary Labour party at Westminster, when Brown is expected to address his backbench MPs.
It will be followed almost immediately afterwards by a debate on Labour's future, addressed by the former Europe minister Caroline Flint – who resigned from the government on Friday – and the arch-Blairite Stephen Byers.
Early rocks to reveal their ages
A new technique has been helping scientists piece together how the Earth's continents were arranged 2.5 billion years ago.
The novel method allows scientists to recover rare minerals from rocks.
By analysing the composition of these minerals, researchers can precisely date ancient volcanic rocks for the first time.
By aligning rocks that have a similar age and orientation, the early landmasses can be pieced together.
This will aid the discovery of rocks rich in ore and oil deposits, say the scientists. The approach has already shown that Canada once bordered Zimbabwe, helping the mining industry identify new areas for exploration.
Dr Wouter Bleeker, from the Geological Survey of Canada, explained that much of the geology that exists today formed around 300 million years ago when the supercontinent Pangea existed.
"We really don't understand the [Earth's] history prior to Pangea," he told a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Toronto.
Early landmasses
Analysis of rocks that formed when continents drifted apart can help geologists reconstruct early landmasses.
Dr Richard Ernst, a geologist from the University of Ottawa, explained that molten magma fills the cracks formed by shifting continental plates.
The magma cools to form long veins of basalt - a volcanic rock - that has a "distinct magnetic signature" revealing the rock's orientation and latitude when it formed.
By combining this "magnetic signature" with the ages of these rocks, researchers can tell whether rocks on different continents were once part of the same volcanic up-welling.
But until now, researchers have been unable to determine the ages of many of these ancient rocks because of the difficulty in extracting the minerals used to date them.
The researchers are dealing with such small mineral crystals - typically much less than 100 microns long - that grains are far smaller than the width of a human hair.
But with the development of new techniques, minerals - such as baddeleyite - can now be successfully recovered.
Baddeleyite is useful because it incorporates large amounts of uranium into its crystal-structure, and because uranium naturally decays to lead.
Scientists also know the rate at which this happens, so they can use these minerals as radioactive "clocks".
They then need to measure the amounts of uranium and lead very precisely.
In a large, international project, researchers hope to collect and date 250 rocks from around the world, and use this information to reconstruct how these continental fragments were once together to form giant landmasses that existed 2.5 billion years ago.
The novel method allows scientists to recover rare minerals from rocks.
By analysing the composition of these minerals, researchers can precisely date ancient volcanic rocks for the first time.
By aligning rocks that have a similar age and orientation, the early landmasses can be pieced together.
This will aid the discovery of rocks rich in ore and oil deposits, say the scientists. The approach has already shown that Canada once bordered Zimbabwe, helping the mining industry identify new areas for exploration.
Dr Wouter Bleeker, from the Geological Survey of Canada, explained that much of the geology that exists today formed around 300 million years ago when the supercontinent Pangea existed.
"We really don't understand the [Earth's] history prior to Pangea," he told a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Toronto.
Early landmasses
Analysis of rocks that formed when continents drifted apart can help geologists reconstruct early landmasses.
Dr Richard Ernst, a geologist from the University of Ottawa, explained that molten magma fills the cracks formed by shifting continental plates.
The magma cools to form long veins of basalt - a volcanic rock - that has a "distinct magnetic signature" revealing the rock's orientation and latitude when it formed.
By combining this "magnetic signature" with the ages of these rocks, researchers can tell whether rocks on different continents were once part of the same volcanic up-welling.
But until now, researchers have been unable to determine the ages of many of these ancient rocks because of the difficulty in extracting the minerals used to date them.
The researchers are dealing with such small mineral crystals - typically much less than 100 microns long - that grains are far smaller than the width of a human hair.
But with the development of new techniques, minerals - such as baddeleyite - can now be successfully recovered.
Baddeleyite is useful because it incorporates large amounts of uranium into its crystal-structure, and because uranium naturally decays to lead.
Scientists also know the rate at which this happens, so they can use these minerals as radioactive "clocks".
They then need to measure the amounts of uranium and lead very precisely.
In a large, international project, researchers hope to collect and date 250 rocks from around the world, and use this information to reconstruct how these continental fragments were once together to form giant landmasses that existed 2.5 billion years ago.
Tourist clings to Australia train
A teenaged American tourist says he spent two hours clinging to the side of a long-distance train as it sped across the Australian outback in the night.
Chad Vance said he had to leap onto The Ghan as it left the station at Port Augusta, South Australia, after he had disembarked during a 40-minute stop.
He became cold and tired as the train reached speeds of up to 110km/h (68mph) on the journey to Alice Springs.
Engineer Marty Wells finally heard his yells and applied the emergency brake.
Mr Vance, quoted in the Herald Sun, said: "I feel very lucky to be alive."
'Instinctive' reaction
He thought he had timed his return to the station accurately, but as the train pulled away he ran after it along the tracks.
When it stopped soon afterwards, he said he spent five minutes trying to attract the attention of passengers on board by shouting and banging the windows.
People were looking at me but did nothing," he said.
With his luggage and passport on board, he decided to grab a handrail in a stairwell.
"Call it instinct, but I just went for it and I didn't even consider if I would be in any trouble."
Dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and boots, Mr Vance, 19, said he was worried "my hands would get so cold and numb that I might lose my grip and fall off".
After two hours, he saw one staff member inside and started banging and yelling.
"He heard me, but he didn't know where the noise was coming from, I could see him walking around and looking for me inside the train.
"He alerted other staff members but they couldn't find me either - I guess they didn't think someone could actually be outside the train!"
Describing the situation as "real scary", Mr Vance said he was relieved when ten minutes later Mr Wells spotted him and pulled the emergency brake.
"Marty was absolutely a life saver, he was amazing, I could have died without his help."
Mr Wells agreed.
"When we rescued him his skin was white and his lips were blue.
"We were still about three hours away from our next scheduled stop and in that time he could easily have died of hypothermia or lost his grip and fallen to his death," he was quoted as saying in the Sunday Territorian.
Mr Vance said he had not told his parents about the train escapade "because I don't want them to worry about me while I'm away."
The Ghan travels from Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin, taking two nights to cover 2,979km.
Chad Vance said he had to leap onto The Ghan as it left the station at Port Augusta, South Australia, after he had disembarked during a 40-minute stop.
He became cold and tired as the train reached speeds of up to 110km/h (68mph) on the journey to Alice Springs.
Engineer Marty Wells finally heard his yells and applied the emergency brake.
Mr Vance, quoted in the Herald Sun, said: "I feel very lucky to be alive."
'Instinctive' reaction
He thought he had timed his return to the station accurately, but as the train pulled away he ran after it along the tracks.
When it stopped soon afterwards, he said he spent five minutes trying to attract the attention of passengers on board by shouting and banging the windows.
People were looking at me but did nothing," he said.
With his luggage and passport on board, he decided to grab a handrail in a stairwell.
"Call it instinct, but I just went for it and I didn't even consider if I would be in any trouble."
Dressed in jeans, a T-shirt and boots, Mr Vance, 19, said he was worried "my hands would get so cold and numb that I might lose my grip and fall off".
After two hours, he saw one staff member inside and started banging and yelling.
"He heard me, but he didn't know where the noise was coming from, I could see him walking around and looking for me inside the train.
"He alerted other staff members but they couldn't find me either - I guess they didn't think someone could actually be outside the train!"
Describing the situation as "real scary", Mr Vance said he was relieved when ten minutes later Mr Wells spotted him and pulled the emergency brake.
"Marty was absolutely a life saver, he was amazing, I could have died without his help."
Mr Wells agreed.
"When we rescued him his skin was white and his lips were blue.
"We were still about three hours away from our next scheduled stop and in that time he could easily have died of hypothermia or lost his grip and fallen to his death," he was quoted as saying in the Sunday Territorian.
Mr Vance said he had not told his parents about the train escapade "because I don't want them to worry about me while I'm away."
The Ghan travels from Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin, taking two nights to cover 2,979km.
European Election 2009: UK Results
National result
East Midlands
East of England
London
North East
North West
Northern Ireland
Scotland South East South West Wales West Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber RESULTS (excluding Northern Ireland)
SEATS: 72* TURNOUT: 7,082,993 ELECTORATE: 20,807,329
Votes MEPs
Party Total % Total +/-
Conservative 1,911,549 27.0
(+1.6) 12 0
Labour 1,263,567 17.8
(-6.7) 7 -2
UK Independence Party 1,096,380 15.5
(-0.8) 6 0
Liberal Democrats 951,097 13.4
(-1.0) 5 +1
Green Party 592,241 8.4
(+2.4) 1 0
British National Party 499,705 7.1
(+1.6) 1 +1
Plaid Cymru 126,702 1.8
(-0.2) 1 0
Christian Party-Christian Peoples Alliance 130,931 1.8
(+1.8) 0 0
English Democrat 129,480 1.8
(+1.0) 0 0
Socialist Labour Party 84,515 1.2
(+1.2) 0 0
No2EU 75,352 1.1
(+1.1) 0 0
United Kingdom First 58,746 0.8
(+0.8) 0 0
Independent - Jan Jananayagam 50,014 0.7
(+0.7) 0 0
Libertas 35,544 0.5
(+0.5) 0 0
Jury Team 34,878 0.5
(+0.5) 0 0
Animals Count 13,201 0.2
(+0.2) 0 0
Independent - Peter Rigby 9,916 0.1
(+0.1) 0 0
Independent - Steven Cheung 4,918 0.1
(+0.1) 0 0
Socialist Party of Great Britain 4,050 0.1
(+0.1) 0 0
Yes 2 Europe 3,384 0.0
(+0.0) 0 0
Independent - Sohale Rahman 3,248 0.0
(+0.0) 0 0
Independent - Gene Alcantara 1,972 0.0
(+0.0) 0 0
Independent - Haroon Saad 1,603 0.0
(+0.0) 0 0
Fair Play Fair Trade Party 0 0
0 0
Independent - Duncan Robertson 0 0
0 0
Independent - Francis Apaloo 0 0
0 0
Independent - Katie Hopkins 0 0
0 0
Mebyon Kernow 0 0
0 0
Pensioners Party 0 0
0 0
Scottish National Party 0 0
0 0
Scottish Socialist Party 0 0
0 0
The Peace Party 0 0
0 0
The Roman Party 0 0
0 0
Wai D 0 0
0 0
33 of 69 seats declared.
Seat change is adjusted to allow a direct comparison with the results from the 2004 election
*Includes Northern Ireland.
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What are these?
ELECTIONS 2009
EUROPEAN ELECTION RESULTS
EU WideUK EU Result
Full EU Parliament results
Full UK results by region
UK Total MEP Seats
Votes MEPs
Party % +/- % Total +/-
CON 27.0 1.6 12 0
LAB 17.8 -6.7 7 -2
UKIP 15.5 -0.8 6 0
LD 13.4 -1.0 5 1
GRN 8.4 2.4 1 0
BNP 7.1 1.6 1 1
PC 1.8 -0.2 1 0
SNP 0 0 0 0
SSP 0 0 0 0
OTH 9.1 3.1 0 0
33 of 69 seats declared.
Result excludes Northern Ireland.
Full UK results
KEY STORIES
Results coming in
BNP wins European Parliament seat
European voters punish the left
Yorkshire elects BNP's first MEP
Brown defiant amid leadership row
FEATURES AND BACKGROUND
Nick Robinson
Follow the BBC Political Editor's assessment of developments
The Full Story: Brown's reshuffle
Next storm awaits Brown
Labour's pessimism well placed
Watch all party broadcasts
European election candidates
England council results A-Z
Council results map
VIDEO REPORTS
BNP's first MEP attacks EU
Burnham: 'Sad day for British politics'
Falconer wants leadership debate
Stop attacking PM, says Mandelson
Brown: 'Bound to have ups and downs'
RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Labour Conservatives Lib Dems UKIP SNP Plaid Cymru Green Party DUP Sinn Fein SDLP Ulster Unionists Alliance Party Traditional Unio Scottish Greens BNP Scots Socialists Libertas Jury Team No2EU English Dems CP Alliance Socialist Labour Socialist Party Pensioners Party Peace Party Yes 2 Europe UK First Party The Peace Party Mebyon Kernow Animals Count
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
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Most popular now, in detail
East Midlands
East of England
London
North East
North West
Northern Ireland
Scotland South East South West Wales West Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber RESULTS (excluding Northern Ireland)
SEATS: 72* TURNOUT: 7,082,993 ELECTORATE: 20,807,329
Votes MEPs
Party Total % Total +/-
Conservative 1,911,549 27.0
(+1.6) 12 0
Labour 1,263,567 17.8
(-6.7) 7 -2
UK Independence Party 1,096,380 15.5
(-0.8) 6 0
Liberal Democrats 951,097 13.4
(-1.0) 5 +1
Green Party 592,241 8.4
(+2.4) 1 0
British National Party 499,705 7.1
(+1.6) 1 +1
Plaid Cymru 126,702 1.8
(-0.2) 1 0
Christian Party-Christian Peoples Alliance 130,931 1.8
(+1.8) 0 0
English Democrat 129,480 1.8
(+1.0) 0 0
Socialist Labour Party 84,515 1.2
(+1.2) 0 0
No2EU 75,352 1.1
(+1.1) 0 0
United Kingdom First 58,746 0.8
(+0.8) 0 0
Independent - Jan Jananayagam 50,014 0.7
(+0.7) 0 0
Libertas 35,544 0.5
(+0.5) 0 0
Jury Team 34,878 0.5
(+0.5) 0 0
Animals Count 13,201 0.2
(+0.2) 0 0
Independent - Peter Rigby 9,916 0.1
(+0.1) 0 0
Independent - Steven Cheung 4,918 0.1
(+0.1) 0 0
Socialist Party of Great Britain 4,050 0.1
(+0.1) 0 0
Yes 2 Europe 3,384 0.0
(+0.0) 0 0
Independent - Sohale Rahman 3,248 0.0
(+0.0) 0 0
Independent - Gene Alcantara 1,972 0.0
(+0.0) 0 0
Independent - Haroon Saad 1,603 0.0
(+0.0) 0 0
Fair Play Fair Trade Party 0 0
0 0
Independent - Duncan Robertson 0 0
0 0
Independent - Francis Apaloo 0 0
0 0
Independent - Katie Hopkins 0 0
0 0
Mebyon Kernow 0 0
0 0
Pensioners Party 0 0
0 0
Scottish National Party 0 0
0 0
Scottish Socialist Party 0 0
0 0
The Peace Party 0 0
0 0
The Roman Party 0 0
0 0
Wai D 0 0
0 0
33 of 69 seats declared.
Seat change is adjusted to allow a direct comparison with the results from the 2004 election
*Includes Northern Ireland.
E-mail this to a friend
Bookmark with:
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What are these?
ELECTIONS 2009
EUROPEAN ELECTION RESULTS
EU WideUK EU Result
Full EU Parliament results
Full UK results by region
UK Total MEP Seats
Votes MEPs
Party % +/- % Total +/-
CON 27.0 1.6 12 0
LAB 17.8 -6.7 7 -2
UKIP 15.5 -0.8 6 0
LD 13.4 -1.0 5 1
GRN 8.4 2.4 1 0
BNP 7.1 1.6 1 1
PC 1.8 -0.2 1 0
SNP 0 0 0 0
SSP 0 0 0 0
OTH 9.1 3.1 0 0
33 of 69 seats declared.
Result excludes Northern Ireland.
Full UK results
KEY STORIES
Results coming in
BNP wins European Parliament seat
European voters punish the left
Yorkshire elects BNP's first MEP
Brown defiant amid leadership row
FEATURES AND BACKGROUND
Nick Robinson
Follow the BBC Political Editor's assessment of developments
The Full Story: Brown's reshuffle
Next storm awaits Brown
Labour's pessimism well placed
Watch all party broadcasts
European election candidates
England council results A-Z
Council results map
VIDEO REPORTS
BNP's first MEP attacks EU
Burnham: 'Sad day for British politics'
Falconer wants leadership debate
Stop attacking PM, says Mandelson
Brown: 'Bound to have ups and downs'
RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Labour Conservatives Lib Dems UKIP SNP Plaid Cymru Green Party DUP Sinn Fein SDLP Ulster Unionists Alliance Party Traditional Unio Scottish Greens BNP Scots Socialists Libertas Jury Team No2EU English Dems CP Alliance Socialist Labour Socialist Party Pensioners Party Peace Party Yes 2 Europe UK First Party The Peace Party Mebyon Kernow Animals Count
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
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Council Map
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LIVE - European election results
Pregnant woman dies in stabbing
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Yorkshire elects BNP's first MEP
Upset over Carradine body photo
Sir Alan hires his new Apprentice
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Body was 'in bin for three weeks'
Most popular now, in detail SHARED READ WATCHED/LISTENED European election coverage on BBC News
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Piano-playing cat takes centre stage
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Five Minutes With: Shilpa Shetty
European election coverage on BBC News
Most popular now, in detail
Saturday, June 6, 2009
India’s God factory thrives – in China
India’s constant demand for gods has saved atheist China’s biggest ‘Hindu god factory’ from the global recession.
Indian consumers are also inspiring more Chinese to learn the tricky art of mass-producing cut-price gods with names they cannot pronounce.
Across south China, known as the world’s export factory, sinking markets in the US and Europe have crippled over 67,000 factories and left 20-30 million migrants unemployed since last year.
But the Chinese workers, who make 40 Hindu gods per person per day in a factory in southeast China’s Quanzhou near Taiwan, are clocking overtime 7-10 pm shifts to make the Ganesha you will buy in Mumbai or Gurgaon.
These 120-150 workers from rural China, who don’t know the names of any of the gods they mould and paint, can make 1,000 idols of any style in 45 days — cheaper than Indian artisans. When Hindustan Times visited them, not a single worker paused from the task at hand to look up.
“The demand for Hindu gods is always stable in India, but US buyers of gods stopped coming,” said Donna Du, an English major graduate who started the factory in 2004 to make sculptures of couples and doves for India’s Valentine’s Day and Friendship Day. But the religious demand grew so fast that the factory decided to focus exclusively on Hindu gods.
The lightweight and hollow idols travel in a container packed with 1,000 cartons — each carton crammed with 144, 288 or over 300 pieces — on the ancient maritime silk route. The idols are sent by road from coastal Quanzhou to Xiamen port, and then by sea via Hong Kong or Singapore to Mumbai..
“India’s economy is still growing, so demand is good,” said Donna, who remembers the names of only Sai Baba, Krishna and Ganesha. “Inexperienced Chinese competitors are trying to make Ganeshas, but they make mistakes, like the trunk on the wrong side.”
Quanzhou is surrounded by the world’s shoe factories making over one billion pairs of sneakers every year. But the young Indians who travel here every three months head to this lesser-known factory where the Chinese take the Ganesha global.
The factory’s showpiece is an air-conditioned sample room stacked with idols of at least a dozen gods in all sizes and a table with a maroon velvet tablecloth. Here, the Indians meet manager Chen who doesn’t speak English or Hindi and wears an Om locket to “show sincerity”.
“Indians bargain until midnight over a few cents,” said Donna. “The cost of raw material and labour went up last year, but Indians are tough. They won’t pay more.”
Indian traders bring pictures of idols they want copied. A local sculptor makes the design and mould. The sculpture for the mould can cost Rs 700 per inch. A two-inch Ganesha sold for Rs 14 will sell in India for over Rs 100-200. A big idol sold here for Rs 350 each will sell for many times the price in India.
Across a floor that smells like a laboratory, workers manually pour creamy polyresin into moulds. Since the 1990s, Quanzhou has been a hub for making cheap sculptures of polyresin, a flexible compound with a finish like fibreglass.
On another floor, local Chinese with no art training paint 40 idols per day, one part at a time. Hindustan Times saw one worker just spraying black paint on the hooves, tail and snout of Krishna’s cows. A girl was painting the gold blouse on every Saraswati.
A girl painting gold lines on Ganesha identified herself as Zhen, and said she trained on the job. “I thought it was very difficult,” she said. She sends part of her 1,000 RMB (Rs 7,000) monthly salary to her parents in a village three hours away and spends the rest.
In another factory, while workers loaded Christmas shipments, the manager said his staff has begun learning to make Hindu gods. But they finish only three or four idols per day. “Hindu gods, very difficult,” he said, shaking his head.
Indian consumers are also inspiring more Chinese to learn the tricky art of mass-producing cut-price gods with names they cannot pronounce.
Across south China, known as the world’s export factory, sinking markets in the US and Europe have crippled over 67,000 factories and left 20-30 million migrants unemployed since last year.
But the Chinese workers, who make 40 Hindu gods per person per day in a factory in southeast China’s Quanzhou near Taiwan, are clocking overtime 7-10 pm shifts to make the Ganesha you will buy in Mumbai or Gurgaon.
These 120-150 workers from rural China, who don’t know the names of any of the gods they mould and paint, can make 1,000 idols of any style in 45 days — cheaper than Indian artisans. When Hindustan Times visited them, not a single worker paused from the task at hand to look up.
“The demand for Hindu gods is always stable in India, but US buyers of gods stopped coming,” said Donna Du, an English major graduate who started the factory in 2004 to make sculptures of couples and doves for India’s Valentine’s Day and Friendship Day. But the religious demand grew so fast that the factory decided to focus exclusively on Hindu gods.
The lightweight and hollow idols travel in a container packed with 1,000 cartons — each carton crammed with 144, 288 or over 300 pieces — on the ancient maritime silk route. The idols are sent by road from coastal Quanzhou to Xiamen port, and then by sea via Hong Kong or Singapore to Mumbai..
“India’s economy is still growing, so demand is good,” said Donna, who remembers the names of only Sai Baba, Krishna and Ganesha. “Inexperienced Chinese competitors are trying to make Ganeshas, but they make mistakes, like the trunk on the wrong side.”
Quanzhou is surrounded by the world’s shoe factories making over one billion pairs of sneakers every year. But the young Indians who travel here every three months head to this lesser-known factory where the Chinese take the Ganesha global.
The factory’s showpiece is an air-conditioned sample room stacked with idols of at least a dozen gods in all sizes and a table with a maroon velvet tablecloth. Here, the Indians meet manager Chen who doesn’t speak English or Hindi and wears an Om locket to “show sincerity”.
“Indians bargain until midnight over a few cents,” said Donna. “The cost of raw material and labour went up last year, but Indians are tough. They won’t pay more.”
Indian traders bring pictures of idols they want copied. A local sculptor makes the design and mould. The sculpture for the mould can cost Rs 700 per inch. A two-inch Ganesha sold for Rs 14 will sell in India for over Rs 100-200. A big idol sold here for Rs 350 each will sell for many times the price in India.
Across a floor that smells like a laboratory, workers manually pour creamy polyresin into moulds. Since the 1990s, Quanzhou has been a hub for making cheap sculptures of polyresin, a flexible compound with a finish like fibreglass.
On another floor, local Chinese with no art training paint 40 idols per day, one part at a time. Hindustan Times saw one worker just spraying black paint on the hooves, tail and snout of Krishna’s cows. A girl was painting the gold blouse on every Saraswati.
A girl painting gold lines on Ganesha identified herself as Zhen, and said she trained on the job. “I thought it was very difficult,” she said. She sends part of her 1,000 RMB (Rs 7,000) monthly salary to her parents in a village three hours away and spends the rest.
In another factory, while workers loaded Christmas shipments, the manager said his staff has begun learning to make Hindu gods. But they finish only three or four idols per day. “Hindu gods, very difficult,” he said, shaking his head.
‘Small investors need special rights’
Salman Khursheed has taken charge as the country’s Corporate Affairs Minister in the backdrop of the Satyam Computer Services scandal that has triggered calls for better regulation and corporate governance to protect investors. He spoke to Mahua Venkatesh on reforming the way India Inc is governed. Excerpts:
The Satyam episode has so far remained an isolated case. But how would you ensure that in future a scandal of this magnitude does not recur?
It is extremely important to ensure that there are no more Satyam-like cases here. We are planning to put in place an early warning system to be able to detect any early sign. We have already said that this will be priority for us.
Routine surveys take place by auditors and if there are complaints from investors but we need to look beyond that. Early warning system will be aimed at picking signs at a nascent stages. We
have to chalk out the finer points of this system.
Several questions have also been raised on the role of independent directors. Is the current system flawed?
We have very strong guidelines but now we have to strengthen and tighten them further and take them to the next level. Accountability is key and we will see how this can be further enhanced and naturally the role of independent directors would be crucial.
The new Companies Bill which we intend to introduce in Parliament at the earliest has already dealt with several of these issues.
How do you plan to protect the small investor?
Protection of small investor is our focus. The small investor needs to be given some special rights. We need to demystify corporate governance for the aam admi (common man) It is important to speak a language which does not sound like a mystery.
When do you plan to take up the new Companies Bill?
It is a priority, but in view of the Satyam case, do we need to review the bill? That is something we need to see.
The Satyam episode has so far remained an isolated case. But how would you ensure that in future a scandal of this magnitude does not recur?
It is extremely important to ensure that there are no more Satyam-like cases here. We are planning to put in place an early warning system to be able to detect any early sign. We have already said that this will be priority for us.
Routine surveys take place by auditors and if there are complaints from investors but we need to look beyond that. Early warning system will be aimed at picking signs at a nascent stages. We
have to chalk out the finer points of this system.
Several questions have also been raised on the role of independent directors. Is the current system flawed?
We have very strong guidelines but now we have to strengthen and tighten them further and take them to the next level. Accountability is key and we will see how this can be further enhanced and naturally the role of independent directors would be crucial.
The new Companies Bill which we intend to introduce in Parliament at the earliest has already dealt with several of these issues.
How do you plan to protect the small investor?
Protection of small investor is our focus. The small investor needs to be given some special rights. We need to demystify corporate governance for the aam admi (common man) It is important to speak a language which does not sound like a mystery.
When do you plan to take up the new Companies Bill?
It is a priority, but in view of the Satyam case, do we need to review the bill? That is something we need to see.
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