Month: October 2021

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Sanitation and Water for All à la COP26

NEW YORK, 28 octobre 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Sanitation and Water for All est partenaire du tout premier pavillon Eau pour le climat de la 26e Conférence des Parties des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques(COP26). Le pavillon, animé par 33 organisations, soulignera le rôle essentiel de l’eau dans la transformation de l’action climatique et fournira aux décideurs climatiques des conseils de pointe, fondés sur des données scientifiques, en matière de mesures d’atténuation et d’adaptation.

« On estime que 90 % des problèmes causés par le changement climatique sont liés à l’eau, entraînant des sécheresses, des inondations et d’autres phénomènes météorologiques extrêmes. Il faut que les décideurs donnent la priorité aux droits de l’homme avant toute autre utilisation, et qu’ils garantissent des stratégies, des plans et des budgets d’eau et d’assainissement résistants au climat, en particulier pour les personnes les plus vulnérables et marginalisées », a déclaré Catarina de Albuquerque, directrice générale du partenariat « Sanitation and Water for All », organisé par les Nations unies. « Le tout premier pavillon de l’eau est une occasion sans précédent d’harmoniser les politiques sur le climat et l’eau afin que les droits de la personne soient respectés, que les risques climatiques soient réduits et que plus d’argent soit disponible pour l’adaptation. Profitons de cette occasion pour travailler ensemble et tenir nos engagements – dans l’intérêt de tous. »

À la COP26 et à d’autres événements et espaces clés, les partenaires de SWA invitent les gouvernements à :

  • Améliorer l’utilisation efficace des ressources en eau et hiérarchiser leur répartition entre des utilisations concurrentes de telle sorte que la réalisation des droits de l’homme soit prioritaire
  • Veiller à ce que les groupes marginalisés, y compris les femmes et les enfants, aient accès à l’eau courante, au savon et aux toilettes pour leur santé et leur dignité, ce qui est un élément clé du renforcement de la résilience climatique
  • Collaborer avec les entreprises et les institutions financières internationales pour accélérer les investissements dans les infrastructures et les services d’eau résilients au climat – en particulier pour les pays en situation de vulnérabilité

Les événements virtuels du Pavillon de l’eau comprennent :

Financement climatique pour soutenir l’adaptation des services de base et renforcer la résilience des communautés : eau, assainissement et hygiène

Mardi 2 novembre, 9h00 GMT. Plus d’informations ici.

Politique, responsabilité et suivi pour une eau, un assainissement et une hygiène résilients au climat : passer de l’engagement au réel 

Samedi 6 novembre, 11h30 GMT. Plus d’informations ici.

Liste des autres événements du Pavillon de l’eau .

Logo : https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1441352/Sanitation_and_Water_for_All_Logo.jpg

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China Report: POWERCHINA fulfills social responsibility in Southeast Africa

BEIJING, Oct. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — A report by China Report Magazine on POWERCHINA’s CSR actions in Southeast Africa.

“Welcome to the heart of power, the heart of energy, the source of energy. Thank you, the days and nights I worked here have kept my heart in my thoughts,” Shangwaya Reuben, an employee of Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA) Zambian branch, sang.

Reuben has been working for the company for nearly 10 years. Although he is not very eloquent, he has put his respect for Chinese people and love for POWERCHINA into the song, which not only expresses the feeling of gratitude of millions of Zambians, but also highlights the valuable friendship between the two peoples.

As the first large-scale hydropower project developed by the Zambian Government over the past 40 years, the Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station (KGL) is a symbol of cooperation between China and Zambia. The plant will increase Zambia’s power supply capacity by about 38 percent after its completion, and will promote development in various areas.

Having operated in Zambia for more than 20 years, POWERCHINA has been building high-quality projects, while fulfilling social responsibility and giving back to local communities.

Since the very beginning, cement, steel , diesel and other raw materials for the project have been supplied locally, which has boosted the demand in the local building materials market and generated more than 10,000 local jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue.

Former Zambian President Edgar Lungu made several visits to the site of construction during his tenure. He said China has provided great help to Zambia in capital and technology for both KGL and Kariba Hydropower Station, and thanked the Chinese Government for its long-term support to Zambia.

Since its entry into the African market, POWERCHINA has contributed to fighting epidemics, disaster rescue and relief, social welfare, among others.

On April 8, 2020, a donation ceremony was held in the Ministry of Health of Uganda, where POWERCHINA Ugandan branch handed over food supplies including corn flour and cooking oil, emergency communication equipment, as well as 50 million Ugandan shillings in cash to the Ugandan side.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni spoke highly of the donation and praised the construction of the 600 MW Karuma Hydropower Plant & Its Associated Transmission Line Works by POWERCHINA in a nationally televised speech.

Museveni said after the completion of the project, the annual power generation capacity of Uganda will increase to 1,868 megawatts, which can meet the needs for the country’s economic development and accelerate its industrialization process.

In the early stage of the COVID-19 outbreak, just like the Ugandan branch, branches of POWERCHINA in other African countries including Zimbabwe, the Republic of the Congo and Mozambique also responded quickly and made donations to the local communities.

The younger generation is essential to the development of China-Africa relations. On May 31, 2019, POWERCHINA Mozambican branch organized an activity at the Sunshine Coast Primary School, donating footballs, school bags, workbooks, pencils and other stationery items.

In early April 2019, a village road funded by POWERCHINA Mozambican branch was completed. “They built this road because of their love for the kids and they are genuinely trying to help us,” school principal Silvestre Magaia said, adding that the road has provided great convenience for the nearby residents, especially the teachers and students.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1672432/1.jpg

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Selon App Annie, SHAREit fait partie des 10 applications à la croissance la plus rapide au monde

SINGAPOUR, 28 octobre 2021 /PRNewswire/ — SHAREit Group, une société technologique mondiale, a annoncé aujourd’hui que son application de partage de fichiers, de streaming de contenu et de jeux SHAREit, a été reconnue parmi les 10 applications à la croissance la plus rapide au niveau international en raison d’un volume élevé de téléchargements au cours du troisième trimestre 2021. Le classement des Meilleures applications au T3 est fourni par App Annie, qui est la plateforme d’analyse et de données mobiles la plus fiable du secteur.

Dans la récente édition du rapport Performance Index d’AppsFlyer, SHAREit a été très bien classé dans de nombreuses catégories et régions, se plaçant au quatrième rang mondial après Google, Facebook et TikTok dans le classement des volumes hors jeux pour l’indice IAP dans toutes les catégories. SHAREit est également apparu comme le premier éditeur à la croissance la plus rapide en Amérique du Nord et le deuxième en Amérique latine, après TikTok.

« La pandémie a poussé les consommateurs du monde entier à passer plus de temps sur leur téléphone portable, sur lequel ils étaient à la recherche de moyens de divertissement et de jeux. Cela a stimulé l’utilisation de SHAREit sur de nouveaux marchés et accéléré son adoption sur les marchés existants. Plus précisément, sur les marchés émergents tels que l’Asie du Sud-Est, le Moyen-Orient et l’Afrique, où les consommateurs ne disposent pas d’une connexion Internet régulière, SHAREit, grâce à sa capacité hors ligne, a rendu le contenu numérique plus accessible en leur permettant de partager des applications, de la musique, des vidéos et des jeux avec leurs pairs », a déclaré Karam Malhotra, partenaire et vice-président mondial du groupe SHAREit. « Nous sommes ravis de faire partie du top 10 des applications à la croissance la plus rapide au monde et nos deux récentes réalisations majeures ont bien mis en évidence le taux de croissance et la valeur de nos produits et des services de la plateforme marketing au niveau mondial, qui ont été largement reconnus par nos utilisateurs et nos partenaires. Je suis impatient de poursuivre sur cette lancée tout en favorisant l’inclusion numérique à l’avenir. »

La principale caractéristique de SHAREit est le transfert de fichiers « peer to peer » à courte distance, permettant aux utilisateurs de partager des photos, de la musique, et plus encore, avec d’autres appareils sans utiliser un internet actif. SHAREit s’est également imposé comme une plateforme de contenu numérique à guichet unique, offrant aux utilisateurs des services de jeu, de découverte et de consommation de contenu. SHAREit dispose d’un centre de jeu dédié sur l’application, qui offre des jeux HTML5, des vidéos de jeu et une option pour télécharger les nouveautés.

À l’avenir, SHAREit s’efforcera de mieux servir ses utilisateurs et partenaires mondiaux en améliorant constamment ses produits et en proposant des solutions marketing plus diversifiées et personnalisées.

À propos de SHAREit Group

Le SHAREit Group est une entreprise technologique mondiale qui a construit une suite diversifiée d’applications installées par près de 2,4 milliards d’utilisateurs dans le monde, dont l’application principale SHAREit. Ces applications vont des outils populaires dans le domaine des services publics aux applications de contenu de divertissement numérique. Le réseau commercial du groupe SHAREit touche plus de 150 pays dans 45 langues différentes. SHAREit a pour objectif d’aider les marques à atteindre leurs objectifs commerciaux et les utilisateurs à accéder à un contenu numérique transparent et de la meilleure qualité possible.

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1665897/SHAREit_Logo.jpg

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US Space Weather Center Issues Geomagnetic Storm Watch

The U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) Friday issued a Strong Geomagnetic Storm Watch for Saturday, saying power and communications systems could be affected after a significant solar flare was observed on the sun.

The U.S. space agency NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory reported observing a significant solar flare — or “coronal mass ejection” (CME) — Thursday. Flares or CMEs are powerful eruptions on the sun’s surface that send tons of superheated gas and radiation into space. The observatory, which constantly monitors solar activity, captured an image of Thursday’s event.

The bursts of radiation often head toward Earth, and while harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans, if they are strong enough, they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and other communications signals travel.

When solar activity could affect day-to-day activity on earth the SWPC, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), issues a watch or warning.

In this case, the center issued a strong, or G3, storm watch for Saturday, indicating the radiation could affect power systems, creating voltage irregularities, interference with communications systems or the operation of spacecraft, such as satellites. The watch is in effect from the North Pole south to the 50th parallel, roughly halfway to the equator.

The prediction center said the aurora borealis — also known as the northern lights — may also be visible Saturday at unusually lower latitudes. It issued a G2 or moderate geomagnetic storm watch for Sunday.

NASA and NOAA have developed the National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan to help mitigate the effects of solar events. NASA works as the research arm of the nation’s space weather effort, using a fleet of spacecraft that monitor the sun’s activity, the solar atmosphere, as well as particles and magnetic fields in space surrounding Earth.

NOAA established the SWPC in Boulder, Colorado, to monitor solar activity, much the way NOAA’s National Hurricane Center monitors tropical cyclones. Using NASA’s satellites and solar observatories, SWPC can give forecasts and warnings of solar activity that could impact the Earth.

Source: Voice of America

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WFP: Climate Change Risks Creating Global Tsunami of Hunger

The World Food Program says that without consolidated global action to stop the acceleration of climate change, the world faces a crisis of acute hunger.

The WFP says climate shocks are destroying lives, crops and livelihoods and are undermining people’s ability to feed themselves. It cites Mozambique as an example of a country particularly vulnerable to climate change. It notes millions of people are suffering from food scarcity because of punishing cyclones, drought and pest infestations leading to agricultural losses.

WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri said Friday that hunger would increase rapidly throughout vulnerable communities worldwide if global action is not taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are leading to climate change.

It’s often stated by climate scientists and activists that humans must stop the planet from warming an additional 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to avoid the most destructive effects of climate change. “Research shows that if global temperatures keep rising to hit the 2 degrees Celsius mark, an additional 189 million people could become food insecure,” Phiri said. “Now, in a 4 degree Celsius warmer world, this number could increase by as many as 1.8 billion people.”

Trouble spots

The WFP describes the devastating wide reach climate change is having on the livelihoods in communities in the “dry corridor” of Central America; in Afghanistan, where drought was officially declared in June; and in Yemen, where severe and frequent floods have damaged and destroyed infrastructure and homes.

Phiri said the WFP is helping people in communities where food is in short supply to prepare for, as well as respond and recover from, climate shocks and stresses. He said the agency has reached more than 6 million people in 28 countries with climate risk management solutions.

For example, he said, the WFP provided cash assistance for 120,000 people in Bangladesh four days ahead of severe flooding to help them protect critical assets. In Madagascar, he said, the WFP has launched a microinsurance program to help farmers who have lost their crops because of drought.

“Ahead of COP26, the World Food Program is calling for coordinated global climate action to urgently address the challenges of the climate crisis and to reduce its impact on hunger,” Phiri said. “More specifically, we are advocating for a shift from crisis response to risk management.”

Phiri said governments should manage risks rather than disasters. He said a more forward-looking perspective is needed to prepare for bigger and more frequent climate shocks and enable early action to help prevent predictable climate emergencies.

Source: Voice of America

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Gap Between Intent and Implementation in Workplace Safety Processes Persists, Sphera’s 2021 Safety Report Finds

Data from Sphera’s New Safety Report reveals that even though safety is part of the corporate culture, companies lack a well-defined roadmap to implement safety improvement measures.

CHICAGO, Oct. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — While most companies have embraced safety as part of their corporate culture, there are still hurdles to overcome to improve their process safety and personal safety performance, Sphera’s new Safety Report reveals.

Sphera®, a leading global provider of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance and risk management software, data and consulting services, surveyed nearly 350 risk, process safety and health and safety professionals. Results show that while 75% of the respondents said that safety is part of their organization’s corporate culture, only 40% said they have a well-defined safety performance roadmap in place.

Safety is the foundation of any strong organization and a key component of ESG. According to Sphera’s Safety Report, creating a safety culture is just as important as being compliant, which has impacted the prioritization of performance safety drivers. Respondents indicated that the top three key safety performance drivers are reducing operational and major accident hazard (MAH) risk exposure (60%), regulatory compliance (48%), and corporate and board priority (37%).

Employer awareness of the safety hazards facing their workforce has been heightened during the pandemic. Over a quarter (27%) of respondents indicated that the adoption of centralized Health and Safety processes is lagging.

For five years, Sphera produced the highly anticipated Process Safety Management/Operational Risk Management (PSM/ORM) report exploring industry trends in process safety and operational risk management. However, with the 2021 report Sphera has expanded the overall safety landscape to include health and safety as well. While the occupational safety and health sector has especially felt pressure, companies across all sectors have had to make constant structural adjustments to keep workers safe.

“The pandemic has highlighted just how quickly safety and risk management processes can be thrown off balance. Safety in all its aspects makes for a resilient and sustainable business model, especially in an era when ESG goals are of the utmost importance,” said Sphera CEO and President Paul Marushka. “An effective safety culture and efficient safety process helps ensure a healthy workforce and enhanced business performance. However, we are still seeing a gap in how companies link safety and business performance, which highlights a need for a more holistic approach through data, software and expertise.”

Additional insights:
This year’s survey shows 51% of respondents pointing to limited resources, 43% to conflicting priorities and 31% to limited budgets as the main obstacles to delivering planned safety-critical maintenance and inspections, which has remained consistent. These leading indicators of the underlying problems preventing organizations from achieving improved safety performance and fewer incidents tie back to the gap between safety intent and safety implementation.

The Sphera Safety Report shows that there is still work to be done implementing risk monitoring practices that address the full spectrum of risks across organizational silos. Additionally, a little over half (56%) of respondents indicated that they still track critical safeguards/barriers manually, such as loss of containment and structural integrity, and a mere 19% said that these safeguards are monitored in real time. This further highlights the stronger ties between process and worker safety that emerged during the pandemic and the need for organizations to have a holistic view of safety and risk management.

About the Safety Survey
Sphera surveyed 349 risk, process safety, and health and safety professionals from a cross-section of global industries from across the world evaluating their safety standards for the 2021 Safety Report. Respondents came from several global industries, such as Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Chemicals/Petrochemicals, Energy, Construction, Professional Services and Government.

About Sphera
Sphera is the leading provider of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance and risk management software, data and consulting services focusing on Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability (EHS&S), Operational Risk Management and Product Stewardship. Learn more about Sphera at www.sphera.com. Follow Sphera on LinkedIn.

For media inquiries or to request a copy of the report, please contact:
Denise Jones, Marketing Communications Manager, Sphera, djones@sphera.com