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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 3 February 2021
U.K. report urges need for nature to be at heart of economics

By PAN PYLAS “As a measure of eco-
Associated Press nomic activity, GDP is in-
LONDON (AP) — A report dispensable in short-run
commissioned by the Brit- macroeconomic analysis
ish government is urging and management, but it
a radical transformation is wholly unsuitable for ap-
in the way that countries praising investment proj-
around the world assess the ects and identifying sus-
state of their economies by tainable development,” he
elevating the natural world said.
as a key element in their Responding to the report,
economic planning. Prime Minister Boris John-
The review of the econom- son said the coming year
ics of biodiversity by Profes- is “critical” in efforts to stop
sor Partha Dasgupta con- and reverse declining bio-
cludes that nature needs to diversity.
become as valued as tradi- He said that the U.K., which
tional gauges of economic is this year president of the
wealth such as profits in the Group of Seven leading
future. economies and hosting the
In the 600-page review that 26th global U.N. Climate
was commissioned in 2019 Change Conference of the
by Britain’s Treasury, the Parties, is “going to make
University of Cambridge In this file photo dated Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020 fishermen work in the Tapajos river in Alter do sure the natural world stays
economist warned that Chao, district of Santarem, Para state, Brazil. right at the top of the glob-
current economic growth Associated Press al agenda.”
and prosperity have “come one illustration, he said, of Dasgupta called on the also help tackle other issues Countries are also due to
at a devastating cost to what can happen when world to ensure demands such as climate change meet in China later this
nature.” He said declines habitats are destroyed and on nature do not exceed and poverty, year to agree new efforts to
in biodiversity and the en- species exploited. sustainable supplies, by Additionally, he pointed tackle biodiversity declines.
vironment’s ability to pro- “Nature is more than a changing food production to a need to move away In a foreword to the report,
vide food, clean water and mere economic good,” he and consumption, invest- from using gross domestic naturalist and broadcaster
air are “fueling extreme said. “Nature nurtures and ing in natural solutions such product, or GDP, as a mea- David Attenborough said
risk and uncertainty for our nourishes us, so we will think as restoring forests and pro- sure of economic success economics was a discipline
economies and well-be- of assets as durable enti- tecting natural habitats. He toward one that accounts that shapes decisions of
ing.” The coronavirus pan- ties that not only have use said coordinated action for the benefits of investing the “utmost consequence”
demic and the associated value, but may also have now would in the long-run in natural assets such as for- and the review put biodi-
economic calamity is just intrinsic worth.” be less costly and would ests, soils and oceans. versity at its core.q

Kurds and government end rival sieges in northern Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — Kurdish forc- ian government troops try’s north came two days north after the start of the Tuesday with the siege lift-
es in northern Syria ended allowed supplies to enter after Kurdish fighters shot civil war in 2011. In the ed and material will be al-
a weekslong siege of gov- Kurdish-held areas in the one person dead during area, the Kurds run their lowed to flow into govern-
ernment-held neighbor- northern province of Alep- a pro-government protest. own affairs and control ment-held areas. During
hoods in two northeastern po, an opposition activist The deal was brokered by most of the country’s oil re- the siege that lasted sev-
cities Tuesday, they said, group reported. Russia, an opposition war sources. eral weeks, Kurdish fighters
as part of a deal brokered The deal to end the sieges monitor said. In both Hassakeh and Qa- prevented the flow of flour
by Russia. by government forces and Local Kurdish police said mishli cities, they share and fuel into government-
As part of the agreement Kurdish fighters in different in a statement they would control with government held areas.
with Kurdish forces, Syr- parts of the war-torn coun- end the siege on govern- forces, which have a pres- In Aleppo province, gov-
ment-held parts of the pro- ence in security zones, ernment forces allowed
vincial capital of Hassakeh near the airport and in food and fuel to enter
province that carries the some neighborhoods. Both Kurdish held areas for the
same name as well and cities have a sizeable Kurd- first time in weeks as part of
the city of Qamishli along ish population. a Russian-brokered deal,
the border with Turkey. “We at the Internal Securi- the Britain-based Syrian
Areas held by the gov- ty Forces are committed to Observatory for Human
ernment in Hassakeh and the unity of Syrian blood,” Rights, an opposition war
Qamishli are known as the the local Kurdish police monitor, said.
security square. State insti- force said, blaming gov- There was no comment
tutions still function in the ernment forces for tension from the government.Ten-
areas despite the fact the in the cities. On Sunday, sions are not uncommon
U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Kurdish forces shot dead between the two sides in
fighters control much of a pro-government pro- northern Syria and Kurd-
the region. tester in Hassakeh during a ish officials have said their
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, The Kurds, Syria’s larg- demonstration against the moves are in retaliation
pro-government demonstrators protest the siege on their
neighborhood by Kurdish security forces, in Hassakeh, Syria, est ethnic minority, have siege. for a government siege on
Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. carved out a semi-auton- The police force said life Kurdish areas in the north-
Associated Press omous enclave in Syria’s returned to normal on ern province of Aleppo.q