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	World Scientists call for United Approach to Tackling Food Insecurity by John Beddington Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research   28 Mar 2012   Nearly one billion people in the world are undernourished, while millions suffer from chronic disease due to excess food consumption. Global demand is growing for agricultural products and food prices are rising, yet roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted.   Climate change threatens more frequent drought, flooding and pest outbreaks, and the world loses 12 million hectares of agricultural land each year to land degradation. Land clearing and inefficient practices make agriculture the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution on the planet.   To address these alarming patterns, an independent commission of scientific leaders from 13 countries released today a detailed set of recommendations to policy makers on how to achieve food security in the face of climate change. In their report, the Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change proposes specific policy responses to the global challenge of feeding a world confronted by climate change, population growth, poverty, food price spikes and degraded ecosystems.   The report highlights specific opportunities under the mandates of the Rio+20 Earth Summit, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Group of 20 (G20) nations.   “Food insecurity and climate change are already inhibiting human well-being and economic growth throughout the world and these problems are poised to accelerate,” said John Beddington, chair of the Commission. “Decisive policy action is required if we are to preserve the planet’s capacity to produce adequate food in the future.”   Make global food security and climate stabilization a reality   The Commission has outlined seven recommendations designed to be implemented concurrently by a constellation of governments, international institutions, investors, agricultural producers, consumers, food companies and researchers. They call for changes in policy, finance, agriculture, development aid, diet choices and food waste as well as revitalized investment in the knowledge systems to support these changes.   Professor Judi Wakhungu, executive director of the African Center for Technology Studies (ACTS), said, “As a Commission, we were charged with harvesting the wealth of scientific knowledge and practical solutions that have been accumulated by recent assessment reports on food security and climate change.   Together, we carefully distilled the seven most important ways for policy makers to make global food security and climate stabilization a reality.”   The Commission’s recommendations encourage significantly raising the level of global investment in sustainable agriculture and food systems in the next decade; sustainably intensifying agricultural production on the existing land base while reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and reducing losses and waste in the food system.   “It"s past time to realize that farms of every size all over the world are fundamental to human nutrition and economic well-being, but they are also facing critical choices with significant implications for the way we manage the planet for long term sufficiency,” according to U.S. Commissioner Professor Molly Jahn of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.   Mobilize science and policy for sustainable agricultural practices   Alternative agricultural practices have the potential to deliver benefits for both adaptation and mitigation of climate change and the Commission has urged the UNFCCC to establish a work program that addresses these issues together under the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA). “Without an integrated SBSTA work program for agriculture, we risk crafting fragmented global climate policy,” says Commission Vice-Chair Dr. Mohammed Asaduzzaman, Research Director at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.   “Countries like Bangladesh clearly need support for climate-resilient agriculture, but we also need a serious global commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including in the agriculture sector.” Sea level rise threatens major areas of Bangladesh, which already experiences significant environmental migration.   The Commission’s report cites recent evidence that closing the gap between potential and actual yields for 16 major crops could increase productivity by more than 50 percent. “To produce enough food for our rapidly growing population, much greater investment is needed to dramatically increase agricultural yields now and in the long-term,” Commissioner Dr. Nguyen Van Bo, president of the Viet Nam Academy of Agricultural Science.   “In Viet Nam, we have established model programs to boost rice productivity and quality, mitigate greenhouse gases and increase income for farmers.”   Sustainably intensifying agricultural production on existing land, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, is one of the seven Commission recommendations.   “There have been some impressive successes in sustainably boosting agricultural production, but there is a lot more to be done,” says Commissioner Dr. Carlos Nobre of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. “Brazil has made strides in reducing poverty, but if we do not advance the science and practice of sustainable intensification, our forests and our farming economies will be at risk.”   In China, nearly 400 kilograms of chemical fertilizer are used on every hectare of farmland. “We have an opportunity and a plan to stop unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions from inefficient farming practices,” said Commissioner Professor Lin Erda, director of the Research Centre of Agriculture and Climate Change at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. “We are mobilizing public policies and budgets towards low-emission crop breeds and conservation of land, water and energy.”   In Mexico, agriculture accounts for 77 percent of domestic water use, in part due to substantial subsidies applied to the price of water and electricity for irrigation. “We must redirect public subsidies to promote economically and environmentally sound farming practices that conserve finite natural resources,” says Commissioner Dr. Adrian Fernández of the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico.   A comprehensive approach to reshaping food systems   In addition to tackling agriculture, the Commission’s recommendations explicitly recognize the “demand side” of food insecurity. “If we don’t start to make use of the tools at our disposal to encourage eating choices that are good for people and the planet, we must resign ourselves to a growing diet-related disease burden,” cautions Commissioner Dr. Marion Guillou, president of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA).   The Commission also calls for policies and programs explicitly designed to empower vulnerable populations. “Enabling smallholder farmers to invest in the productive capacity of their land has been shown to create economic and environmental resilience,” reports Commissioner Professor Tekalign Mamo, state minister and advisor to the Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture.   “We must build on what we’ve learned by expanding such programs, otherwise communities will remain vulnerable to a downward spiral of lost productivity, poverty and food insecurity.”   “Recent legislation in India has shown that poverty alleviation programs can also address environmental sustainability objectives,” says Indian Commissioner Dr. Rita Sharma, secretary of the National Advisory Council in India. “The 2006 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act helps rural farmers and households to manage risk while delivering climate change resilience and mitigation through projects that recharge groundwater, enhance soil fertility and increase biomass.”   The need for improved data and decision support for land managers and policy makers is underscored by the Commission. “Smart, sustainable food production requires that we upgrade our knowledge of water, soils, energy, meteorology, emissions, agricultural production and forests, and that we understand how these elements work together as a system,” says Australian Commissioner Dr. Megan Clark, chief executive of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).   Decisive action to ensure a safe operating space for current and future generations   The Commission’s report presents a stark picture of the challenges ahead and calls for significantly raising the level of global investment in sustainable agriculture and food systems in the next decade. For example, it urges stronger follow-through on the 2009 G8 L’Aquila commitments to provide USD 20 billion for agricultural development in poor countries and incorporating food security and sustainable agriculture programs into UNFCCC “Fast Start” funding.   But it also provides examples of progress, pointing to investments such as the Adaptation Fund of the Kyoto Protocol and climate-smart agriculture projecst in Malawi, Viet Nam and Zambia funded by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the European Commission.   The report points to opportunities across the whole food supply chain to protect the environment and the bottom line. “Many public and private sector leaders are already taking steps to overcome technical, social, financial and political barriers to a sustainable food system,” says Dr. Bruce Campbell, director of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, which convened the Commission in February 2011. “The Commission’s work spells out who needs to do what to take these early efforts to the next level.”   The report encourages progress under the G20 on 2011 agreements, including design of rapid response and insurance strategies to protect very poor populations from rising food prices or meager harvests, as well as improved market transparency through a new agriculture and energy database. At the Rio+20 Earth Summit, Commissioners urge governments to make financial commitments for regionally-based research, implementation, capacity building and monitoring to improve agriculture and food systems.   The report also points to global agreements, such as the United Nation’s High-Level Taskforce on the Global Food Security Crisis, and also emphasizes the critical role of farmers.   “To operate within a ‘safe space’ for people and the planet, we need to balance how much food we produce, how much we consume and waste and how much agriculture contributes to further climate change,” said South African Professor Bob Scholes of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.   (The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change brings together senior natural and social scientists working in agriculture, climate, food and nutrition, economics, and natural resources from Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, France, Kenya, India, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and Viet Nam to identify the policy changes and actions needed now to help the world achieve sustainable agriculture that contributes to food security and poverty reduction, and helps respond to climate change adaptation and mitigation goals). 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	Closing tax loopholes by Global Financial Integrity, Tax Justice Network   Closing tax loopholes. by Heather A. Lowe and Nathan Williams, Global Financial Integrity.   The economic ills of the crisis have rightly prompted public reevaluation of government spending habits and revenue collection on both sides of the Atlantic. While congressional super committees and EU delegations hash out plans to foot massive debt bills, a combination of civil society groups, the Occupy movement, and simple common sense have brought long-deserved attention to certain tax loopholes and corporate practices that cost governments billions of dollars.   A report published in November 2011 by the advocacy group Citizens for Tax Justice looked into this tax dodging behaviour among the US’s 280 largest corporations and found that 78 of them paid no taxes, or even negative tax rates, for at least one year since 2008. Among the many loopholes at the disposal of these large corporations is tax arbitrage, the common practice of analysing tax rules that differ from country to country, to strategically exploit the differences in order to keep the amount of taxes paid to any government, anywhere, as low as possible.   Expert practitioners of tax arbitrage have developed many means of tax avoidance, some of which border on the absurd. One is to chop cars in half such that they qualify as “spare parts” at the border. Upon clearing customs, the two halves are simply welded back together and ready for sale having paid substantially lower taxes than on an otherwise new, imported vehicle.   Most corporations do their best to keep their efforts to use loopholes secret, and therefore it’s no surprise that their tactics succeed in costing governments billions of dollars, while remaining invisible.   In 2011 the OECD, led by Secretary-General Angel Gurría, urged policymakers in the world’s most developed economies to limit the scope for “gaming” the system by using multiple deductions, the creation of untaxed income and other unintended consequences of international tax arbitrage. In addition to lost revenue, the OECD also recognises the negative impacts of “tax arbitrage on competition, transparency and fairness” in the global economy.   In line with the OECD’s resolve on tax arbitrage, US President Barack Obama also announced his intention to close tax loopholes on foreign investment, just weeks before the French and other governments declared an end to tax havens during the G20 Summit in Cannes.   With public debt front and centre on the international stage, the strong posture of the OECD and the leaders of its member countries towards corporate tax avoidance is a step in the right direction. To be sure, the world’s debt woes will not come to an end by tightening tax loopholes. But as the OECD’s former top tax official, Jeffrey Owens, who led the international stand against tax havens and bank secrecy, put it, tax may not have been among the root causes of the financial crisis, but inappropriate tax measures can have an indirect effect on financial instability by encouraging greater leveraging, greater risk-taking and less transparency.   We agree that improved transparency and accountability in the global financial system can slow down aggressive tax planning. In a 2010 report by one of our members, Global Financial Integrity, at least $9.4 trillion is hidden away in offshore tax havens and secrecy jurisdictions located across all continents. Our Task Force is asking that countries require all multi-national corporations to report sales, profits and taxes paid in all jurisdictions in their audited annual reports and tax returns, as well as mandating public availability of information regarding beneficial ownership, such that financial institutions can rightly identify the ultimate beneficial owners or controllers of any company, trust or foundation seeking to open an account.   In combination with fine-tuned fiscal policies, tackling aggressive tax planning can be a powerful weapon against the debt burden borne by EU countries as well as the United States, and the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development is counting on the OECD’s commitment in closing those holes in the system in order to get out of a much bigger one.   *The Global Financial Integrity is a member of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development.   www.gfintegrity.org and www.financialtaskforce.org   Earning billions and getting taxed a pittance, by Martin Feil.   The Australian Financial Review (AFR) has reported that parliamentarian Malcolm Turnbull is consulting with global companies after Google reported that it paid $74,176 in tax on earnings of $1.1 billion in 2011.   In Britain, Apple paid 10 million pounds on earnings of about 6 billion pounds. Amazon paid nothing after earning about 8 billion pounds over three years.   A teacher earning $80,000 a year in Australia pays about 25-30 per cent in tax, or about 25 per cent of what Google paid when it earned about 10,000 times as much. Is there any way that this pittance from a global giant could be regarded as moral? It isn"t acceptable.   Australia has been pursuing multinational corporations in an attempt to get them to pay what the Australian Tax Office (ATO) calls their "fair share of tax" for the past 20 years. No one has gone to jail for Transfer Pricing.   I know that everyone has the right to organise their own tax affairs. Australian Billionaire Kerry Packer was a conservative business hero when he told a Senate Committee he paid just 10% tax on his vast earnings, whilst millions of workers had a tax rate of around 25-30% deducted from their payslips.   In all likelihood Apple, along with lots of other companies, received large bills for intellectual property and services, from a subsidiary in Ireland. The payment was then sent, within the European Community, to Holland and from there to Bermuda or another tax haven. The idea is to not even pay the 12 per cent rate in Ireland, but instead pay no tax at all. It"s called the "Double Knock" strategy.   The AFR said that about $900 million of Google"s $1.1 billion in revenue from Australia was billed from Ireland. We aren"t even thinking about what overseas companies should pay in tax on income they earn from the burgeoning purchase of overseas goods and services on the internet. They don"t pay GST or Customs duty or any other Australian tax.   There is a platinum economy that doesn"t pay any tax. There are tax treaties between over 130 countries and international agreements designed to aid and abet tax minimisation.   The internet and the growth of the services sector is another weapon available to companies operating across borders. I think every national tax authority is just about on the ropes trying to respond to the technology avalanche of financial transfers that are virtually instantaneous, and almost impossible to audit in any sensible and time efficient way.   The US initiates transfer pricing and dumping complaints against the European Union, China, Korea and Japan. They initiated a complaint against Australia for supposedly dumping Macadamia nuts. They don"t like to hear complaints from Australia.   Anyway, our reaction to the risible payment of taxes by multinationals in Australia is like the little Dutch boy putting his finger in the dyke to try to stop the sea. Unless we get serious about multinationals and the amount of tax they don"t pay, we will never get them to pay "a fair share of tax".   It"s simple, its called equity. If anyone can convince me that a school teacher on $80,000 should pay a quarter of the tax that Google pays in Australia on income of over a billion dollars, then I will know that I am living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. Too much money is at stake for it to be wrong.   Our international tax rules are not equitable, sensible or defensible. We are collecting a pittance from multinational companies. They are probably paying their advisors more than they are paying the ATO. They are certainly paying them a lot more quickly.   We need to rethink transfer pricing and the internet and the tax black hole. It seems potentially about as big as a black hole in space.   * Martin Feil worked for the Australian Taxation Office as an independent expert on profit repatriation by multinationals.   Oct. 2011   The secret life of the UK’s biggest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange has been uncovered today revealing that 98 out of 100 are using tax havens. ActionAid’s research show for the first time just how deeply embedded this practice is for nearly all of Britain’s top multinationals.   http://www.actionaid.org.uk/103042/discover_the_interactive_ftse_100_tax_haven_map.html Visit the related web page
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