The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Mongolia and the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry of Mongolia have finished implementing the ‘Green Gold and Animal Health Project’. We interviewed Project Manager Ts.Enkh-Amgalan on the project results.

Results and achievements of the ‘Green Gold and Animal Health Project’ have been presented to the Agriculture Ministry. What did Mongolia gain from the project?

-We deem that the project changed herders’ attitude towards pasture use. They have realized it is important to use pasturelands responsibly. Secondly, Mongolia has learned to identify the changes in pasture condition and desertification in a way the world can understand using the internationally accepted method. Finally, we introduced a national ‘standard for sustainable nomadic livestock production’. There used to be no standard for supply of animal products.

What are the characteristics of the standard?

-The ‘standard for sustainable nomadic livestock production’ indicates whether the animal raw material was sourced from fresh pasture, whether it is environmentally friendly, how responsible the herder was and what stages it went through from the herder’s pen to the factory. Countries around the world are introducing numerous sustainability standards. We introduced the abovementioned standard as Mongolia as a country of nomadic livestock husbandry had to have such standard. At our meetings with international traders, businesspeople, scientists and agricultural specialists, they often said, “If there could be a standard for sustainable nomadic livestock production, it would come only from Mongolia.”

Seizing the opportunity, we worked towards introducing a standard for sustainable nomadic livestock production. It was made possible not only as part of the Green Gold and Animal Health Project, but also with the cooperation of the Agriculture Ministry, and Mongolian researchers and agricultural specialists. The standard has been approved by the Mongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology. What we need now is the government’s focus on its implementation.

How should the Agriculture Ministry continue the ‘Green Gold and Animal Health Project’?

-There has to be a distinct state policy on the proper use of pasture that has been missing for 30 years. It is also time for everyone to place emphasis on creating new jobs other than herding in rural areas. Herders and municipal employees of soums are the only people working in rural areas and there is no other job to choose. Therefore, there is a need to create a large number of jobs that supply and process animal raw materials, such as animal feed farming and organic food producing jobs.

Why did the project begin? It is said to have begun with aid provided for herders during the dzud of 1999-2000. Why was the project focus shifted to pasture?

-Yes it began during the dzud. At the time, SDC in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme delivered financial and food aid to herders. We launched the project with a view to addressing overgrazing, herders’ livelihoods, and numerous other social and economic factors causing dzud. It started in view of the facts that pasturelands, where nomadic livestock farming is 100 percent based on, cover 70 percent of Mongolia’s total area, animal husbandry is one of Mongolia’s key economic sectors, and that pasture is the primary source of everything.

Pasture is also where even the project name Green Gold comes from. One time, when we mentioned eco pasture management in our conversation, a scientist who came from Switzerland said, “It seems the renewable pasture resource is the real gold in Mongolia”. We named the project as such afterwards. Now, when we say Green Gold, herders know we are talking about pasture.

One of the goals of the project was to also provide a research-based understanding of pasture degradation as researchers had different understandings of pasture and it was a controversial subject at the time. We refer to the changes observed in the pasture as it moves from one state to another by the term ‘pasture transition’ and identify what preventive measures are required and at what level the pasture degradation is through study.

For what reason scientists held differing understandings of pasture? What are the special features of your study?

-The differing understandings could be due to the transition period. Before the transition to a market economy, there was a pasture and fodder department in the Institute of Animal Husbandry where a team of scientists used to carry out a detailed study of the pasture and its plants and soil using the right method. They used the correct approach of studying the practices of herders who were responsibly using the pasture and reintroducing the practices after making research-based improvements. In other words, agriculture, animal husbandry, and pasture issues were at the center of state policies and when the economic system changes, the issues have been disregarded over the last 30 years. There is currently no policy, allocated budget, or a government body for pasture.

We have to restore the state policy on pasture that has been missing over the last 30 years.

The study we conduct assists in evaluating the pasture degradation in a short period using more numerical data. Ultimately, we show the transition patterns to the herders and the local authorities.

What about the study method?

-We use a new method of pasture management and use studies designed for decision-makers. To develop the method, we conducted studies using the latest methodology used for monitoring rangeland health in Australia, New Zealand, and Inner Mongolia, China. The study focuses on the levels of three factors, the changes in the native plants of the pastureland, total area of the bare spots, and the pasture productivity, which is determined by the amount of plants per hectare, which are all shown in percentages, meaning there is very little inaccuracy. We assess overall rangeland health and degradation risk in a short period using the three measures.

The project focused on animal health besides the ‘green gold’. What is the role of veterinary services?

-Animal health is definitely connected to the overgrazing problem. The ‘standard for sustainable nomadic livestock production’ requires the animal to be healthy and the raw materials to be of high quality and standard. That is why we have worked to ensure more accessible and higher quality veterinary services for herders.

You previously mentioned the introduction of a standard for sustainable nomadic livestock production. The soccer ball made of yak leather is a great example. Have you started manufacturing it in large scale?

-We tested a number of products against the standard. One of them is the yak leather soccer ball. You can see QR codes on the soccer balls, which will let both the seller and buyer know about where the ball’s raw materials were sourced from, what herder from what place supplied the raw material to the factory, whether the product is environmentally friendly, and how responsible the herder was when grazing their livestock.

Leather products are in high demand on international markets. So Mongolia needs to make such products of high quality. The yak leather soccer ball paves the way for the production of more high quality leather products. We aimed to show that it is possible to mainly export quality products in any quantities to compete in the world market. There have been purchase orders for the soccer ball made of yak leather certified by the Responsible Nomads standard from abroad. The country that implemented the project, Switzerland has placed an order for a thousand balls.

On September 10, President of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh held a virtual summit with President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in.

It marked the first summit between the two countries since U.Khurelsukh was elected as the President of Mongolia in June. It is also the second meeting between the two leaders since U.Khurelsukh visited the Republic of Korea in January 2018 when he was working as the Prime Minister of Mongolia.

The Presidents of the two countries agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to ‘strategic partnership’ during the virtual summit and put out a joint declaration.

Within the joint declaration, the sides agreed to deepen and expand cooperation in five areas: politics and security; economy, trade and investment; education, science and technology, environment and health; culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges; and regional and international cooperation.

Highlighting that Mongolia and South Korea have been developing bilateral relations for more than 30 years based on their common values such as democracy, human rights and freedom, President U.Khurelsukh reaffirmed his commitment to further strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation.

President Moon Jae-in congratulated President U.Khurelsukh on his election and noted his delight with being the first foreign president to hold a summit with Mongolia's new head of state. He reiterated to strengthen relations and cooperation with Mongolia, a key partner in the New Northern Policy, and to work together in the implementation of Vision-2050, Mongolia's long-term development policy.

Emphasizing the importance of cooperation between the two countries' legislatures to strengthen the legal environment of bilateral relations, the sides agreed to further enhance political dialogue mechanisms, such as the Intergovernmental Joint Committee, and the Consultative Meetings between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

The two sides concurred to focus on developing economic priority areas such as transport, logistics, energy, mining and agriculture. President U.Khurelsukh briefed that the plans are underway to establish a satellite city and develop free economic zone at Khushig Valley along the recently opened airport at the valley. In turn, President Moon Jae-in expressed readiness to share experience and cooperate in this direction.

The sides stressed the need to further strengthen the legal environment to boost exports, increase investment and reduce trade barriers. Underlining that Mongolia's accession to the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement has created more favorable trade conditions, they agreed to continue their efforts to launch the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) dialogues based on the results of the two countries' joint research.

President U.Khurelsukh noted that the loans and grants that have been provided by the Republic of Korea over the past years have made a valuable contribution to the social and economic growth of Mongolia, while emphasizing the necessity of accelerating development projects - Solongo 1 and 2 apartment complexes, rent apartments by the Bayangol Mountain and central heating station for 10 rural aimags - in cooperation with the ROK government.

The sides agreed to bolster cooperation in the fields of environment, green development, tourism, culture and arts, and creative cultural production. In this context, it was agreed to implement the third phase of the Mongolia-ROK joint project - ‘Green Belt’, while underscoring the project’s significance in mitigating desertification and combating dust storms. It was also agreed to continue to realize scholarship programs, support the people-to-people exchanges, and further develop Mongol studies in South Korea and Korean studies in Mongolia.

The leaders also expressed their satisfaction with the development of bilateral ties and cooperation despite the harsh time amid the pandemic. President U.Khurelsukh thanked the government of the Republic of Korea for providing assistance to help combat the pandemic. They also agreed to expand people-to-people exchanges to strengthen friendship and deepen mutual understanding, and continue to work together to protect the interests of Mongolian and South Korean citizens living and working in the two countries, and create favorable living and working conditions.

The two sides also agreed to continue to work closely together in the international and regional arenas, emphasizing the importance of ensuring the stability of the Korean Peninsula in order to maintain peace and security in the Northeast Asian region. Moreover, both sides reaffirmed their mutual support for the ‘Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Security in Northeast Asia’, an initiative of Mongolia, and the ‘Northeast Asia Cooperation Initiative for Infectious Disease Control and Health Protection’, spearheaded by the President of the Republic of Korea.

In order to increase the level of immunization against coronavirus infections, citizens aged over 18 are being offered a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from today.

According to the order of the Minister of Health, it is required that the citizens, who had the second can receive a third dose after three months since their second dose. Eligible citizens will be vaccinated with a booster shot by selecting either Pfizer’s Comirnaty vaccine or ‘CorV’ vaccine developed by Sinopharm.

Citizens can receive their third jabs at vaccination points in districts.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said this week the country will roll out a pilot scheme for green power trading between corporate consumers and renewable energy generators.

The program is being carried out by the Beijing Power Exchange Center and the Guangzhou Power Exchange Center.

Under the pilot scheme, users who have demands for green power will directly trade with wind power and photovoltaic power generation enterprises.

According to Shi Lianjun, general manager of the Beijing Power Exchange Centre, 222 enterprises have applied to participate in the pilot program.

"Some regions have been hoping for an overall design from the national level to pinpoint the basic standard and regulations for the trading," said the NDRC, adding that there are feasible technologies which can guarantee the sound operation of the trading market.

"New technologies such as blockchain can help to thoroughly record information on green power production, transactions, consumption and other procedures," the commission said.

Blockchain-based technologies could help realize automatic, accurate, and highly efficient green power transactions, as well as the approval and issuing of certificates for green power consumption, said Wang Dong, head of State Grid Blockchain Technology (Beijing). He added that “Aside from greatly optimizing trading procedures, reducing costs and enhancing efficiency, these technologies could effectively rule out risks of errors.”

The gas export proceeds of Russian energy giant Gazprom between January and July grew 1.8 times compared with the same period of the previous year and amounted to over $23 billion, according to Russia's Federal Customs Service.

Statistics showed that the physical volume of gas exports during the reported period reached 123.8 billion cubic meters, marking a growth of almost 15%.

In July, Gazprom exported $3.48 billion-worth of natural gas, a decrease of 2.1% on the previous month.

According to data tracked by the customs service, the average export price of Russian gas in July rose to $245.12 per 1,000 cubic meters, compared to $226.5 in June and $199.7 in May.

Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has recorded 2,771 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 255,419, said the country's health ministry on Sunday.

The ministry said that 7,846 samples were tested across the country in the past day, and 1,478 of the latest confirmed cases were detected in the capital Ulan Bator, the country's hardest-hit area during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the viral disease has so far claimed 1,036 lives after 15 more patients aged over 40 died in the past day.

The Asian country launched its national vaccination campaign in late February, with the aim of vaccinating at least 60 percent of its population of around 3.4 million.

So far, 65 percent of the country's total population have received two jabs. Enditem

At least seven beavers in Mongolia have tested positive for Covid-19, the country's National Centre for Zoonotic Diseases (NCZD) said.

"Workers of the Beaver Breeding Centre at the Environmental Department of the capital Ulan Bator tested positive for the Covid-19 in August. After that, the Delta variant were detected in seven beavers," Nyamdorj Tsogbadrakh, director of the NCZD, told local media on Saturday.

It is the first time that Covid-19 has been detected in animals in Mongolia, Xinhua news agency quoted Tsogbadrakh as saying.

The infected beavers showed symptoms of cough, runny nose, sticky eyes and others, he said, adding that the animals have already recovered from the disease.

The disease has spread to the capital city and all 21 provinces of the country, and the Delta variant, in particular, has been detected in the capital and 20 provinces.

Mongolia, with a population of around 3.4 million, has registered a total of 252,648 Covid-19 cases, with 1,021 deaths. IANS

A U.S. House of Representatives committee has voted to include language in a wider budget reconciliation package that would block Rio Tinto Ltd from building its Resolution copper mine in Arizona.

The San Carlos Apache tribe and other Native Americans say the mine would destroy sacred land where they hold religious ceremonies. Elected officials in nearby Superior, Arizona, say the mine is crucial for the region’s economy.

The House Natural Resources Committee late on Thursday folded the Save Oak Flat Act into the $3.5 trillion reconciliation spending measure. The full House could reverse the move and the legislation faces an uncertain fate in the U.S. Senate.

IF APPROVED, THE BILL WOULD REVERSE A 2014 DECISION BY FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA AND CONGRESS THAT SET IN MOTION A COMPLEX PROCESS TO GIVE RIO FEDERALLY-OWNED ARIZONA LAND

If approved, the bill would reverse a 2014 decision by former President Barack Obama and Congress that set in motion a complex process to give Rio federally-owned Arizona land that contains more than 40 billion pounds of copper in exchange for acreage that Rio owns nearby.

Former President Donald Trump gave the land swap final approval before leaving office in January, but successor Joe Biden reversed that decision, leaving the project in limbo.

The final reconciliation budget is expected to include funding for solar, wind and other renewable energy projects that require immense volumes of copper. Electric vehicles use twice as much copper as those with internal combustion engines. The Resolution mine could fill about 25% of the demand for U.S. copper.

Superior Mayor Mila Besich, a Democrat, said the project seems increasingly stuck in “bureaucratic purgatory.”

“This move seems contradictory to what the Biden administration is trying to do to address climate change,” said Besich. “I hope the full House does not allow that language to stay in the final bill.”

Rio said it would continue consultation with local communities and tribes. Rio Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm plans to visit Arizona later this year.

Representatives for the San Carlos Apache and BHP Group Ltd, which is a minority investor in the project, could not immediately be reached for comment.

(By Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

Harvard University has announced it will no longer invest in fossil fuels and will instead use its $42 billion endowment to support the world’s transition to green energy, drawing praise from stakeholders that had long pressed the educational institution to exit such holdings.

President Lawrence Bacow, who for years publicly opposed divesting, said in a letter that the university’s endowment had no direct investments in fossil fuel exploration or development companies as of June and will not invest in them in the future.

SIGN UP FOR THE ENERGY DIGEST

The university does have indirect investments in the fossil fuel industry but, according to Bacow, they are “in runoff mode.” These investments, made through private equity funds, make up less than 2% of the endowment, he said.

HARVARD HAD ANNOUNCED LAST YEAR IT WOULD WORK WITH ITS INVESTMENT MANAGERS TO REACH “NET ZERO” GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 2050, BUT THAT WASN’T FAST ENOUGH FOR ITS STUDENTS

The move marks a sharp twist in the university’s position on the matter in the last ten years, which pitted student activists against administrators and dominated campus politics.

In a September 2019 letter published in Harvard Magazine, Bacow wrote that he believed working with fossil fuel companies was a “sounder and more effective approach” to fossil fuels for Harvard to take.

“We may differ on means,” Bacow told students in the letter. “[But we] share the belief that action is required. We just happen to have an honest difference of opinion over what the appropriate action is.”

The university had announced last year it would begin working with its investment managers to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. That wasn’t fast enough for its students. A group filed in March a complaint with the Massachusetts attorney general to try forcing Harvard to sell its estimated $838 million fossil fuel holdings, The Harvard Crimson reported.

Butterfly effect?

Divest Harvard, one of the activist groups, described the announcement on Twitter as “a massive victory for our community, the climate movement, and the world — and a strike against the power of the fossil fuel industry.”

The Ivy League college, the richest in the US, will be following in the footsteps of other institutions, such as the University of California and the UK’s Cambridge University, which have committed to divesting their endowments from the fossil fuel industry.

The decision is expected to motivate other educational institutions to withdraw their support of businesses contributing to man-made climate change.

The university will also be joining a growing group of big institutional investors and governments that are responding to consumer pressure to accelerate de-carbonization efforts.

The United Nation’s authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released last month a report deemed as “code red for humanity.”

The review of a 2013 report predicts that temperatures on Earth will rise by about 1.5 degrees Celsius in two decades and warns that a near-2m rise in sea levels by the end of this century “cannot be ruled out.”