The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Friday,
January 11, 2019 called for collaboration with stakeholders in the South-South
region for effective emergency management of the area.
Mustapha Maihaja, Director General, NEMA
Mr Ibarakumo Walson, the New South-South Zonal Coordinator,
NEMA, made the call during the official handing over ceremony by the outgoing
coordinator in Port Harcourt, Mr Ejike Martins.
Walson, who is also the Assistant Director, Planning
Research and Forecast Management of NEMA, appealed to the media and other
stakeholders to work with the agency to achieve its set goals and ensure
effective emergency control and management.
“I appeal to stakeholders and the media to collaborate with
us because NEMA alone cannot effectively manage or control disasters without
the cooperation and collaboration of stakeholders.
“We need collaboration to continue from where my predecessor
stopped because it is a continuous process; I appeal, especially to the media,
to work with us to achieve the agency’s goal in the zone,” he said.
He said the agency would ensure that the State Emergency
Management Agency (SEMA) and Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) worked
together for positive results in disaster and emergency management.
The Zonal Coordinator promised to work assiduously to move
the agency forward and enjoined members of staff to work with him in realising
this objective.
Speaking earlier, Ejike, who welcomed Walson to the state,
commended officers of the agency for their support and cooperation they gave
him which made his work easy.
He also commended the Nigerian Red Cross Society and other
sister agencies for their roles in tackling disaster challenges in the state.
Ejike urged officers to extend the same courtesy of discipline
and dedication to duties that they had shown him to the new zonal coordinator.
Ejike is to resume duty as the Deputy Director, Finance and Budget in the agency.
A group comprising scientists and journalists, the Alliance
for Science, has taken up a campaign to promote genetically modified (GM)
cowpea and ensure that the product sees the light of the day in Nigeria.
Beans (Cowpea) come in several shapes, sizes, colours and tastes
The Nigerian government has slated June 2019 as the time
limit to decide whether to allow the introduction of the supposedly
insect-resistant cowpea (beans) into the nation’s food chain. Anti-GMO activists
are, however, challenging the development.
But the largely pro-GMO Alliance for Science, determined to
ensure that government accepts and releases the modified beans species in the
country, has drafted a petition for which it is seeking signatories for its
backing.
If approved, the pod borer-resistant (PBR) cowpea will
become the nation’s first genetically modified food crop. It is expected to
increase yields and reduce the use of pesticides in cowpea production.
Cowpea is an indigenous food crop and cost-effective primary
protein source for Nigeria’s urban and rural poor. It is also said to be beneficial
to agriculture because of its nitrogen fixing properties and use in livestock
feed.
In the petition, the Alliance appears to make a case for the adoption of the food crop, saying that, among other merits, it reduces the use of pesticides on beans during the growth and development period.
The petition reads in part: “Last year, the death of hundreds of Nigerians was traced to the over spraying of chemicals on our local beans because of the number of pests which attacked the beans on the field and in storage. Beans (Cowpea) from Nigeria cannot be exported for health concerns. The modified beans do not require the overdose of chemicals responsible for killing innocent and unsuspecting Nigerians.
“Lucky for us Nigerians, scientists saw this epidemic ahead
of time and started working on a solution at the Institute for Agricultural
Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. In 2018, after nine years of
research, they announced the Bt. Cowpea; a genetically modified local bean
variety, which cannot be attacked by pests and drastically, reduces the use of
pesticides on beans during the growth and development period.”
Besides getting the Nigerian government to accept and release the food crop for consumption, signing the petition, says the Alliance, will:
Prevent more Nigerians from dying from the
consumption of chemicals
Promote home-grown innovative technology so that
Nigeria does not become a dumping ground for unregulated GMOs
Get farming to be a profitable profession for beans
farmers and help them reduce the input costs
Encourage Nigerian scientists to continue to
develop innovative ideas and technologies that will make Nigeria a food secure
country and a leading economy in Africa and the Globe.
But chairman of the Global Prolife Alliance (GPA), Prof. Dr Philip Njemanze, argues that the planned release of GMO beans (Bt Cowpea) could result in unprecedented health damage for millions of Nigerians.
According to him, genetically-modified beans (Bt Cowpea) contains the gene called Cry1Ab Bt, developed by Monsanto, and that the effects of the same gene (Cry1AbBt) that was inserted into Monsanto MON810 maize showed that it resulted in massive toxicity of human liver cells, caused massive allergic reactions, damage to blood cells, kidney, spleen and adrenal glands.
His words: “These health hazards were the reasons behind the discontinuation of the use of this Cry1Ab Bt gene in Maize but has now been inserted into the Nigerian GMO beans (Bt Cowpea). Nigerians would be the first guinea pigs in the world for testing the biological effects of GMO beans (Bt Cowpea) since it has until now never been commercialised anywhere in the world.”
The latest hearing in the case of the Zambian communities consistently
polluted by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a subsidiary of British miner Vedanta,
will be heard at the British Supreme Court on January 15 and 16, 2019. A rally
organised by solidarity organisation Foil Vedanta with a variety of other
groups, will take place outside the court in solidarity with the victims of
ongoing pollution who have been fighting legal battles for justice in Zambia,
and now the UK, for 12 years
Vedanta Resources’ Konkola Copper Mines, Zambia
On January15 and 16, 2019 the Supreme Court in the UK will
hear Vedanta’s second appeal against the High Court’s jurisdiction ruling in
the case of Dominic Liswaniso Lungowe vs Vedanta Resources and Konkola Copper
Mines. Vedanta will attempt to overturn the High Court and Court of Appeal
rulings which held that the case of 1,826 polluted farmers against the company
and its subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines could be heard in the UK instead of
Zambia.
The case could represent a precedent in UK law, as, if a
duty of care is found to be owed by Vedanta towards the claimants, this would
be the first reported case in which a parent company would have been held to
owe a duty of care to a person affected by the operations of a subsidiary who
is not an employee of the subsidiary.
This ruling could have major implications for British
multinational corporations’ liability, a move which would be welcomed by
British Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, who expressed solidarity with the
claimants, stating: “When British corporations like Vedanta cause toxic
pollution overseas, it’s absolutely right that they pay for the damage. I stand
in solidarity with all those whose drinking water has been poisoned and
livelihoods damaged by Vedanta’s irresponsible pursuit of profit, and all those
campaigning for justice.”
In April 2016 a High Court ruling granted the claimants
jurisdiction to have their case against KCM and Vedanta heard in the UK, citing
KCM’s uncertain and opaque finances as one reason they may not be able to get
justice in Zambia. The Court of Appeal upheld this verdict in July 2017.
The claimants, represented by UK law firm Leigh Day, are
from farming and fishing communities downstream of KCM’s mines and plants. They
claim to have suffered continual pollution since UK firm Vedanta Resources
bought KCM in 2004, including a major incident in 2006 which turned the River
Kafue bright blue with copper sulphate and acid, and poisoned water sources for
40,000 people. Some 2,001 claimants took KCM to court in Zambia in 2007. The
courts found KCM guilty but denied the communities compensation after a nine-year
legal battle. As a result, the victims took their case to UK lawyers.
George Mumbi and Esson Simbeye from Chingola, long term
campaigners in the case, issued this joint statement: “Villagers along the
River Kafue as well as Chingola residents have suffered severe pollution of
water sources ever since Vedanta took over the mines. People used to think
British mining companies were better than others, but Vedanta is one of the
worst foreign investors Zambia has ever had. After twelve years of criminal
pollution, it is time that justice came home to roost in Britain.”
In a further development Vedanta Resources de-listed from
the London Stock Exchange on October 1, 2018, amid global protests following
the killing of 13 people, shot by police during protests against the company’s
copper smelter in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, India.
Commentators (including Foil Vedanta in their comprehensive
report on the company’s global operations entitled ‘Vedanta’s Billions:
Regulatory failure, environment and human rights) claimed the company were
fleeing regulation in the UK. However, Vedanta remains potentially liable in
the UK for damages arising from the Zambian case.
A range of groups will join a protest outside the Supreme
Court which has been called under the title “Make Pollution Political”. Several
concerned activists as well as lawyers will also attend the case over the two
scheduled days. Protesters outside and inside the Court will decry this British
company’s complete disregard for human rights and environment, and echo the
community’s demands for KCM to:
Stop polluting the rivers
immediately. Close down the plant until pollution control measures are
replaced and upgraded.
Provide clean water to the
villages immediately, by tankers or pipes.
De-silt the Mushishima
stream and Kafue River and remove contaminated waste.
Remediate the entire
polluted area to make it safe to live, farm and fish there again.
Compensate the affected
people for loss of health and livelihood. All medical costs should be paid
by KCM/Vedanta in future.
Samarendra Das from Foil Vedanta said: “Vedanta’s
remorseless pollution of the River Kafue since 2005 continues the colonial
legacy of environmental racism which made the Zambian Copperbelt a global
pollution hotspot. While the financial and material gains from copper have been
allowed to flow seamlessly out of the country, justice risks being restricted
by economic and institutional barriers of territoriality.
“We very much hope that the court will enable the fight for
justice to continue.”
Nnimmo Bassey, a close associate of Nigerian
activist Ken Saro Wiwa, and Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation,
made this comparison to the long campaigns against pollution in the Niger
Delta, “The Vedanta case mirrors the Niger Delta situation and underscores the
critical need for solidarity between communities impacted by mining across the
continent, indeed across the world. International oil corporations operating in
Nigeria are deft at utilizing loopholes in the legal system to ensure that
cases are often never decided within the short lifespan of the litigants. When
they are found guilty, they can shrug the sentence off as they are sure the
government would be unable to force compliance since they are literally in bed
together due to the business partnerships that are rigged against the people
and the environment. Litigation in the home countries of the offending
companies has been the option that offers a ray of hope for justice for the
poor and for Mother Earth.”
In her first address since the conclusion of the UN Climate
Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland in December 2018, Executive Secretary
of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa,
has warned that whilst the meeting was a success, the world remained off course
with regard to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change,
and that all parts of society need to get far more engaged to prevent the worst
climate impacts.
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC
In Katowice, governments finalised the Paris Agreement Work
Programme, which operationalises the climate change regime contained in the
2015 Paris Agreement. However, global greenhouse gas emissions continued to
grow last year, and the current concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere the highest it has been in three million years.
Speaking on Thursday, January 10, 2019 at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in Germany on the topic: “Diplomacy and Participation: Towards Sustainable Solutions in Climate Policy”, Espinosa called on non-State actors, including academia, to help governments achieve their climate goals.
“We know governments alone cannot address climate change. We
need all segments of society to work as hard as possible to drive specific
global climate action.
This includes businesses, investors, private citizens, and,
yes, academics, architects, designers and engineers – all parts of
society,” she said.
Patricia Espinosa reminded the audience that UN Climate
Change not only encourages the participation of non-State actors, but
actively brings them into the negotiating process.
She said that now that the Paris Agreement Work Programme is
in place, the priority for 2019 needs to be to raise ambition to tackle climate
change. This can happen at all levels of government and society, not least at
the regional and local level:
“Subnational actors, such as states, regions and municipal
bodies, need to be involved. They’re often the ones who must implement this
work on the ground. It’s important they also align their policies and programs
at the local level. This includes an alignment of regulations as well. They can
ensure red tape doesn’t get in the way of green progress.
Espinosa also called on people working in professional
fields such clean technology, architecture and urban design to step up to the
plate and to take ambitious climate action:
“There are endless opportunities as well in
solar, electric, geothermal – every field related to renewable energy (…) The
buildings we make, the products we create, how we consume and dispose of those
products, how we design our urban spaces, our homes and living spaces – all
directly impact our climate footprint,” she said.
The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank met on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 under the Chairmanship of its Dean, Dr. Merza Hasan, to discuss the selection process for the next President of the World Bank Group, following the announcement of the current President, Jim Yong Kim, that he will be stepping down from his position on February 1.
World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim
The Executive Directors expressed their appreciation to
President Kim for his leadership of the World Bank Group and its significant
accomplishments during his tenure.
The World Bank Board affirmed its commitment to an open,
merit-based and transparent selection process.
experience of managing large organisations with
international exposure, and a familiarity with the public sector;
the ability to articulate a clear vision of the
World Bank Group’s development mission;
a firm commitment to and appreciation for
multilateral cooperation; and,
effective and diplomatic communication skills,
impartiality and objectivity in the performance of the responsibilities of the
position.
Nominations shall be submitted during a period starting on
February 7 by 9 A.M. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and ending on March 14 by 9
A.M. EST, and may be made by Executive Directors, or by Governors through their
Executive Director. Candidates must be nationals of the Bank’s member
countries.
Following the close of the nomination period, the Executive
Directors will decide on a shortlist of up to three candidates and publish the
names of the shortlisted candidates with their consent. Formal interviews
by the Executive Directors will be conducted for all shortlisted candidates
with the expectation of selecting the new President before the Spring Meetings
of 2019.
The President of the World Bank is ex-officio chair of the
Board of the Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The
President is also ex-officio chair of the Board of Directors of the
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee
Agency (MIGA), and the Administrative Council of the International Centre for
Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
Brazil has informed the United Nations that it will pull out
of a migration pact, a UN spokesman said on Thursday, January 10, 2019.
Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had pledged to withdraw
support for the non-binding global compact for migration once he came into power,
insisting that migration policies must be defined on the national level.
The far-right former army captain took office Jan. 1, and
Brazil’s UN mission had sent a letter to UN Secretary General, Antonio
Guterres’ office on Tuesday.
The UN migration pact lays out 23 objectives to ensure
“safe, orderly and regular” migration, including protecting migrants from
exploitation and human rights abuses.
In December, Brazil was among more than 150 countries that
adopted the compact, under Bolsonaro’s centre-right predecessor Michel Temer.
Countries not joining the pact include the U.S., which
Bolsonaro is seeking closer ties with.
“It is always regrettable when a member state disengages
from a multilateral process, particularly from one so respectful of national
specificities,” UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said.
Brazil has been receiving migrants fleeing the economic and
political crisis in Venezuela.
More than 50,000 Venezuelans are estimated to have arrived
in the northern Brazilian state of Roraima, where many of them live in
destitute conditions.
Bolsonaro tweeted criticism of the migration agreement on
Twitter on Wednesday, saying his country would “never refuse help to those in
need, but immigration cannot be indiscriminate.”
“Brazilians and the immigrants, who live here will be safer
with rules we define on our own, without outside pressure,” he tweeted.
The third conference of the UN Alliance for Sustainable
Growth (PAGE) began on Thursday, January 10, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa,
with the German Parliamentary State Secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter representing
the Federal Environment Ministry.
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter
For two days, high-ranking political, economic, civil
society, and science representatives and various UN organisations in the South
African coastal city will discuss the question of how to further accelerate the
necessary transition to a greener, fairer economy. At the opening of the
conference, Schwarzelühr-Sutter called for further efforts to be made in
implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Schwarzelühr-Sutter said: “We have only 12 years left
to reach the goals we set for 2015 as a global community with the 2030
agenda. Environmental protection must be an even more job and development
motor, especially in emerging countries such as South Africa. For this,
politics and business must already make the right investment decisions for the
future. “
In addition to the UN environmental and development programmes,
the PAGE Alliance includes the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The
partnership demonstrates how to work successfully across sectors and countries
for more sustainable business. On the sidelines of the UN conference in
Cape Town, Schwarzelühr-Sutter and ILO leader Guy Ryder agreed to intensify
cooperation on green jobs and socially responsible structural change.
PAGE’s work for sustainable business has been conceptually and financially supported by the Ministry for many years. PAGE’s goal is to help emerging and developing countries around the world move towards a sustainable, inclusive economy. This happens mainly through policy and strategy consulting. In addition, PAGE promotes the development of the necessary expertise at all levels. South Africa is one of the countries that has benefited from PAGE’s advice in recent years.
Among other things, PAGE assisted the African country in the further development of its so-called “Green Fund”, which is intended to finance projects for sustainable development in the country, and carried out regular training for the government, NGOs and companies.
As of March 2018, the majority of Americans (73%) believe
that global warming is happening, and over half of registered voters (59%)
believe that humans are the primary cause. These numbers are believed to have
grown in recent years, and even six in 10 Trump voters support taxing and/or
regulating the pollution that causes global warming.
Who exactly has changed their mind and why, however, is not
well understood, says the Centre for Climate Change Communication of the George
Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia which, in the bid to examine the scenario,
analysed nationally representative survey data that asked Americans whether
they had changed their opinions about global warming, and if so, why?
The Centre found that, across three surveys, 8% of Americans
had recently changed their opinion about global warming.
Percentage of Americans who have changed their opinion
To determine if some groups of people were more likely to
have changed their minds about global warming, the Centre examined respondents’
answers across different demographics. It found relatively small differences,
it says, adding that exceptions included Democrats (10%) who were slightly more
likely than Independents (6%), older adults (65+; 11%) were more likely than
young adults (18 to 24; 6%), and women (10%) were more likely than men (6%) to
have changed their minds.
Change in concern among Americans who have changed their opinion
Of those respondents who expressed a change in their level
of concern in a clear direction (n=186), the great majority (84%) said that
they had become more concerned about the issue; 16% said they had become less
concerned. Similar proportions of Democrats and Republicans became more
concerned, while fewer Independents and people not affiliated with a major
political party or not interested in politics became more concerned.
Change in concern by political party
Of people who became more concerned about global warming,
the most common reasons given were: 1) directly experiencing climate change
impacts; 2) taking it more seriously (for unspecified reasons); 3) becoming
more informed about global warming; and 4) hearing about climate change
impacts.
Of people who became less concerned about global warming,
the most common reasons given for changing their minds were: 1) believing that
global warming is a natural process (not human-caused), and 2) believing that
global warming is a lie or hoax. However, 24% of those who changed their
opinion did not provide a complete or clear response as to why (these
individuals are excluded from these analyses).
Why have you changed your mind about global warming?
In conclusion, in each of several recent surveys, a small but meaningful number of American adults reported having changed their minds about global warming – with more than four out of five of them becoming more concerned. Most people offered three different reasons why they changed their minds: they had either personally experienced climate impacts or heard about them; they learned more about the problem; or they had come to see the problem as more serious.
This suggests that efforts to communicate about the reality of human-caused climate change, and its current relevance to Americans – including its impacts on local temperatures, precipitation, and extreme weather patterns – may be helping some Americans better understand the problem.
More than 10,000 small-scale farmers from Kogi State in
Nigeria are to benefit from a $200 million grant under the World Bank-assisted
Agro Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Support (APPEALS)
project.
Youths involved in farming. Photo credit: smeonline.biz
Dr Abdullahi Ozomata, State Project Coordinator of APPEALS
in Kogi, told disclosed on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 in Lokoja, the state
capital, that the project was aimed at promoting transition from subsistence
farming to agribusiness in seven states, including Kogi.
Ozomata said that the World Bank grant, in line with the
“Green Alternative”, aimed to support value addition cluster farmers in three
crops – rice, cassava and cashew – in which the state has comparative
production advantage.
He said that the baseline study of the project
implementation had been concluded while the needs assessment was ongoing to
identify production gaps in the crops’ value chain.
The SPC said that Kano, Kaduna, Enugu, Cross-River, Lagos
and Kogi states were selected after a competitive selection process for the
APPEALS project expected to last seven years.
According to him, small-scale farmers holding between one
and five hectares would be upgraded to between five and 10 hectares in the
various crops’ value chain crops.
He said that existing data on farmers in the state would be
subjected to validation to enable the project to identify the real farmers.
“We are looking forward to working with the real farmers and
not political farmers. The project is also going to look at rural
infrastructure and farm clusters so that it can enhance their farming
activities and livelihood.
“Women and youths’ sub-component also give them the
opportunity to partake in other farming activities within the priority value
chain of the project,” he said.
Ozomata added that the APPEALS project had five main
components including Production and Productivity Enhancement, Primary Processing,
Value Addition, Post-harvest Management and Women/Youth Empowerment.
He listed other sub-components to include Infrastructure Support,
Technical Assistance, Knowledge and Communication, as well as Management and Coordination,
adding that the sensitisation programme would include all stakeholders.
Ozomata solicited the support and cooperation of the media
and all other stakeholders for the success of the project in the state.
To rapidly boost the knowledge necessary to seize
opportunities and manage challenges related to water, the Stockholm
International Water Institute (SIWI) and the United Nations’ SDG Academy have
unveiled plans to launch a free course on water.
Therese Sjömander Magnusson
Titled “Unique course Water – Addressing the global
crisis”, the open online course that can be accessed at http://www.siwi.org/watercourse/ begins
on Monday, January 14, 2019 and will run for over 12 weeks.
It consists of pre-recorded lectures, readings, a discussion
forum, quizzes and a final exam. The course covers nine modules: “No One Will
Be Left Behind”, “Climate Change”, “Water and Ecosystems”, “Water Governance
Crisis”, “Water and Sanitation Services and Delivery”, “Transboundary Water”, “Food
and Water”, and “Water and Energy”.
The idea is to equip students, business leaders and
change-makers at all levels with tools to handle today’s and tomorrow’s water
challenges. It is estimated that, by 2030, global demand for freshwater will
exceed available supply by 40 per cent, forcing all sectors of society to
adapt.
“Water is the defining issue of our age. We need a new
awareness of the role water plays for humans, societies and nature. Both SIWI
and the SDG Academy feel it’s urgent to spread this knowledge to as many people
as possible,” says Dr. Therese Sjömander Magnusson, Chief Operations Officer at
SIWI and Lead Faculty for the course.
SIWI was asked to organise the training to create the most
up-to-date course possible with the latest research on topics like the link
between water and health, why agriculture must rethink its water use and how
water can be a tool for peacebuilding. The modules were filmed during the 2018
World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, believed to be the most important yearly
event for the water community.
“Thanks to this, we’ve been able to create a unique course
with many of the world’s leading experts. I hope many people will seize this
rare opportunity to learn directly from them,” Dr. Magnusson adds.
She emphasises the broad scope of Water – addressing
the global crisis. The course explains how water is crucial to all the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and features both academic lecturers and
practitioners. After the 12-week course, students will have a good
understanding of key topics related to water scarcity, climate change,
sanitation and much more.
“Not least importantly, the course prepares you to make a
difference. This is really something that is needed across the globe to tackle
the water challenges we are facing,” Magnusson says.
