Chinese researchers have developed a new pesticide with nano slow-releasing technology that can increase efficiency and decrease pollution in the soil.
A Chinese farmer spays pesticide on an apple tree. Photo credit: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
A team led by Wu Zhengyan of the Hefei Institute of Physical Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences said this on Thursday, February 22, 2018.
Zhengyan said soluble starch was used as a template and porous calcium carbonate microspheres as carriers to make a nano-controlled release pesticide.
It can control the migration of pesticide molecules in the environment, reducing pesticide loss and damage to environment.
The results were recently released in an academic journal published by the American Chemistry Society called the ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering.
Zhengyan said China’s agriculture industry relies heavily on the use of pesticides, using an estimated more than one million tonnes annually.
However, only 30 per cent of pesticides have an effect on crops and the rest are simply washed away.
Conventional farming, therefore, requires several rounds of pesticide spraying each day, which not only raises the cost, but also causes serious environmental contamination and excessive pesticide residue.
Zhengyan says the pesticide release technology is environmentally friendly and cost efficient, providing a good solution to bottlenecks in China’s agriculture industry.
Farmers and herdsmen in Adamawa State have agreed to cease hostilities in order to give chance for a Peace and Reconciliation Committee to work out a lasting solution to conflict between them in the state.
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, leader of the FAd Hoc Team set up by the Federal Government to fashion out lasting solution to the farmers-herdsmen crisis
The agreement is contained in a statement read by Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, who presided over a two-day town hall meeting of farmers and herdsmen in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
Umahi, who is leading the Ad Hoc Team set up by Federal Government to fashion out lasting solution to the crisis nationwide, said the committee would look into how best to transform the existing grazing reserves in the state.
“We noted that we have 31 grazing reserves in the state totalling 105,646 hectares of land of which the state government submitted that some of these gazetted reserves have been encroached upon.
“We recommend that the state and federal governments do group the herdsmen in the state into these gazetted reserves, use the anchor borrower scheme to develop them with modern facilities that will guarantee great yield of the cattle, make water, grass available, schools, a veterinary clinic and milk factory production available.
“We noted that with the increase in cattle, crop production and decrease of land, due to climate changes, there will continue to be conflict unless cattle movement is restricted into grazing reserve and ranching,” Umahi said.
He explained that the peace and reconciliation committee comprised the Deputy Governor of Adamawa, Mr Martins Babale, and representatives of farmers, herdsmen, traditional rulers, religious leaders and security agencies, among others.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge, the world’s longest manmade sea crossing, in respect of which major construction work came to a close on December 31, 2017, will be opened in the second quarter of 2018.
An aerial view of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge
In recent weeks, engineers and constructors have been testing the coordination of the bridge’s various systems and equipment, as well as inspection and cleaning work.
Also, work on the principal section – a 29.6km bridge-island-tunnel complex – is expected to have been completed in early February, ahead of an official handover ceremony by the contractors.
Although a precise date has not been fixed, the bridge will start services officially around May to June, according to the sources, who added that the final commissioning date would partially depend on the construction progress of port facilities in Zhuhai and Hong Kong.
It took six years preparation, and eight years to build the 55 kilometre-long bridge linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao.
Major work on the bridge consisted of a 22.9 kilometre-long main bridge, a 6.7 kilometre-long tunnel and an artificial island off the bridge, which is considered the most technically demanding part of the whole construction.
The Y-shaped bridge will cut travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai from three hours to just 30 minutes, further integrating cities in the Pearl River Delta. With expanding capacities of roads, railways and ports, the Greater Bay Area will see a highly convenient and efficient transportation network.
Except for the principal section, the bridge also consists of ports and link roads in Zhuhai and the Macau and Hong Kong SARs. These works are conducted by the respective governments.
The 55km bridge, 20 times the length of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, connects Hong Kong in the east of the Pearl River Estuary with Macau and Zhuhai in the west.
The forests of Papua in Indonesia have been referred to as a last frontier, and those that live in and around them are instrumental in their future. Clarifying and codifying rights to tenure and management may be the key to keeping these forests standing.
Indegenes of the forests of Papua in Indonesia
Papua’s deforestation and forest degradation rates are below the national average, and these areas contain around half of Indonesia’s primary forests. This translates to the encouraging reality that Papua is largely preserving its forests, and indigenous communities play a big role in this paradigm. However, the tides of change are inevitable and recognising land and tenure rights while engaging communities in forest management is seen as the best way to maintain these amazing landscapes.
As in many countries, top-down planning in Indonesia has historically contributed to the marginalisation of customary communities from forest-related planning and negotiations. To help address this, Indonesia has set up forest management units that function as decentralised entities run by local governments. They are charged with the planning, management, investment, monitoring and evaluation of forests under their authority. Forest management units have been an effective framework for the promotion of the role of communities as the main actors in managing forest resources.
Working through these entities, the international Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) partnered with The Samdhana Institute in Indonesia’s Papua and West Papua Provinces to enhance community land rights and encourage low emissions development plans. These REDD+ focused initiatives included customary boundary mapping, promotion of livelihood-enhancing options, advocacy for regulatory changes, locally-controlled forest management, and capacity building. Implementation sites represent different ecological areas found across Papua-Indonesia: Baliem Valley is a high-land ecosystem, 1,500 metres above sea level; Balik is a typical small island of Papua; and Tambrauw is a low land, coastal mountains landscape. Work has expanded to new forest and land development issues including the protection of local rights, and benefits for local peoples.
The Papua Project Coordinator for Samdhana, Yunus Yumte summarised the goals of the project as:
to foster clarification and recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights;
to integrate how the communities perceive of the their living space and their preparedness to manage forests based on government planning; and
to develop indigenous people-based natural resources management within a legal system and with sustainable values.
Customary mapping
Customary boundary mapping is central to the entire project. When mapping is done collectively, it is a way to preserve local people’s rights, and manage collaboratively. Maps that identify customary boundaries and ownership of land are essential tools for land and resource planning, resolving disputes, and educating younger generations on community rights. In Papua Province, communities now have customary boundary maps that cover almost two million hectares. In Tambrauw, a methodology for indicative customary boundary mapping has been tested and endorsed.
This methodology is providing a new and rapid approach to mapping tribe and sub-tribe boundaries in order to accelerate legal recognition, and secure the rights of indigenous people. These customary boundary maps are catalysing discussions on strong claims of customary rights over the land and forests, how the community’s current activities affect the forest and what changes could be made, innovative approaches on conservation development to reduce emissions, and how protect and enhance carbon stocks.
Residents of some communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 protested lack of access to what they say is the only source of water to the areas.
Protesters barricaded the Airport Road in Abuja
The communities are Tungan-Kwaso, Tungan-Kano and Tungan-Kukudagba.
A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who monitored the protest along the Airport Road in Abuja, reports that the protesters barricaded the road.
Armed policemen and other security agents were seen trying to bring the situation under control and to ensure that the road linking the airport was not completely blocked.
Vehicular movement around the junction linking the communities was slow as a result of the protest.
The protesters alleged that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had built a fence, blocking the road that links the communities to the stream, which was their only source of water.
According to the protesters, the communities have suffered hardship as a result of the development.
They frowned at the insensitivity of FAAN to their plight, despite the fact that the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport was established on their land.
Mrs Ladi Danladi, one of the protesters, told NAN that the problem started about seven years ago when FAAN approached the communities that it wanted to fence the airport to protect its facilities.
Danladi said the authority had promised to sink a borehole for the communities when it realised that the fence would block the road to the communities’ stream.
She said the stream was the only source of water to the communities, adding that, to their surprise, the borehole was sank inside the premises of FAAN after constructing the fence.
“Exactly three weeks today, we were told not to enter their premises to fetch water anymore for fear of the communities planting bomb in their premises.
“So, we reminded them that we cannot live without water and that they have blocked the road leading to the stream that supplied water to the communities.
“Instead of finding solution to the problem, they threatened to shoot anybody found within their premises.
“Before we knew it, they used padlocks to lock the gate leading to the borehole and stationed soldiers at the gate,” she said.
Danladi said the protest was to inform the public of the injustice being meted on the communities.
Mr Usman Farouk, another protester, said the communities had suffered a very long period of neglect from the government.
He said the communities originally inhabited the land presently occupied by the airport before they were relocated by the government without any form of compensation.
“As I speak to you, we have been living in these communities without water, hospital, school, road and other basic amenities,” he said.
NAN, however, contacted Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, the General Manager, Corporate Affairs of FAAN, who confirmed that the communities had been enjoying free access into the airport premises to fetch water.
She said the decision to stop them was due to the recent need to beef up security in the airside, adding that the measure was to avoid security breaches at the airport.
The general manager, however, said that the management of the airport was already handling the situation.
“As part of its corporate social responsibility, FAAN has commenced the process of sinking boreholes for them in their communities and in the next few weeks they will have water,” she said.
The Lagos State Government, under its Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), has called on traders to ensure that markets in the state are cleaner.
Cleaner Lagos Initiative waste bins
Commissioner for Environment, Mr Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, made the call during the Town Hall Meeting with community and market leaders on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 in Lagos.
Durosinmi-Etti said that market women are major stakeholders in the Cleaner Lagos Initiative.
He said that marketplaces generate a lot of waste, so there is basically the need to see how waste collection can be organised there.
According to him, the CLI and Visionscape will be visiting the marketplaces on Thursdays to ensure that waste is properly handled and evacuated.
”We should expect more stakeholders sessions to hold, as this will enhance government’s visions and policies for a cleaner environment.
”With every vision, as you go along, there will be challenges and there is need to review the strategies to overcome the challenges.
”The forum is how to have a constructive engagement for the market women to buy into the Cleaner Lagos Initiative.
”It also prevails on Visionscape and the Federal Ministry of Environment, an opportunity to have an understanding of the markets and disseminate their duties properly to them.’’
The commissioner said Lagos State Government was doing well in its role, despite the refuse littering the state, which he blamed on rise in population.
”When there are more opportunities in Lagos than elsewhere, people keep coming in every hour, and it affects the infrastructure.
“However, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has taken a bold step of introducing the CLI to ensure a healthy environment.
”It is probably going to take some time; residents of Lagos need to bear with us.
”Every change, every reform has its own obstacles, but it is definitely going to work out.
“I am sure in a few months’ time, it will be better than what it used to be,” he said.
The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, appealed to the people not to throw waste anyhow on the streets, as it could cause ill-health.
Akiolu also urged the market women to assist government by ensuring that the marketplaces are kept clean.
The Iya Oloja General, Chief Afolashade Tinubu-Ojo, said there was the need to keep the environment cleaner.
Tinubu-Ojo said that the market women were ready to work with the government, as long as they knew the contribution that was needed of them.
”We have to contribute our own quota in order to make Lagos State get better and forge ahead.
”We have taskforces and committees in the markets that ensure that the places are kept clean.
“Every Thursday is our environmental sanitation day, and the markets are not allowed to open until 10.a.m.
”We need to change for better because change is paramount in life.
”We need to know more about the synergy that LAWMA, Cleaner Lagos Initiative and Visionscape have formed, so that we will know where to come in.”
The Iya Oloja urged women to abide by government rules and regulations in enhancing their relationship with the government.
The Chairman of Lagos Island Local Government, Kamal Salau-Bashau, said that Lagos Island had the highest generation of solid waste and it was a bit challenging.
Salau-Bashau said that the council had designed some mechanisms to handle waste management and had designated six collection points for waste.
He said the situation of waste in the area was a challenge that was surmountable and the council was determined to collaborate with CLI to ensure a healthy environment.
Prolonged dry spell experienced across Southern Africa and the invasion of crop-eating worm are said to sharply affect harvests across the region, driving millions of people – most of them children – into severe hunger, warns the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
A dry maize field in South Africa
The warning follows an alert by the regional food security experts that “erratic rainfall, high temperatures and persistent Fall Army Worm infestation, are likely to have far-reaching consequences on access to adequate food and nutrition” over the next 12-15 months.
The alert, by officials from the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET), UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), listed Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Zambia and South Africa as the worst-affected countries.
The dry spell, which started in October, has caused crops to wilt. Pasture has also suffered, threatening the survival of livestock herds.
In Malawi, it is estimated that about 140,000 farming families have been affected by the twin scourges of dry spell and Fall armyworms and in terms of hectares, 375,580 hectares of maize have been damaged across the country.
Lonjezo Chiguduli, a farmer in Malawi’s Eastern Region district of Zomba, expressed sadness at loss of crops and predicted tough months ahead. Chiguduli said his maize farm was severally attacked by Fall Armyworms and the prolonged drought made things worse.
“I managed to contain the worms but I was hopeless and helpless with the dry spell. I don’t think my crops will recover even if the rains come today. It’s done,” said Chiguduli a father of three whose ageing mother also depends on him.
Solomon Makondetsa, a rice farmer also from Zomba said out of four of his rice plots, two of the plots have completely wilted that he had to uproot the crop.
Makondetsa said he invested about K450,000 (about $623) which he said he will not be able to recover due to the prolonged dry spell.
A ray of hope though shown last week with most parts of the country experiencing rains for days, however, the rains have come with another problem, flooding. So far, there has been flooding in Salima District in the central region and Karonga district in the northern region of Malawi.
In December 2017, Malawi President, Peter Mutharika, declared 20 of the country’s 28 districts as disaster areas following the dry spell and invasion of the worms.
According to the statement released by the WFP, even if there is above-average rainfall over coming months, much of the damage to crops is irreversible.
“Given that the region has barely emerged from three years of very damaging El Niño -induced drought, this is a particularly cruel blow”, says Brian Bogart, WFP’s Regional Programme Advisor. “But it shows how important it is to address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition in the face of changing climatic conditions”.
There are now fears for another rise in the number of people in the region needing emergency food and nutrition assistance – this fell from a peak of 40 million during the 2014-2016 El Niño crisis to 26 million last year.
The humanitarian community is now working with governments, SADC and other partners to assess the extent of the damage and its likely impact on those most at risk in the region.
The Africa Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) has attributed the farmers/herdsmen crisis in Nigeria to climate change.
Herdsmen
Coordinator of AFRICMIL, Mr Chido Onumah, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 that global warming had led to desertification, thereby making food for cattle scarce.
According to him, the problem also has political, social and economic causes, which must be addressed.
He said: “There is need for a political solution to the crisis of herdsmen and farmers in this country, understandably the root cause is also political, it’s partly economic and it’s partly social.
“And global warming is real; so, there is desertification. If we do not do something about it, we are even going to go into a bigger crisis than we have.
“These farmers and herders have lived together for many years; they have managed the situation when there was abundance.
“But, because of scarce resources now, people are fighting in the process of finding food for their cattle and invade farmlands.’’
According to him, whether cattle herders or farmers, all Nigerians are entitled to live in peace and enjoy the abundance of wherever they choose to live in the country.
He explained that, in other federal systems, the issue of being an indigene of a particular place would not arise.
He said perception that made Nigerians look down on themselves based on his or her ethnicity or religion must be changed.
On the Benue killing, he opined that the herdsmen should not have taken laws into their hands if they were not satisfied with the anti-grazing law.
“The solution goes to the structure of Nigeria; Benue is a state within Nigeria and has the right to make laws, and if certain people are not satisfied with the law they should fight to get it changed.
“Instead of taking laws into their hands, you cannot say you are opposed to a law and you start killing people, it is not permitted.
“If people oppose the anti-grazing law, they can do something to change or amend it.’’
On proposed ranching system, Onumah said that was practiced in advanced countries, adding that cattle rearing were private businesses.
He explained that cattle rearer should be able to provide space and food for the cattle, instead of inconveniencing others.
He added that the entire country would be in chaos if pigs and poultry farmers start moving them from place to place in search of food.
He, however, said that establishing a state police was essential to enforce laws made by state governments, as the federal police take orders from the Inspector General of Police only.
The failure of 59 of the world’s largest banks to recognise climate risks and opportunities threatens undermine efforts to support the transition to a low-carbon economy. This is the key finding of a report by Boston Common Asset Management report titled “Banking on a Low-Carbon Future“.
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Banks play a crucial role in the allocation of capital in the economy by providing financial services to businesses, households, governments and financial institutions.
As a result, banks are exposed to climate change-related risks including extreme weather events including heat waves, droughts, storms and sea level rise, along with energy transition adjustments to limit greenhouse gas emissions which can create both risk and significant financial opportunities
In 2015, the international community adopted the Paris Agreement on climate action. The main objective of the agreement is to limit the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C and as close as possible to 1.5°C.
However, the report indicates that less than half (49%) of banks implement climate risk assessments or 2°C scenario analysis, and a majority (61%) have failed to restrict the financing of coal – the most carbon intensive energy source.
Remarkably, the global banking sector provided $600 billion in financing to the top 120 coal plant developers between 2014 and September 2017.
The report says that the oil, gas and coal industries will suffer significant revenue losses as a result of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the non-compliance of certain investment projects with the 2°C trajectory will jeopardize their financial viability.
Meeting the main objective of the Paris Agreement involves investing in new technologies such as renewable energy, energy storage, carbon capture and storage. All this will not be without consequences on the world economy, and banks cannot ignore this.
Pace of Alignment of Banks with TCFD is Too Slow
Last year, a letter backed by over 100 investors with almost $2 trillion in assets under management sent to over 60 banks last September asking about alignment with the Task Force on Climate Disclosure (TCFD).
The TCFD is a working group set up by the G20 Financial Stability Board chaired by Michael Bloomberg that provides recommendations on financial risks related to climate change.
The report says that whilst 54% of banks say they support the TCFD, the pace of alignment is too slow.
The report also points to large regional disparities among banks around the world. For example, 80% of European banks have undertaken climate-risk assessments, compared with an average of 33% of banks in each of the North America, Developed Asia and emerging market regions.
Achieving the main objective of the Paris Agreement requires the adaptation of the entire global economy by reorienting investments in particular, so that they are compatible with sustainable development and resilient to the impacts of climate change.
Efforts to green the European shipping industry have received a boost, with two major banks pledging to fund €300 million worth of clean tech investments in ships over the next three years.
European Investment Bank President, Werner Hoyer
The Dutch bank ING and the European Investment Bank (EIB) will each contributed €150 million to retrofit existing vessels so that they cause less emissions and are more fuel efficient, and to ensure that new ships are more climate friendly.
Such steps are important to reach the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, given that maritime transport is responsible for around 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and carbon emissions from shipping and aviation are growing at a combined rate of 3-5% annually.
“I think it’s no secret that the shipping sector is a major contributor to CO2 emissions. Climate action is one of the EIB’s top priorities, and this type of financing should be seen as an incentive for ship owners to consider doing things differently.” said EIB President Werner Hoyer.
The Paris Agreement’s aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Action in all areas of the economy is crucial to reach this goal.
The investment money will be used for a range of projects with a green innovation element, including both the construction of new vessels or retrofitting of existing vessels. The measures will apply to inland and seagoing shipping.
Isabel Fernandez, Head of Wholesale Banking at ING Bank, said: “Sustainability is an important strategic priority for ING and we are very proud to partner with the EIB to encourage our shipping clients to think about more green and sustainable financing options.”
The move is part of a global movement to de-carbonise shipping. Last year, leading shipowners and operators, classification societies, engine and technology builders and suppliers, big data providers, and oil companies signed up to a new Global Industry Alliance (GIA) to support transitioning shipping and its related industries towards a low carbon future.
Thirteen companies have signed up to launch the GIA, under the auspices of the GloMEEP Project, a Global Environment Facility (GEF)-United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-International Maritime Organisation (IMO) project aimed at supporting developing countries in the implementation of energy efficiency measures for shipping.
