Disaster risk management experts, who met last week in Lagos, have set out to develop a unified nationally identified model for developing capacity at the grassroots level.

The two-day gathering (from Wednesday, September 6 to Thursday, September 7, 2017) was was originally designed as a Training of Trainers (TOT) for developing national capacities for Risk Identification, Monitoring and Assessment Monitoring (RIMA). But certain unforeseen developments, such as the inability of the Project Technical Adviser to be present at the event, informed a slight adjustment to the focus of the workshop.

Consequently, participants resolved to draft a training manual, conduct a training session, and develop a unified teaching model.

Several years ago, the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), commissioned a study to, among others, develop:

• A guide for RIMA conduct
• A programme for developing National Capacity and Capability in RIMA, and
• A country-wide action programme for undertaking RIMA.

In the bid to operationalise the process, stakeholders are meant to standardise National Core Technical capability in RIMA – a major anchor to the workshop.

The meeting featured representatives of six national centres of excellence for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR),which are recognised as the potential regional hub to facilitate the RIMA training in each geo-political zone.

The centres include: University of Maiduguri (North East zone), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (North West), Federal University of Technology, Minna (North Central), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (South East), University of Port Harcourt (South South) and University of Ibadan (South West).

“Each of the universities has a centre for disaster risk reduction and management, and we intend to use the centres to reach out to communities in their respective regions, in the light of the fact that they are already experts with ready –made technical capacity,” said Benjamin Oghenah, Deputy Director, Disaster Risk Reduction at NEMA.

He added: “We are now developing one unified model to be used nationally, both in content and methodology, that can be applied across the nation through these centres while utilising the peculiarities they face in their specific regions.

“We are hoping that the UNDP will provide the support so that each centre will now go back to the states within their region and undertake the RIMA.”

Oghenah disclosed that, apart from the DRR centres of excellence, State Environmental Management Agencies (SEMAs) of Kaduna, Lagos and Bayelsa also attended the workshop “to observe what is happening and give a critique”.

“Bayelsa SEMA complained of funding constraints,” he said, remarking that disaster risk management is now taking global attention, and that the emphasis is more on risk management than the hazard.

After a nearly week-long rampage through the Caribbean, Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys at 9:10 am (local time) on Sunday (September 10, 2017) morning as a 130 mph Category 4 – beginning a day-long onslaught of the country’s most hurricane-prone state.

Winds at the National Weather Service office in Key West frequently approached 100 mph as meteorologists braced themselves inside their fortified office, providing updates on the storm. “This Is As Real As It Gets,” one of them wrote in a tweet. Later in the day, Irma’s core of winds and storm surge will move up the state’s west coast, maintaining at least Category 3 strength until the center is north of Tampa.

An impact this strong is rare, even for Florida. Just six hurricanes in U.S. history have made landfall at a greater intensity than Irma, the last being Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Together with last month’s landfall of Hurricane Harvey, Irma marks the first time in U.S. history that two Category 4 hurricanes have made landfall in the same year, let alone back-to-back.

Miami-Dade County, where Irma was previously feared to be headed, was rocked by wind gusting up to 100 mph that knocked out power to more than half of its 1.1 million customers. Tornado warnings punctuated the night. The constant howl of wind was interrupted every so often with something slapping into shutters.

Nearly seven million people have been asked to flee the path of the storm; depending on how many have actually left, this could be the largest mass evacuation in U.S. history. The storm is so huge that tropical storm watches extend as far inland as Atlanta. Heavy rain and frequent tornadoes plagued the Miami area overnight, and should continue throughout the day.

As the storm moves away from the Keys, the biggest worry is Irma’s immense coastal flood potential, which could bring record-setting inundation to nearly all of the state’s West Coast cities, including Naples, Ft. Myers, and Tampa. In southwest Florida, water levels could approach 15 feet above normal, with waves an additional 30 feet on top of that. That’s enough to submerge entire neighborhoods.

In Naples, water levels are expected to sharply rise as Irma’s center passes by and winds shift from offshore to onshore – creating a tsunami-like effect which could lead to an eight-foot wall of water inundating beaches in a matter of minutes. Irma’s surge is expected to be concentrated in Ft. Myers, where residents spent the night in the hallways of local schools.

In Tampa Bay, widely considered to be the most vulnerable metro area in the country to severe storm surge, Irma’s massive circulation could align to produce a near worst-case scenario should it track just offshore. The last time Tampa had a direct hit with a hurricane as strong as Irma was 1921, when the region had less than 2 percent of its current population. Official forecasts call for Irma to move directly over the metro area.

In addition to the coastal flooding, Irma is expected to bring up to two feet of rain to large parts of Florida today, and since the hurricane is wider than Florida itself, hurricane force winds could affect the state’s East Coast cities as well.

Such widespread impacts means Irma will almost surely become one of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history. Quick growth statewide in recent years means there are many more people in harm’s way than during 1992’s Hurricane Andrew, the last storm this strong to hit the state. Initial estimates from insurers are that, with Harvey, Irma could rank among the country’s all-time costliest natural disasters.

The connection between climate change and hurricanes like Harvey and Irma is complicated, but there’s one thing for sure: Rising seas are making coastal floods worse, and seas are rising in Florida at some of the fastest rates anywhere in the world.

Courtesy: Daily Beast

Academics, analysts, and activists who gathered recently in the Lofoten Islands of Norway, have declared that, in order to achieve the Paris climate goals, the world has and should embrace a window of opportunity to limit the expansion of the oil and gas industry. Contained in a document titled “The Lofoten Declaration” (written in August 2017) that emerged at the close of deliberations, the stakeholders insist that climate leadership requires a managed decline of fossil fuel production. Excerpts from the Declaration:

Global climate change is a crisis of unprecedented scale, and it will take unprecedented action to avoid the worst consequences of our dependence on oil, coal, and gas. Equally as critical as reducing demand and emissions is the need for immediate and ambitious action to stop exploration and expansion of fossil fuel projects and manage the decline of existing production in line with what is necessary to achieve the Paris climate goals.

Clean, safe, and renewable fuels are already redefining how we see energy and it is time for nations to fully embrace 21st century energy and phase out fossil fuels.

The Lofoten Declaration affirms that it is the urgent responsibility and moral obligation of wealthy fossil fuel producers to lead in putting an end to fossil fuel development and to manage the decline of existing production.

We stand in solidarity with, and offer our full support for, the growing wave of impacted communities around the world who are taking action to defend and protect their lives and livelihoods in the face of fossil fuel extraction and climate change. It is a priority to elevate these efforts. Frontline communities are the leaders we must look to as we all work together for a safer future.

A global transition to a low carbon future is already well underway. Continued expansion of oil, coal, and gas is only serving to hinder the inevitable transition while at the same time exacerbating conflicts, fuelling corruption, threatening biodiversity, clean water and air, and infringing on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and vulnerable communities.

Energy access and demand are and must now be met fully through the clean energies of the 21st century.  Assertions that new fossil fuels are needed for this transformation are not only inaccurate; they also undermine the speed and penetration of clean energy.

We recognise that a full transition away from fossil fuels will take decades, but also, that this shift is an opportunity more than a burden. We are in a deep hole with climate. We must begin by not digging ourselves any deeper.

Research shows that the carbon embedded in existing fossil fuel production will take us far beyond safe climate limits. Thus, not only are new exploration and new production incompatible with limiting global warming to well below 2ºC (and as close to 1.5ºC as possible), but many existing projects will need to be phased-out faster than their natural decline.

This task should be first addressed by countries, regions, and corporate actors who are best positioned in terms of wealth and capacity to undergo an ambitious just transition away from fossil fuel production. In particular, leadership must come from countries that are high-income, have benefitted from fossil fuel extraction, and that are historically responsible for significant emissions.

We call on these governments and companies to recognise that continued fossil fuel exploration and production without a managed decline and a just transition is irreconcilable with meaningful climate action. We also note that there are tremendous leadership opportunities for these countries to demonstrate that moving beyond oil, coal, and gas – both demand and production – is not only possible, but can be done while protecting workers, communities, and economies.

Leading web-based environment and development multi-media magazine, EnviroNews Nigeria, was honoured during the 8th Environment Outreach Magazine Public Lecture and Environmental Awards Ceremony that held on Thursday, September 7, 2017 in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

At the daylong event where other individuals and corporate bodies that have distinguished themselves in various fields of environmental management were also decorated, EnviroNews bagged the “2017 Environmental Media Excellence Award”.

While conferring the award, host of the event and Publisher of the Environment Outreach Magazine, Chief Noble Akenge, said: “The conferment of this prestigious award on EnviroNews is a testimony of your hardwork, dedication to duty, patriotism and love for our environment.

“The Award is also an overt recognition that the little you are doing to preserve the environment for our generation and that yet unborn has gained our admiration and acceptance.

“As you receive this award today, we hope you will rededicate yourself to the service of our common heritage – The Environment. May God continue to bless and protect you as you continue in this onerous task of preserving our environment and futhering the cause of sustainable development in our country, Nigeria.”

The Environmental Awards also include categories such as Environmental Stewardship Award, Environmental Legislative Excellence Award, Environmental Awareness Creation Award, Environmental Protection and Support Award, Environmental Governance Award, and Community Development and Nature Conservation Award.

At the event, a lecture titled: “Nigeria’s Depleting Forests and Its Implication for Forest Resources and Climate Change” was delivered by eminent sustainable development expert, Professor Hilary Inyang, former Vice Chancellor, Botswana University of Science and Technology, Papalye, as well as President/CEO of Global Education and Infrastructure Services (GEISE) LLC.

It will be recalled that EnviroNews in March 2017 emerged the nation’s top online climate change-focused media organisation. According to a report released by Climate Scorecard, the online medium was adjudged Nigeria’s major medium in the online category.

The Republic of Namibia on Wednesday, September 6, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 75th future Party to the Minamata Convention.

This is on record the first ratification of the global pact after it entered into force and became legally binding on Wednesday, August 16, 2017.

Prior to the entry into force, Brazil on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 74th Party.

Earlier, Kiribati (July 28) and Syria (July 26) deposited their instruments of ratification to become 73rd and 72nd Parties, while Jamaica on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 became the 71st Party to the mercury convention.

Hitherto, the Governments of Rwanda, Palau, Thailand, Slovenia and Viet Nam deposited their instruments of ratification, thereby becoming the 66th to 70th future Parties to the mercury treaty.

The depositions were made on Wednesday, June 21; Thursday, June 22; Friday, June 23; and Thursday, June 29, 2017. While Palau deposited on Wednesday and Thailand on Thursday, both Slovenia and Viet Nam did likewise on Friday. Rwanda followed up a week later on Thursday.

Previously, Iran and Estonia had ratified the Convention, which has already entered into force, thanks to the landmark rash of ratifications on Thursday, May 18, 2017 that triggered the entry into force of the mercury accord, having garnered the required 50 ratifications.

On that day, the EU and seven of its member States – Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden – deposited their instruments of ratification at the UN Headquarters in New York, bringing to 51 that day the number of future Parties.

To commemorate the historic development, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Kumamoto Prefecture and Minamata City on Saturday, July 1, 2017 held “Celebrating Event for the Minamata Convention on Mercury – Voice from Minamata towards the Entry into Force” in Minamata City, Kumamoto, Japan.

The 1st Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention (COP1) will gather governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations from around the world in Geneva from September 24 to 29, 2017.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury (“Minamata Convention”) is a new international environmental convention for global community to work collaboratively against mercury pollution. The Minamata Convention aims at achieving environmentally sound mercury management throughout its life cycle. The Convention was adopted at the diplomatic conferences held in Minamata City and Kumamoto City in October 2013.

Justice Chuka Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Friday, September 8, 2017 fixed September 22, 2017, as the day to possibly entertain the application for the final forfeiture of four building properties scattered across Lagos and River States, and Abuja, valued at N2.611,592,199, linked to the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Allison-Madueke and her associates.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had filed the application seeking to get the properties finally forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The judge equally declared that same day would be utilised to hear the response of the 3rd, 4th and the 6th respondents in the matter.

Counsel to the respondents, Emmanuel Bassey, had informed the vacation judge that there was a pending application requesting that the EFCC should serve the respondents with the exparte application which was used to secure an interim order of forfeiture of the said properties so that same can be responded to.

Bassey further claimed that the request became imperative sequel to an order made by another vacation judge, Justice AbdulAziz Anka of the same court, wherein he declared that the exparte application be served on the respondents.

But counsel to the anti-graft agency, ABC Ozioko, who stated that there was no such order mandating the commission to serve the exparte application on the respondents, argued that the companies involved have no directors and does not even exist.

“We have obtained an interim order in respect of this suit and the case adjourned until today for report and to also allow the respondents to show cause why the properties should not be finally forfeited.

“But this morning, we were served with a motion on notice by one Mr Nnamdi Eze Anochie. We ask for time to respond and to take the application for final forfeiture,” Ozioko submitted.

Justice Anka had ordered that four building properties scattered between Lagos and River States, and Abuja, valued at N2,611,592,199, linked to the former Minister of Petroleum and her associates be temporary forfeited to the FGN, for being proceeds of corruption.

Justice Anka issued the order while granting an ex-parte application marked FHC/L/CS/1279/17, filed and argued before the court by Ozioko.

Respondents in the suit are Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke; Mr. Donald Chidi Amamgbo; Chapel Properties Limited; Blue Nile Estate Limited; Azinga Meadows Limited; and Vistapoints Property Development Limited.

The properties ordered to be temporary forfeited to the Federal government of Nigeria are: 21 mixed housing units of 8 numbers of four bedrooms penthouse apartment; six numbers of three bedrooms apartments; two numbers of three bedrooms apartment and one numbers of four bedrooms apartment, all ensuit, located at 7, Thurnburn Street, and 5, Raymond Street, Yaba, valued at N937 million.

Another property a 16 four-bedrooms terrace building, located at Heritage Court Estate, Omerelu Street, Diobu GRA, Port-Harcourt, River State, valued at N928 million.

Another 13 three-bedroom apartments with one room maid’s quarter, situated at Mabushi Gardens Estate, Plot 1205, Cadastral Zone B06, Mabushi, Abuja, valued at N650 million; and six flats of three bedrooms and one boys quarter, located at Plot 808 (135) Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, lagos., valued at N805 million.

It was the position of the commission that the properties were purchased by the former Petroleum Minister, and her cronies.

By Chinyere Obia