The head of a major UN agency who was nominated to the post by the Trump administration said on Tuesday, September 11, 2018 that he believes climate change to be a global threat.
David Beasley
David Beasley, a former Republican Governor of South Carolina, was appointed executive director of the World Food Programme in March 2017.
He spoke at the launch of a UN report that announced a rise to 821 million in the number of hungry people in the world, and listed climate change as a key factor behind the increase.
“Climate impact is real: 22 to 23 million people alone were impacted and forcibly displaced because of changing climate,” Beasley said in a news conference in Rome.
When asked to reconcile those comments with his political allegiance, Beasley said nobody could dispute that climate change is happening, but it is debatable whether it is man-made.
“The climate is impacting people all over the world, you cannot stick your head in the sand as regards to this. What’s causing it, that’s a different discussion,” he said.
“As a former U.S. Republican, I don’t know of hardly any Republicans or Democrats (…) who disagree that climate is changing,” he added.
U.S. President, Donald Trump, has pulled of the Paris climate agreement, and in 2012, years before entering politics, he dismissed climate change as a “hoax” created by the Chinese to harm U.S. manufacturing.
Beasley deplored global indifference to rising hunger rates, suggesting that perhaps this was because “everybody is obsessed with Trump news, Brexit or whatever the case may be.’’
“Every five seconds, a child is dying from starvation, while there’s 300 trillion dollars’ worth of wealth in the world today. That’s unacceptable, it is inexcusable,” he charged.
In a presentation at the #RiseForClimate and Stop the Soot Summit in Port Harcourt, Nigeria on September 11, 2018, Nnimmo Bassey, Director of the ecological think tank, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), urged his audience to rise and take real climate action
Nnimmo Bassey
I bring you greetings of peace and a pledge to stand in solidarity with you all until the dangerous ecological problems confronting us and our children become a thing of the past. Our ecological challenges widespread and suffocating. The clearest for those of us in Port Harcourt and the Niger Delta at large, is the visibly polluted and unhealthy air that we have been forced to breathe.
We applaud our brothers and sisters that have championed and continue to champion the Stop the Soot campaign. This is one campaign that has been backed by research, competence and high-level articulation of the health and debilitating impacts of soot, or black carbon, that citizens have been condemned to breathe. The petition that has been raised on this matter should be endorsed by all citizens of Nigerians, not just residents of the Niger Delta who breathe this toxic air.
The soot is the manifestation of insidious atrocities that have gone on unchallenged in our environment. It is one that cannot be swept under the carpet. Our creeks have been dastardly polluted, indeed coated by crude oil and we have silently continued to drink the polluted water. Our lands have been heavily contaminated, our crops have wilted, rotted and we have gone home empty handed at harvest time, yet we eat our rotted tubers and continue to fall into the grip of disease. Sixty years of gas flaring has secured huge profits for oil companies and limitless revenue for politicians to fight over, but for poor communities these have meant cancers, bronchitis, asthmas, skin diseases, birth defects and acid rain, to name a few.
Our people on the coast line are continuously losing land to coastal erosion. Inshore and offshore fishing grounds are being lost to oil pollution and ocean acidification daily. We must ask the question: what have we gained from sixty years of crude oil extraction?
Today we are gathered to examine two issues at this summit. One is soot. The other is climate change. Our determination is to stop the soot. Our plan is to tackle the climate menace. Their root cause is one. To achieve the results, we need to and must aim at the root. That root is well known: fossil fuels.
It has long been determined that for the world to have a reasonable chance of keeping to a 2 degrees Celsius temperature rise above 1750 or pre-industrial levels, at least two thirds of known fossil reserves must be left in the ground. This is a scientific fact attested to by relevant global scientific and expert bodies. We cannot wish this away. Fossil fuels must be left in the ground. We have no luxury of choice on this matter. Delay will be like the case of the emperor that was dancing shaku shaku while his domain was burning.
Some Nigerians think that if new oil or gas fields are not opened our economy will collapse. Nothing can be farther from the truth. It is not about new oil fields, it is about stopping oil theft and reckless oil pollution. It is known that industrial scale oil theft is ongoing in our nation. If we consider estimates of stolen crude that we have heard from government officials over the years and combine these with the amount of oil regularly being spilled into our environment, we can safely say that, indeed, our oil output would almost double if the stealing and the spilling are stopped.
Is it oil that is keeping our economy afloat? Now that we are pumping oil at full throttle, how many of you have public electric power supply? Our gas flares or furnaces burn without ceasing, but our people still cook with firewood. If oil is boosting our economy, how come many in the formal sector go for months without wages and over sixty per cent of Nigerians eke a living in the informal sector? Why is virtually every building having a shop at the frontage? Where is almost everyone one sort of petty trader or the other?
The soot that is choking us is from the burning of fossil fuels. The sources are well known, even though officials are shy to agree. These sources include: the aged refineries, the gas flares, the bush refineries, oil spills and stolen crude that are set on fire by security forces.
We cannot emphasise this loudly enough: the soot that is choking us is from the burning of fossil fuels. The soot is choking us and our children. The solution is for us to choke the soot. We can only choke the soot by choking all the sources of soot. Stop the gas flares. Stop the ancient refineries. Stop the burning of spilled crude as well as stolen crude and illegal refineries.
We must rise and take real climate action. This is an emergency. We cannot afford any more delay. Stop the soot. Stop the pollution. Let us think and think hard. The old mindset will not get us out of the pit. Whether we like it or not, the petrol age is drawing to a close. We must quickly close the chapter of crass pollution. Now is the time to think. It is time to act. It is time to prepare for life after oil.
Kenya on Tuesday, September 11, 2018 unveiled strategies to boost food security and help curb rising cases of malnutrition.
Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of Kenya
The documents named Kenya Food Composition Tables 2018 and Kenyan Food Recipes 2018 are produced by the ministries of health, agriculture, livestock, fisheries and irrigation with technical and financial support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Health Ministry Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki while launching the guidelines in Nairobi said they contain food composition data, which forms the basis for most aspects of food and nutrition.
“I am calling upon all food and nutrition security stakeholders to support the government in disseminating the documents to the end users who are the county governments and the implementing partners.
“My commitment is to ensure that the updating of food composition data becomes a routine activity,” said Kariuki.
She noted that while there has been some improvement to boost food production in Kenya, a majority of citizens are still food insecure and face malnutrition.
“We are currently experiencing the triple burden of malnutrition mainly under nutrition (underweight, stunting and wasting), overweight and obesity and micronutrient deficiencies.
“One in four of children under five years are stunted, 11 percent are underweight and four per cent are wasted,” she said.
“I am here to assure you that that government is committed to ensuring food and nutrition security as envisioned in the Kenya Vision 2030, the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy 2012, the Big Four Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” she said.
Executive Secretary, Anambra State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Chief Paul Odenigbo, said the state government has created 28 emergency shelter centres in flood prone areas in case of flooding.
Chief Willie Obiano, Governor of Anambra State
Odenigbo disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, September 10, 2018 in Awka, the state capital.
The 28 emergency shelter centres include six in Anambra West, six in Anambra East, four in Awka North, four in Ogbaru, three in Ihiala, three in Awka South and two in Ekwusigo.
According to Odenigbo, the emergency shelter centres were set up in flood prone Local Government Areas’ secretariats or headquarters.
He, however, urged residents to get prepared for emergency evacuation or relocation, in case of flood disaster.
Odenigbo added that residents have also been urged to have a small box, where they should put relevant and vital documents, as well as be ready for evacuation anytime the need arises.
He noted that with the forecast of Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) on flooding in 2018, it might likely be in the same magnitude of 2012, so SEMA had planned ahead.
The Executive Secretary said that massive awareness on how to mitigate the natural disaster had been on, saying that the agency would continue to create the required awareness.
He also listed likely flood prone areas, Awka North, Ihiala, Idemili South , Ayamelum, Ogbarua, Anambra West, Anambra East and Ekwusiego .
According to him, SEMA is prepared to evacuate residents of the affected areas to the centres.
He stressed that arrangements had been concluded by the state government on relief materials to be used across the State.
Odenigbo said the agency had held crucial meetings with the Military and relevant para-military organisations in the state to respond promptly to distress calls in case of flooding in any of the listed communities.
He reiterated his call on residents of riverine areas to get ready to relocate to higher grounds as soon as the water levels of their rivers, streams and creeks rise to dangerous proportions.
Odenigbo also disclosed that the agency is in regular touch with the National Emergency Management Agency, to jointly tackle the challenges of the impending surge.
He, however, added that the agency is also contending effectively with flash floods in urban areas of the state, adding that residents must avoid building on water channels or throwing refuse in drains.
The Government of the Netherlands and the Global Centre on Adaptation on Monday, September 10, 2018 unveiled plans for the formation of a forthcoming Global Commission on Adaptation, featuring the Netherlands as a key convener, which will be overseen by the 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates, and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva.
Dutch Minister, Van Nieuwenhuizen
The new Commission will be co-hosted by the Global Centre on Adaptation, an international organisation hosted by the Netherlands, in partnership with World Resources Institute. It will formally be launched on October 16 in The Hague, at which time the names of some 20 leading global Commissioners and 10 convening countries will be announced.
The announcement was made during an event marking the new construction of an innovative climate-adaptive floating office in Rotterdam by Dutch Minister Van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure and Water Management), the initiating Commissioner. Van Nieuwenhuizen noted that the Commission will elevate the political visibility of adaptation and will focus on solutions, catalyzing a global adaptation movement and accelerating action.
“For the Netherlands, looking for solutions to water issues is part of everyday life. This is not yet the case in other areas and countries that also increasingly are faced with extreme weather,” the Minister stated. “Climate change is making itself felt almost on a daily basis. Take, for example, the prolonged drought that currently is affecting large parts of Europe. By launching this Commission, we aim to press the need for worldwide climate adaptation,” she added.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “Today’s announcements by the Government of the Netherlands is a critical step forward to set in motion more vigorous attention to and action around climate adaptation. I congratulate Minister van Nieuwenhuizen for her role as an initiator of the Global Commission on Adaptation and look forward to collaborating with her and other global leaders as we embark on our worldwide mission to accelerate adaptation.”
The floating office to be constructed in Rotterdam will be home to the Global Centre on Adaptation, which has expanded its mission under new leadership. In addition to its office in Rotterdam, the Global Centre will have an office in Groningen, which will be inaugurated by Mr. Ban on October 17. Patrick Verkooijen, the newly appointed Chief Executive Office of the Global Centre, said his goal is to inspire clarity behind the adaptation agenda and pursue pragmatic steps that can help address policies, investments, financing, and governance needed for more adaptation action globally.
“We act as a solutions broker,” Verkooijen said, “bringing together governments, the private sector, civil society, intergovernmental bodies, and knowledge institutions that can address the obstacles slowing down adaptation action.”
Of the Global Centre, Mr. Ban noted that “the role of Global Center on Adaptation will be significant because we need all societies to learn from one another. Under the exemplary and bold leadership of Patrick Verkooijen, the Center will help accelerate transformation at scale and at speed.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says no fewer than 800,000 people commit suicide annually, the second leading cause of death among people between the ages of 15 and 29, in 2016.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Photo credit: AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI / Getty Images
WHO made this known on Monday, September 10, 2018 in a statement to commemorate the World Suicide Prevention Day.
The global health agency said the common methods of suicide were hanging and firearms occurring in all countries and regions, whether rich or poor.
It added, however, that most occurred in low and middle-income countries, which accounted almost four-fifths of global suicides in 2016.
“In high-income countries, there is a well-established link between suicide and mental health issues such as depression and alcohol use disorders.
“But many suicides take place on an impulse during moments of crisis,” it said.
The UN health agencies estimated that a person died every 40 seconds by suicide and up to 25 times as many make a suicide attempt.
To help communities to prevent suicides, WHO and the Mental Health Commission of Canada released a toolkit.
The toolkit outlined ways to prevent this serious public health problem, one of which is knowledge of the most commonly used methods, and restrictions of access to these methods.
Other examples included policies to limit alcohol and drug abuse, effective mental health care, and follow-up care for attempted suicide cases.
It estimated that the method used for 20 per cent of global suicides was pesticide self-poisoning, most of which occurred in rural agricultural areas in low- and middle-income countries.
WHO explained that as well as the health sector, many sectors of society needed to be involved in preventing suicide, including education, labour, agriculture and the media.
“These actors all need to work together if they are to have an impact on this complex issue.
“People commit suicide at all times of their lives, and each one is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries, and leaves behind long-lasting effects.”
In many countries, suicide remained a taboo subject, WHO said adding that this could prevent those who had attempted suicide from getting the help they needed.
To date, only a few countries had included suicide prevention among their health priorities and only 38 countries have a national suicide prevention strategy, WHO said.
World Suicide Prevention Day is an awareness day observed on Sept. 10 every year to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides with various activities around the world since 2003.
In anticipation of flooding in some states in the southeast, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the zone has begun to reposition itself in the bid to ensure improved disaster management.
NEMA officials on duty
Mr Walson Ibarakumo, the Coordinator, NEMA, Enugu zonal office, said this in Awka, the Anambra State capital, on Monday, September 10, 2018 during a workshop organised for all the staff of the agency.
The workshop had ‘‘Repositioning, Strengthening and Reorientation of the Agency’s Operations” as its theme.
Ibarikumo said there was the need to acquaint the agency’s personnel with the modern response strategies which the new management had introduced.
The coordinator emphasised that the aim was to make the services of the agency meet world highest standard.
He said that the Search and Rescue Department of the agency had been changed to Response and Recovery Department as part of the re-strategising process.
‘‘This workshop is to share understanding of the identified gaps in order to reinforce and reposition the agency for better service delivery.
‘‘It has become necessary for staff to come together especially in this flood season to brainstorm so that we can operate more efficiently and effectively and gear ourselves up towards a world class agency.
‘‘Every staff should realise the enormity of the task ahead and brace up for it; therefore, you are expected to apply the information gathered here to make your service delivery better,’’ he said.
Ibarikumo said further that NEMA had started delivering food, non-food and livelihood relief materials to the state in readiness for the anticipated flooding.
He said the agency was working with the Anambra Emergency Management Agency to ensure that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the state were in good shape.
The coordinator called on those living in the disaster-prone areas and other disaster-exposed persons to contact the agency for quick response and rescue in case of any eventuality.
The world will struggle to curb global warming unless nuclear power takes a more prominent role, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, has warned.
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano
On Monday, September 10, 2018, the Vienna, Austria-based agency published its annual energy projections, in which the global capacity to produce nuclear power would fall by 2050.
The IAEA said that nuclear energy had grown less competitive due to low natural gas prices, subsidised renewable energy sources, and countries’ decisions to phase out reactors in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.
In addition, many ageing reactors are expected to be shut down around 2030.
The nuclear agency also drew up an optimistic projection, in which atomic power capacity would nearly double by the middle of the century, assuming that global energy policies shift towards nuclear reactors and Asia’s electricity demand continues to grow.
“The declining trend in our low projection for installed capacity up to 2050 suggests that, without significant progress on using the full potential of nuclear power, it will be difficult for the world to secure sufficient energy to achieve sustainable development and to mitigate climate change,” IAEA chief said.
The world’s 455 operating reactors accounted for a tenth of the world’s power generation in 2017, and for a third of low-carbon electricity.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Monday, September 10, 2018 held an emergency meeting with the Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency (KSEMA) to gather data on flood victims in the state.
Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, Governor of Kebbi State
Dr Onimode Bandele, Deputy Director, Research and Rescue Department of NEMA, said the agency would soon hold an emergency meeting with stakeholders affected by flooding in the state, to enable the agency to gather data on the victims.
“The data we are looking for is the number of houses and farmlands destroyed, as well as the number of deaths recorded in the incidents across the state.
Bandele also said that they were in Kebbi to commiserate with the Government and people of the state over the loss of lives recorded in the incidents.
“Let me use this opportunity, on behalf of the Director-General (NEMA), Mr Mustapha Maihaja, to condole with the government of Kebbi and the families of victims who lost their lives in the flood disasters,’’ he said.
He also apologised for the delay in donating relief materials to the victims, stressing that it was as a result of some restructuring in NEMA, which would enhance the agency’s operations.
Bandele assured that NEMA has been repositioned to enable it to effectively address its challenges.
Alhaji Sani Dododo, the Chairman, Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency (KSEMA), commended the NEMA Director for the visit.
Dododo said the disaster, which occurred in Danko, Wasagu and Fakai local government areas of the state, led to the deaths of nine persons, including an Army Officer, who died while trying to rescue a woman following the collapse of a bridge.
Governor of North Bank Region (NBR) in The Gambia, Ebrima Dampha, has reiterated his government’s call for the restoration of the disappearing vegetation cover of the region through the planting of indigenous and utility trees as a token of heritage for the coming generation.
Governor Ebrima Dampha of NBR
With the reality of the fast approaching of the Sahara Desert, he said restoration of the cover has become a compelling demand for an integrated approach.
Dampha make this call during the fourth annual tree planting and cleansing exercise organised by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Kani-Kunda Tenda Youth and Social Development Association (KTYSDA) held in that Sanjally village, North Bank Region.
The Governor planted the first mahogany seedling, followed by the village Alkalo marking the beginning of the planting party. All other institutions present were given the opportunity to plant a tree on behalf of their institutional heads officially marking the beginning of the massive planting with technical support from staffers of Forestry Department. The exercise was graced with melodious traditional drum beat and dancing by the visiting traditional group from Jarra Pakalinding.
The Governor urged the community to jealously safeguard the forest for the benefits of the entire region and the country at large and gave assurance to support the association to improve the region’s tree population. Dampha added that government cannot do it all and theirs is an example of complementing government`s effort, while urging other communities to emulate them.
The Governor further called on the community to take ownership of their own development and bear in mind that peace has no substitution on Earth. He finally declared the session open and wished them a very fruitful ceremony and many more in advance in peace, progress and prosperity.
According to the village Alkalo, Lamin Naban, their local institutional by-laws helped them a lot in their conservation scheme, and that thanks to the understanding of the habitants, an integrated approach has been devised to curb some of the local menaces. He thanked the youths for their giant steps that they have taken to date and also thanked the NEA for their continuous support and collaboration.
NEA`s Programme Officer for Environmental Education & Communication, Sheikh Alkinky Sanyang, advised that all the transplanted seedlings must be protected from both human and animal intrusion, and further called for a higher survival rate of the newly planted seedlings by protecting them from both human and animal intrusion.
He spoke on the importance of tree planting and its essence to human life and the environment. He stressed that felling of trees for charcoal production, forest fires and other unsustainable utilisation of forest resources greatly contributed to the effects of climatic change which affects human livelihood, the eco system and the environment in general.
He warned that “No tree, No Life”, signaling that the felling of a single big tree results in the death of many other smaller ones as it falls on them. Trees trap carbon dioxide released from human and carbon monoxide by vehicles serving as a carbon sink, he pointed out.
He finally warned the community that the ban on plastic bags still holds and soon there will be a massive campaign and enforcement and those found wanting will be dealt accordingly. He informed the gathering that plastics cause a lot of harm to human health, marine lives, environment, and agriculture, animals.
This he attributed to two toxic chemicals (dioxin and furan) that are used in the production of plastic bags and that the two chemicals are among the 12 chemicals called Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) which were banned globally due to their impact on human health and the environment.
In his farewell speech, the Association`s outgoing President, Lamin Saidy, said the main aim of the activities is to foster more collaboration and corporation amongst community members and bring development to their village. In this edition, he said over 3,000 seedlings were transplanted within the community forest and further promised that they will jealously protect them from bushfires.
He concluded by informing the gathering that the essence of the annual tree planting is to mitigate climate change by increasing the carbon print contribution.
Every year the youth association organises a tree planting and cleansing exercise where many utility and food trees are planted in the community woodlot and forest, while the protection schemes for the newly transplanted seedling are strategised.
