Humans have already used up their allowance for water, soil, clean air and other resources on Earth for the whole of 2017.
Individuals can cut back on eating meat, wasting food and burning fuel to reverse the trend. Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Earth Overshoot Day is on August, 2 this year, according to environmental groups WWF and the Global Footprint Network.
The date, earlier this year than in 2016, means humanity will survive on “credit” until 31 December.
“By August 2 2017, we will have used more from Nature than our planet can renew in the whole year,” the groups said in a statement.
“This means that in seven months, we emitted more carbon than the oceans and forests can absorb in a year, we caught more fish, felled more trees, harvested more, and consumed more water than the Earth was able to produce in the same period.”
According to campaigners, the equivalent of 1.7 planets would be needed to produce enough natural resources to match our consumption rates and a growing population.
The Earth Overshoot Day measure has been calculated since 1986 and the day has never fallen so early as in 2017. It looks at the balance between global footprint – what humans take from the earth – and biocapacity, which allows us to produce resources and absorb our waste.
In the 1980s, the overshoot day fell in November, shifting back to October by 1993 and to September just after the millennium.
By 2016 it had reached August 8.
The grim mark may have reversed throughout the calendar, but campaigners said the move had slowed down.
Scientists also calculate the overshoot day for individual countries, providing a measure of where the day would fall if the whole world consumed the same as one country.
In the UK, the day is even earlier, on May 4.
Campaigners and charities advised individuals to help reverse the trend by eating less meat, burning less fuel and cutting back on food waste.
The Global Footprint Network reported that food makes up 26 per cent of our global footprint, and if we cut food waste in half, ate less protein-intensive foods and consumed more fruit and vegetables, it could be reduced to 16 per cent.
Our carbon footprint has the largest impact at 60 per cent.
Bothered by the prevalence of mercury due mainly to Artisanal and Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) activities, Nigeria is to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) for the sector.
Artisanal and small scale gold mining. Photo credit: thewillnigeria.com
This appears to be a fall-out from the “Minamata Convention Initial Assessment (MIA) in Nigeria”, a project which, among other functions, conducted a preliminary inventory of mercury releases in the country.
Inventory results showed that ASGM processing is significant, thereby prompting the development of a NAP for the ASGM sector.
Proposed and approved by Global Environment Facility (GEF), the project’s objective is to improve national capacity and capability for the management of mercury. Implementation arrangement has been finalised, with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) as the implementing agency.
Making the disclosure recently in Abuja at the inception workshop on the NAP on mercury use in the Nigerian ASGM sector project, Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, disclosed that the components of the NAP are in accordance to Annex C of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, adding that project implementation commenced with the inauguration of a National Steering Group (NSG) recently. The NSG, he added, would be responsible for providing guidance and technical support to the executing agencies for effective implementation of the project activities.
The workshop participants, who deliberated on the best approaches to formalise the ASGM sector in Nigeria, as well as available mercury-free alternatives for ASGM activities, noted that, while holders of exploration licenses lease out to illegal miners, ASGM miners lack operational equipment and funds to facilitate operations.
They also underlined the fact that while enforcement of laws and policies in the ASGM sector is weak, informal miners in the ASGM sector engage in unhealthy practices including continued use of mercury.
To formalise ASGM sector in Nigeria, the participants want government to:
Take appropriate steps to control and eventually eliminate illegal mining,
Provide security for ASGM workers,
Have functional cooperative societies,
Provide access to capital and fund mining activities and facilitate provision of appropriate equipment,
Facilitate the establishment of gold buying centres across the country,
Engage in establishing a strategic gold reserve, and source products only from licensed mines,
Educate law enforcement agents and security agents on enforcement of mining laws,
Sensitise ASGM miners and host communities.
The workshop also mentioned the following mercury-free alternatives:
Borax – however it is not available yet for use in Nigeria,
Igoli machine – not yet in use also because the needed chemicals are not available and the miners are not trained yet for its use,
Traditional panning methods and the sluicing method,
Use of retort capture method for fugitive emissions from the mines during burning processing.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury 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.
Having achieved the required 50 ratifications, the Convention came into force on Thursday, May 18, 2017. Consequently, the Convention, which aims at protecting human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds, will become legally binding for all its Parties on Wednesday, August 16, 2017.
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.
Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, in Gombe on Wednesday, August 2, 2017 at the commemoration of the year’s World Day to Combat Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought, says that rising up to the Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) challenge is a prerequisite to achieving the nation’s commitments for climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, forest cover and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets
Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, speaking during the event
Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DLDD) negatively affects water resources, drives deforestation, food security; and contributes to environmentally induced migrations. DLDD is, therefore, amongst the most critical sustainable development challenges. It undermines government’s efforts in poverty eradication, fighting unemployment and enhancement of economic opportunities especially in rural communities.
This year’s theme: “Our Land. Our Home. Our Future” is a key for making Land Degradation Neutrality a fundamental solution for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls on nations to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation, as well as halt biodiversity loss.
This becomes our pillar for sustainable land management for agricultural productivity and shelter for our present teaming population and the future generations. Today, I urge cooperation among all actors to help achieve land degradation neutrality as part of a broader effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and build a future of dignity and opportunity for all.
It is in this context that the World Day to Combat Desertification provides a unique occasion to remind all people that desertification and land degradation can be effectively tackled reminding us that solutions are possible, and that key tools to this aim lay in strengthened community participation and collaboration at all levels.
Land is a vital resource for producing food and other ecosystem goods and services including conserving biodiversity, regulating hydrological regimes, soil nutrients cycling, and storing carbon, among others. Indeed, the most significant natural capital asset is productive land and fertile soils. As people rely heavily on land as their main source for farming and housing, especially the rural poor, human well‐being and sustainable livelihoods are completely dependent upon and intricately linked to availability and productivity of the land. Land also is the major employer in most of human endeavours such as agriculture, geology, biology, architecture, town planning, transportation, just to mention a few.
If we do not rise to this challenge of DLDD, we will not achieve our commitments for climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, forest cover and the Sustainable Development Goals targets; we will not effectively alleviate rural poverty and hunger nor ensure long‐term food security nor build resilience to drought and water stress.
This year’s WDD Commemoration advocates for the importance of inclusive cooperation on land management and contribute towards protective shelter for the present and future generations because land is a vital link to provide solutions to food security, housing, poverty eradication and employment generation.
The campaign: “Our Land. Our Home. Our Future” intends to promote public awareness in the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa. In compliance and effectiveness, the Federal Government has domesticated the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). These are fallouts from the Rio Convention of 1992.
Since the catastrophic sahelian drought of 1972/1973, the government of Nigeria has regarded the challenge of DLDD as inimical to its national sustainable development that must be squarely addressed. Nigeria has developed numerous policy documents in the fight against DLDD and these include: National Policy on Environment, National Action Programme (NAP) to Combat Desertification and Mitigate the Effects of Drought. National Drought and Desertification Policy; National Drought Preparedness Plan; National Strategic Action Plan for the Implementation of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative, Nigeria Climate Change Policy and Response Strategy, National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action for Climate Change, National Forest Action Plan, National Conservation Strategy, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, National Resources Conservation Action Plan, National Policy on Agriculture, National Water Resources Master Plan, National Energy Policy, Nigeria National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) and States Environmental Action Plan (SEAPs).
In its renewed commitment to fight desertification, land degradation and drought, this administration has recently signed agreement of permanent adhesion to the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory (OSS), an international organisation with the mandate of monitoring environmental changes and providing information necessary for formulating policies and programmes that can help in ameliorating the emerging environmental challenges. Information gathering for decision making is key in taking both proactive actions to ensure sustainable livelihood for the population.
The Ministry is currently piloting the Greening Programme as part of the move to protect and rehabilitate areas in hot spots. The planting of trees and other associated activities will provide measures to curb land degradation and to deal with impacts of climate change. The Ministry has invested on implementation of projects/programmes to curb the rampaging effects of these disasters in the country. These include but not limited to the establishment of shelterbelts, woodlots, orchards, acacia plantations to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought and climate change.
The Kingdom of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean may be small in population, but it is kicking big goals in public health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has validated that the country has eliminated lymphatic filariasis – also known as elephantiasis – as a public health problem.
Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific
Lymphatic filariasis is a mosquito-borne disease that damages the lymphatic system, leading to severe disfigurement, pain and disability. For people affected by this disease, the impacts of disfigurement and the associated stigma are profound: people often lose their livelihoods, and suffer from psychological impacts such as depression and anxiety.
“Lymphatic filariasis is a dreadful disease – it causes terrible pain and suffering for those who are affected,” said Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.
“The World Health Organisation sincerely congratulates the Kingdom of Tonga for eliminating this disease as a public health problem. From today, the children of Tonga can grow up knowing that they are safe from this very nasty disease – what a wonderful achievement for the health of your people,” Dr Shin said.
This achievement in Tonga comes after decades of dedicated efforts to stop transmission of this disease, known in the local language as “kulokula fua”.
Tonga joins seven other countries in WHO’s Western Pacific Region that have been validated as having achieved elimination of lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem since WHO launched the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis in 2000: Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Niue, the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Korea and Vanuatu.
Lymphatic filariasis is classified by WHO as a neglected tropical disease (NTD). This means it is one of a diverse group of communicable diseases that thrive mainly among the poorest populations in tropical and subtropical areas. NTDs cause serious illness and in some cases death – but they are preventable. Through a series of public health strategies including preventive treatment of communities, intensive case management, vector control, control of animal diseases that can spread to humans, and provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene, many NTDs can be controlled – and eventually eliminated.
The fight against lymphatic filariasis in the 17 countries and areas where it remains endemic in the Western Pacific Region is an important priority for WHO’s work in this Region.
The disease has a long history in Tonga: the common occurrence of swelling of the leg, arm and scrotum among people in Tonga was observed in the 1770s by Captain Cook. In the 1950s, the prevalence rate of this disfiguring and debilitating disease was close to 50%. Mass drug administration in the 1970s and 1980s reduced the prevalence significantly, but a series of further efforts were required over the last few decades to reach the elimination goal.
“Lymphatic filariasis’ long history in Tonga makes today’s victory over the disease all the sweeter. This could not have been achieved without the unwavering support and leadership of the Ministry of Health, as well as strong financial and other support from donors and partners – and most importantly, the commitment of the communities of Tonga affected by the disease,” Dr Shin said.
“Tonga has shown us that despite significant challenges, elimination of neglected tropical diseases such as lymphatic filariasis is possible. WHO is 100% committed to supporting our Member States to rid our Region of the scourge of this disease, so no one needs to suffer from this awful disease any longer,” concluded Dr Shin.
Applying big data analysis to mineralogy offers a way to predict minerals missing from those known to science, as well as where to find new deposits, according to a groundbreaking study.
Parisite-(La) is one of the new carbon-bearing minerals that was predicted before it was found
In a paper published by American Mineralogist, scientists report the first application to mineralogy of network theory (best known for analysis of, for example, the spread of disease, terrorist networks, or Facebook connections).
The results, they say, pioneer a potential way to reveal mineral diversity and distribution worldwide, their evolution through deep time, new trends, and new deposits of valuable minerals such as gold or copper.
Led by Shaunna Morrison of the Deep Carbon Observatory and DCO Executive Director Robert Hazen (both at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C.), the paper’s 12 authors include DCO colleagues Peter Fox and Ahmed Eleish at the Keck Foundation sponsored Deep-Time Data Infrastructure Data Science Teams at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY.
“The quest for new mineral deposits is incessant, but until recently mineral discovery has been more a matter of luck than scientific prediction,” says Dr. Morrison. “All that may change thanks to big data.”
Humans have collected a vast amount of information on Earth’s more than 5,200 known mineral species (each of which has a unique combination of chemical composition and atomic structure).
Millions of mineral specimens from hundreds of thousands of localities around the world have been described and catalogued. Databases containing details of where each mineral was discovered, all of its known occurrences, and the ages of those deposits are large and growing by the week.
Databases also record essential information on chemical compositions and a host of physical properties, including hardness, colour, atomic structure, and more.
Coupled with data on the surrounding geography, the geological setting, and coexisting minerals, Earth scientists now have access to “big data” resources ripe for analysis.
Until recently, scientists didn’t have the necessary modelling and visualisation tools to capitalise on these giant stockpiles of information.
Network analysis offers new insight into minerals, just as complex data sets offer important understanding of social media connections, city traffic patterns, and metabolic pathways, to name a few examples.
“Big data is a big thing,” says Dr. Hazen. “You hear about it in all kinds of fields – medicine, commerce; even the US National Security Agency uses it to analyse phone records – but until recently no one had applied big data methods to mineralogy and petrology.”
“I think this is going to expand the rate of mineral discovery in ways that we can’t even imagine now.”
The network analysis technique enables Earth scientists to represent data from multiple variables on thousands of minerals sampled from hundreds of thousands of locations within a single graph.
These visualisations can reveal patterns of occurrence and distribution that might otherwise be hidden within a spreadsheet.
In other words, big data provides an intimate picture of which minerals coexist with each other, as well as what geological, physical, chemical, and (perhaps most surprising) biological characteristics are necessary for their appearance.
From those insights it’s a relatively simple step to predict what minerals are missing from scientific lists, as well as where to go to find new deposits.
Says Dr. Hazen: “Network analysis can provide visual clues to mineralogists regarding where to go and what to look for. This is a brand new idea in the paper and I think it will open up an entirely new direction in mineralogy.”
Already the technique has been used to predict 145 missing carbon-bearing minerals and where to find them, leading to creation of the Deep Carbon Observatory’s Carbon Mineral Challenge. Ten have been found so far.
The estimate came from a statistical analysis of carbon-bearing minerals known today, then extrapolating how many scientists should be looking for.
Predicted before they were found
Abellaite and parisite-(La) are examples of new-to-science carbon-bearing minerals predicted before they were found, thanks in part to big data analysis.
“We have used the same kinds of techniques to predict that at least 1,500 minerals of all kinds are ‘missing,’ to predict what some of them are, and where to find them,” Dr. Hazen says.
Says Dr. Morrison: “These new approaches to data-driven discovery allow us to predict both minerals unknown to science today and the location of new deposits. Additionally, understanding how minerals have changed through geologic time, coupled with our knowledge of biology, is leading to new insights regarding the co-evolution of the geosphere and biosphere.”
In a test case, the researchers explored minerals containing copper, which plays critical roles in modern society (e.g., pipes, wires), as well as essential roles in biological evolution. The element is extremely sensitive to oxygen, so the nature of copper in a mineral offers a clue to the level of oxygen in the atmosphere at the time the mineral formed.
The investigators also performed an analysis of common minerals in igneous rocks-those formed from a hot molten state. The mineral networks of igneous rocks revealed through big data recreated “Bowen’s reaction series” (based on Norman L. Bowen’s painstaking lab experiments in the early 1900s), which shows how a sequence of characteristic minerals appears as the magma cools.
The analysis showed the exact same sequence of minerals embedded in the mineral networks.
The researchers hope that these techniques will lead to an understanding and appreciation of previously unrecognised mineral relationships in varied mineral deposits.
Mineral networks will also serve as effective visual tools for learning about mineralogy and petrology – the branches of science concerned with the origin, composition, structure, properties, and classification of rocks and minerals.
Network analysis has numerous potential applications in geology, both for research and mineral exploration.
Mining companies could use the technology to predict the locations of unknown mineral deposits based on existing data.
Researchers could use these tools to explain how Earth’s minerals have changed over time and incorporate data from biomarker molecules to show how cells and minerals interact.
And ore geologists hope to use mineral network analysis to lead to valuable new deposits.
Dr. Morrison also hopes to use network analysis to reveal the geologic history of other planets. She is a member of the NASA Mars Curiosity Rover team identifying Martian minerals through X-ray diffraction data sent back to Earth. By applying these tools to analyse sedimentary environments on Earth, she believes scientists may also start answering similar questions about Mars.
“Minerals provide the basis for all our material wealth,” she notes, “not just precious gold and brilliant gemstones, but in the brick and steel of every home and office, in cars and planes, in bottles and cans, and in every high-tech gadget from laptops to iPhones.”
“Minerals form the soils in which we grow our crops, they provide the gravel with which we pave our roads, and they filter the water we drink.”
“This new tool for understanding minerals represents an important advance in a scientific field of vital interest.”
Experts have identified a number of key pathways to transform African cities towards a low emission and sustainable urban future. At the African Carbon Forum held recently in Cotonou, Benin Republic, they stressed that unplanned and rapid urbanisation can lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions, urban poverty, and inequality.
Traffic congestion in Lagos: Need to explore pathways to a low emission city
Consequently, participants focused discussions on innovative solutions such as integrated urban planning, including sustainable building design, comprehensive solid waste management systems, and paradigm shifts in transport and energy sectors.
The expert meetings are a part of the technical examination process under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to explore high potential emission reduction policies, practices, and technologies with significant sustainable development benefits.
At the meeting, which held June 28 to 30, 2017, delegates tried to match theory with practical examples, underlining also that access to ready finance remained a critical requirement for progress.
For example, Vincent Kitio, Chief of the Urban Energy Unit at the Human Settlements Programme in UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme), said that urban planning must strike a balance between streets and public spaces, as well as how to combine land use for both economic and residential activities. Housing development, added, should consider holistic building approaches to ensure overall efficiency, and strive for performance certification.
Waste is another area where better management would focus on encouraging reduction, re-use, and recycling. Private sector engagement in integrated waste management activities can be incentivised through users’ fees, taxes or revenue generated from the selling of energy or other by-products, he noted.
Omobolanle Olowu, Business Development Manager at Wecyclers Lagos in Nigeria, then shared an innovative approach adopted for municipal solid waste management. Wecyclers offers a convenient household recycling service to low-income neighborhoods using a fleet of low-cost cargo bikes, she noted, adding that they motivate families to recycle through an SMS-based incentive programme. Families receive points, which they can then redeem for food, cell phone minutes, or household goods.
Cities also need to collectively shift focus from energy intensive to low-carbon modes of transport, such as walking, cycling and mass public transport. This can be accomplished by creating pedestrian friendly pathways and improving energy efficiency of vehicles, and through overall coordination with ministries and departments to align on policies and attract investments.
Fanuel O.S. Kalugendo, Transport Planning Engineer at Dar Rapid Transit Agency in Tanzania, led the discussion on how Dar es Salaam city leaders are focusing attention in this area, specifically in response to intense traffic congestion and associated greenhouse gas emissions. The city is among the first in Africa to implement a Bus Rapid Transit system, which integrated a roadway dedicated to buses into the transportation system, and gives priority to buses at intersections. The initiative overall provides an efficient, reliable, affordable and climate-friendly solution.
Innovative and adequate financial investment remains key to scaling up and replicating emission reduction actions in the urban environment. Understanding that access to funding is often an obstacle, Ash Sharma of NAMA Facility provided insights on overcoming financing, technical and institutional barriers through, deployment of innovative financial instruments and enhanced engagement with the private sector.
Cities and local governments must take on an important role in identifying and mobilising new sustainable sources of funding, such as public budget allocations, taxes, and guarantees. Dedicated funding sources such as these complemented by conducive policy framework and regulations will incentivise private sector investment.
Stressing that mobilisation of the private sector is key to tap available capital, Mr. Sharma outlined the importance of using de-risking instruments and avoiding market distortion to build confidence in the private sector. There is also the need to strengthen the capacity of local governments in financial management, he stated.
The meeting was organised jointly by the UNFCCC Secretariat, UN-Habitat, and ICLEI-Local Government for Sustainability. The meeting built on the successful event on cross cutting issues in urban environments and land use, which took place during the Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany.
No country in the world fully meets recommended standards for breastfeeding, according to a new report by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with the Global Breastfeeding Collective, a new initiative to increase global breastfeeding rates.
Breastfeeding. Photo credit: guardian.ng
The “Global Breastfeeding Scorecard”, which evaluated 194 nations, found that only 40 per cent of children younger than six months are breastfed exclusively (given nothing but breastmilk) and only 23 countries have exclusive breastfeeding rates above 60 per cent.
Evidence shows that breastfeeding has cognitive and health benefits for both infants and their mothers. It is especially critical during the first six months of life, helping prevent diarrhoea and pneumonia, two major causes of death in infants. Mothers who breastfeed have a reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancer, two leading causes of death among women.
“Breastfeeding gives babies the best possible start in life,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “Breastmilk works like a baby’s first vaccine, protecting infants from potentially deadly diseases and giving them all the nourishment they need to survive and thrive.”
The scorecard was released at the start of World Breastfeeding Week alongside a new analysis demonstrating that an annual investment of only $4.70 per newborn is required to increase the global rate of exclusive breastfeeding among children under six months to 50 per cent by 2025.
“Nurturing the Health and Wealth of Nations: The Investment Case for Breastfeeding”, suggests that meeting this target could save the lives of 520,000 children under the age of five and potentially generate $300 billion in economic gains over 10 years, as a result of reduced illness and health care costs and increased productivity.
“Breastfeeding is one of the most effective – and cost effective – investments nations can make in the health of their youngest members and the future health of their economies and societies,” said UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake. “By failing to invest in breastfeeding, we are failing mothers and their babies – and paying a double price: in lost lives and in lost opportunity.”
The investment case shows that in five of the world’s largest emerging economies – China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Nigeria – the lack of investment in breastfeeding results in an estimated 236,000 child deaths per year and $119 billion in economic losses.
Globally, investment in breastfeeding is far too low. Each year, governments in lower- and middle-income countries spend approximately $250 million on breastfeeding promotion; and donors provide only an additional $85 million.
The Global Breastfeeding Collective is calling on countries to:
Increase funding to raise breastfeeding rates from birth through two years.
Fully implement the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly resolutions through strong legal measures that are enforced and independently monitored by organisations free from conflicts of interest.
Enact paid family leave and workplace breastfeeding policies, building on the International Labour Organisation’s maternity protection guidelines as a minimum requirement, including provisions for the informal sector.
Implement the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding in maternity facilities, including providing breastmilk for sick and vulnerable newborns.
Improve access to skilled breastfeeding counselling as part of comprehensive breastfeeding policies and programmes in health facilities.
Strengthen links between health facilities and communities, and encourage community networks that protect, promote, and support breastfeeding.
Strengthen monitoring systems that track the progress of policies, programmes, and funding towards achieving both national and global breastfeeding targets.
According to the WHO, breastfeeding is critical for the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals. “It improves nutrition (SDG2), prevents child mortality and decreases the risk of non-communicable diseases (SDG3), and supports cognitive development and education (SDG4). Breastfeeding is also an enabler to ending poverty, promoting economic growth and reducing inequalities,” the UN body adds..
In recent times, residents of Lagos State have witnessed torrential rainfall which, in most parts, altered the way of life of the people largely due to heavy flooding, a recurring aftermath of such heavy downpours.
Flooded highway in Lekki, Lagos
Lagos, which is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, has the indicators for the amount of flooding and other environmental harsh conditions being experienced. This mainly coastal region has one of the worrisome impacts of climate-change induced flooding in sub-Saharan Africa and indeed in the world.
For a reasonable number of years, the Lagos State Government had invested in various efforts to preserve the environment recorded in the areas of education and series of actions geared towards environmental sustainability awareness, including proper waste management, a heavily-sustained tree planting exercise and an annual environmental conference which purpose was to highlight issues, discuss current researches and proffer solutions to burning environmental problems.
These activities are no longer top priority and clear reasons have not been advanced as to why renewed efforts have been halted. More so, the efforts to keep Lagos city clean, as was the case in previous years, seem to have been abandoned.
Today, most Lagos residents are concerned about the never-ending dumping of waste on major roads and around the inner cities, which in the event of the slightest rainfall, blocks the drainage systems causing serious hardship for residents. The services of the waste disposal agency seem inaccessible in most parts of the city and the potential danger of this development can only be left to the imagination.
To make matters worse, following a recent court ruling, the monthly environmental sanitation exercise was terminated. The impact of this legal action on the environment is yet to be fully contextualised, but will certainly lead to further degradation of the environment. Some had argued that the monthly sanitation exercise was an unnecessary action by the state government to restrict movement. But, put side by side the benefits to the wellbeing and health of the environment, this decision needs to be revisited.
For some climate change deniers, the effort and monies spent in raising environmental awareness in order to reverse the growing impact of climate change is, to their way of thinking, wasted resources. As concerned citizens of a planet in trouble, we should recognise that this position is not in the best interest of humanity. Every human being on earth is expected to show some level of concern about the environment as the only sustainable factor to human existence.
It should be emphasised that to slow down the negative impact of climate change, the effort to reverse the burning of fossil fuel and reduce carbon emission must be sustained. All efforts, including political efforts and lobbying, must be focused on building alternative energy models, new and green production processes and working towards a cleaner planet through investment in clean energy and green production technologies. Industrialisation should no longer be carbon-based or carbon-driven.
The effort to substitute high-carbon technologies with low-carbon ones has begun and should be properly keyed into by all levels of government and non-government institutions. The cost of neglecting the environment is huge and has implications bordering on health, food security and security of lives and property. The health aspect is the most troubling. With the recent outbreak of cholera in Lagos, resulting from contaminated drinking water due to flooding, serious attention is therefore required from all concerned.
There is an urgent need for the Lagos State Government to encourage researchers, who are interested, to investigate and proffer solutions to wide ranging causes and consequences, and to provide clear cut mitigation strategies to deal with environmental disasters as resulting from climate change.
The annual climate change conference should be sustained and improved upon, with partnership extended to global agencies like R20, an agency founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger with its objective being to help sub-national governments around the world to develop and communicate low-carbon and climate-resilient economic development projects. In Nigeria, only Delta and Ogun state governments are members of this agency.
Teaching of environmental sustainability in mostly secondary schools must be revisited as a way to galvanise the young and future policy makers into the broad consciousness of the need to preserve the environment. There used to be Climate Clubs in schools. These initiatives should equally be supported by corporate organisations in an effort to fulfill corporate citizenship responsibility to Lagos State.
Climate change is not just an environmental problem. It is a development problem that is directly linked to and responsible for multiple crises plaguing the world today.
By Victor Ikem (Coordinator, Environment Communication and Research Group (ECREG), Lagos, Nigeria)
The Federal Government has said it relies heavily on the Dangote refinery to fulfill its promise to Nigerians to end fuel importation by December 2019.
L-R: Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects & Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin; and President/CE, Dangote Industrie Limited, Aliko Dangote, during the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources’ working visit to Dangote Oil Refinery, Petrochemical and Fertiliser Projects in Lekki, Lagos on Monday, July 31, 2017
To this end, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, who visited the Dangote oil refinery site at Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos on Monday, July 31, 2017, said the government is ready to play its part as a responsible government to assist in making sure the project is completed before the scheduled date.
The minister, who said he was overwhelmed by the dimension of the project, explained that the present government had always believed that the private sector holds the ace in industrialisation efforts of the government, and noted that the belief has been reinforced by what the Dangote Group is doing.
He said: “It is good to say that private sector is the answer to Nigeria’s problems with a project as big as this. The challenge I will give you today is that of time; I see your time for completion is 2019 December, but I am sure you will understand my greed if I tell you that the refinery component of this project should come earlier than the set date.
“I have made very firm commitment to Nigerians that I must stop the importation of petroleum products by 2019 and I am going to keep to it. It is absolutely important that we do this early and given the feat that we have achieved in terms of speed of construction and I urge you to do all within you to achieve its completion before the due date.
“I am sure His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari will be absolutely enthused if he were to find himself, not only crystallising the policy position we have taken so far, but also coming here himself to come and open a facility as big as this before the end of his first term. Whatever configurations your engineers have come up with, I urge that they go back to the drawing board and get me my refined products before your said date.”
In his response to the government’s challenge, Dangote said he has accepted the challenge and would do all possible to achieve the feat.
In this regard, the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, stated: “On the honorable minister’s challenge, we are going to make it by the grace of God. I am sure the minister will support us to make sure that we meet his challenge.
“What the minister is trying to do is the best so far for our country, his own version is that Nigeria should not think of exporting crude; you know the problem we have in Africa is that we only export raw materials, not finished goods, so he is saying that, look, we should all do this by adding value and I pray that even at 2.5 million barrels, we should not export much, in terms of the crude.
“We will go back and see what to do to make this happen by fast tracking our processes since the Minister has assured of government’s cooperation and support”.
Earlier in his welcome address, Dangote explained that his group is building the world’s largest single line refinery, Petrochemical Complex, and the world’s second largest Urea Fertiliser plant.
The refinery, according to him, will have the capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The Petrochemical Plant will produce 780 KTPA Polypropylene, 500 KTPA of Polyethylene, while the Fertiliser project will produce 3.0 million metric tons per annum (mmtpa) of Urea.
“In addition, we are also building the largest sub-sea pipeline infrastructure in any country in the world, with a length of 1,100 km, to handle three billion SCF of gas per day. We also plan to construct a 570 MW power plant in this complex. As a matter of fact, gas from our gas pipeline will augment the natural domestic gas supply and we estimate an additional 12,000MW of power generation can be added to the grid with the additional gas from our system.
“We will be adding value to our economy as all these projects will be creating about 4,000 direct and 145,000 indirect jobs. We will also save over $7.5 billion for Nigeria annually, through import substitution and generate an additional $5.5 billion per annum through exports of the refined petroleum products, fertiliser and petrochemicals. We envisage that these projects, which would cost over $18 billion, would be completed in 2019,” Alhaji Dangote stated.
The Republic of Haiti on Monday, July 31, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Jovenel Moïse, President of Haiti
The French-speaking Caribbean nation thus becomes the 157th country to endorse the global treaty, after the Netherlands, which ratified the climate accord on Friday, July 28, 2017.
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Haiti’s ratification of the pact will enter into force in a month’s time on Wednesday, August 30, 2017.
Previously, Venezuela and Serbia ratified the pact respectively on Friday, July 21 and Tuesday, July 25, 2017.
Before then, the Republic of Malawi on Thursday, June 29, 2017 likewise endorsed the agreement, ahead of Egypt and Togo, which ratified the climate accord respectively on Thursday, June 29 and Wednesday, June 28 2017.
The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention (UNFCCC) and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.
The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century 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.
Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for enhanced transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework.
