The Government of Jamaica on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 71st future Party to the Minamata Convention.
Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica
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.
As a result, on August 16 2017, 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.
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.
Efforts by a judge of the Federal High Court in Bayelsa Division, Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, who is currently facing trial over alleged unlawful financial enrichment before a Lagos State High Court in Igbosere to secure leave to travel abroad for training, failed on Wednesday, July 19, 2017.
Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa
This was as a result of the inability of the prosecution to receive service of the application.
The court could not hear the application. The applicant alleged that Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) refused service.
The motion filed before a vacation judge, K. O. Dawudu and slated for hearing on Wednesday, could not go on, as the counsel to the defendant, I. B. Mohammed, informed the court that the EFCC refused service.
Nganjiwa was earlier arraigned on June 23, by the EFCC, on a 14-count charge bordering on unlawful financial enrichment to the tune of $260,000 and $8.7 million (approximately N81.7 million).
He pleaded not guilty to all the 14 counts preferred against him by the commission.
His counsel, Mohammed, also told the court that the Court Sheriff went to the office of the EFCC on July 19, as ordered by the court to serve them with the hearing notice, but the officer at the agency’s legal department refused service and said: “Except he is given an instruction by the prosecutor handling the case, he can not accept service.”
The counsel stated further: “From what the Sheriff of the court, Ahmed Olakunle, told me, he said the officer he met at the legal department had a phone conversation with the prosecutor and after which, he told him that he can not accept the service except he is instructed by the prosecutor.
“The Sheriff went with our earlier original proof of service dated July 12 on the EFCC.”
The defendant (Nganjiwa) according to the ruling by Justice Adedayo Akintoye on June 23 was to deposit his passport with the court registrar within seven days and he was granted bail on self-recognisance as a serving judicial officer.
But, in his response, Justice Dawudu said: “I will give them the opportunity to come, for the hearing of the motion dated 12 July. I hereby order that hearing notice be served on the respondent.”
In an effort to protect Nigerians from suffering unnecessarily from the effects of climate change, the Trade Union, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the academia have reviewed and mad an input into the draft Climate Change Framework Bill.
Programme Manager of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Henry Okotie (right), submitting a copy of the input and observations of the Trade Unions and Civil Society to the proposed bill to the Clerk of the House Committee on Climate Change, House of Representative, Dennis Iko (left), prior to the public hearing in Abuja
The draft bill was initiated by the House of Representatives Committee on Climate Change.
The review of the draft bill, which held in Abuja from Monday, July 17 to Tuesday, July 18, 2017, was supported by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).
The aim of the review, it was gathered, is to ensure that climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies are mainstreamed across all public and private sectors of the country.
Speaking with EnviroNews in an interview, the Programme Manager of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Henry Okotie, noted that the review of the draft bill was to ensure that the trade unions and the CSOs who are the voice of the common people in the society make an input that transpates to the protection of the environment for the good of the people.
Commenting on the relevance of the Climate Change Bill to the common man, Okotie, who was representing the FES Resident Representative at the event, said: “It is about mitigation and adaptation so that people can know how to protect themselves against the adverse effects of climate change. This is because climate change is dynamic in the global system. It is inescapable.”
While reiterating that Nigeria currently needs a climate change law, he said: “You will agree with me that climate change is now of global concerns and it is therefore necessary that countries have a law backing up the activities for the adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
“So, if we don’t have a law backing it, it will seem as if we are groping in the dark. Apart from the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), countries are supposed to have their own direction – a law guiding how climate change effect is being mitigated in their own country and the issue of adaptation also.”
Reacting to a question on what his organisation stands to benefit by supporting the review of the draft bill, Okotie described the FES as a socio-democratic foundation based on social justice.
His words: “We are a platform for people to achieve what will be beneficial to them. Our core mandate is to work directly with the labour movement.
“That is why when we got hold of this draft bill which is a good thing from the House Committee on Climate Change, we felt Trade Union and the CSOs should have their input because they are the political voice of the people to actually step down this law if it becomes an Act.”
While reacting to the statement credited to the Director General/CEO of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof Sani Abubakar Mashi, that there is no need for the creation of a Climate Change Agency (CCA) as it will amount to a duplication of functions, Okotie said: “The NiMET is doing its bid and in our contribution that we are taking to the public hearing, we actually recommended that NiMET should be part of the technical advisory committee as stipulated in the Bill.
“We also recommended that it should be a member of the Council if need be. NiMET cannot do it all. Climate change is an umbrella for all the technical agencies to act. This because we are not talking about a sector, rather we are looking at the country and the world at large.”
Also speaking with EnviroNews, a climate change expert, Professor Emmanuel Oladipo, disclosed that the review of the draft bill was to make sure that those communities that are going to be vulnerable or are vulnerable already are properly identified and measures are put in place to address them in line with climate change.
According to him, the other aspect of the climate change that will make it relevant to the common person is that, with the approach, there will be some pool of resources available so that even if the impact of climate change occurs in some areas, there will be money to support the communities through National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant agencies which ideally before is not there, hence, they are have to go and seek the approval of the Executive Council.
“Like the type of money the government released for the series of floods that happened last week (N1.6 billion), it is just the executive powers that they used.
“But now with this proposed Bill, if the 2% Ecological Fund is available, the money will just be readily available, there is no need going back to the Federal Executive Council; rather, the Council on Climate Change can just make the money available to the communities or the people that are affected by the impact of the climate change.”
Reacting to the series of the floods that affect many parts of the country recently, Prof. Oladipo called on governments at all levels to go back to the drawing board to see what areas they have contravened in the original plans of their cities, communities and see how they can readjust.
“People are building on flood plains and they don’t want flood to affect them? It is not possible. Water must always find its level and every year there must be adequate water, if not we will all suffer,” he stressed.
The don, however, applauded the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government for recognising the effect of climate change and taking steps to combat it.
“That is why we are moving forward now in getting a lot of these issues being addressed at the national level including putting a law that will help to address the challenges of climate change more appropriately,” he explained.
The “Save Lekki Coastland” could be considered a coast-to-coast conservation intervention to protect the Lagos coastlines beginning from the Lafiaji coastline situated wholly or partially within 100 meters of the high-water mark.
Coastal erosion in Lagos
Lagos, being the most populous and industrialised city in Nigeria, is a place of waters occasioned by the Atlantic Ocean. Lafiaji, however, is a remote location in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state encompassing diverse ethnic groups including the Yorubas, Ibos, Hausa as well as immigrants from Togo and Benin Republic.
Pidgin English, which is an adulterated form of the English Language, is commonly used for oral communication among the residents. Occupying a total area of about 0.5 km² with a population of about 12,000 people, the inhabitants are low-income earners with women and children making the higher percentage of the population. The richer women are those who engage in petty trading while most of the women are idle, relying on their non-educated husbands. The environment is very peaceful.
The head of the community known as the Oba who is highly respected among the people had made a law that anyone found fighting will be immediately sent out of the community. Many live in wood-constructed houses sparing only a few trees where the sunbirds build their nests. Domestic animals like chicken and goats are found roaming the streets. A community borehole, a mini market, mosques, football viewing centre and churches are the points of meeting.
Environmentalists have reiterated the need to safeguard coastal areas and the people that inhabit them from the effects of climate change. The vanishing coastlines of Lagos have resulted in the disappearance of beaches indicating a longstanding problem of coastal neglect in Nigeria.
Shipwrecks, sand mining activities, indiscriminate fishing activities are some of the characteristics that translate into the devastating effects on inland resources and those from the marine coastal zones. Lafiaji is a victim of this menace. The popularly known Lafiaji Beach, which was a renowned place for tourism, is now a shadow of itself.
Another discrediting issue is abandoned facilities on the shore – ship wrecks. According to the Merchant Act of 2007, every ship owner is responsible for the removal of his vessel. This regulation is apparently not complied to as wrecks sink into the water bed, where they disrupt the marine ecology.
The recent rise in local sea level and extensive coastal erosion in the area calls for urgent action. A well-integrated management approach is therefore required for the protection of critical coastal habitats. The protection of endemic and endangered species and their habitats as a national heritage is crucial, and hence the need for an intervention.
Some environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and LUFASI are grieved by the many human activities leading to Lagos coastal area degradation considering the present and future deleterious consequences.
The current state of the coastlines is precarious and needs urgent action. Beginning with the Lafiaji Beach, this is need to mitigate habitat loss due to sandfilling of the shore for construction, pollution and indiscriminate fishing because coastal areas play an important role in both Nigeria’s socio-economic well-being and that of its wildlife. Pressures on coastal resources have led to the declining population of many species such as shorebirds, sea turtles, and beach mice.
A place like Lafiaji where untreated raw sewage is released conveniently into the sea poses a high enviromental health risk. Litter is swamping the oceans and washing up on beaches. It kills wildlife, looks disgusting, posses hazard to people’s health and costs millions to clean up.
Researchers have explained that turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and the bags block their stomachs, often leading to death from starvation. Seabirds mistake floating plastic litter for food, and over 90% of fulmars found dead around the North Sea have plastic in their stomachs. Plastics never biodegrade. They simply break down into small pieces and do not disappear. Micro-plastic particles are now found inside filter feeding animals and among sand grains on beaches.
Another devastating activity on Lagos coastal areas which is not peculiar to Lafiaji is hand-picking of shells. Environmentalists have found that the removal of shells from beaches could damage ecosystems and endanger organisms that rely on shells for their survival. Seashells are a major source of organic deposits to the seafloor and make up the majority of limestones and chalks. Excess sediment and nutrient runoff from land-based human activities are considered serious threats to coastal and marine ecosystems by most conservation practitioners, resource managers, fishers, and other “downstream” resource users. Deleterious consequences of coastal runoff, including eutrophication and hypoxia, have been observed worldwide.
There should be a project strategically designed to tackle the aforementioned problems. The first line of action will be sensitisation of the members of the community in their own native language. A holistic environmental impact assessment should be carried out to asertain the current state of the coastline, followed by practical work like tree planting along the shores, cleaning and evacuation of abandoned materials, among others.
The critical situation demands the following interventions: protection and conservation of the coastal environment; equitable access to coastal public property; communication, education and public awareness; co-operative governance and partnerships; empowerment of women and youths in the community irrespective of educational status by engaging them through the elements of the project; mitigate the negative impacts of climate change and environmental degradation; present a capacity-building component for the holder of the project and networks; skills and capacity development; and knowledge sharing activities.
Key activities to do would be: make the Lafiaji Beach accessible; rehabilitate 100 hectares of dunes’ clean estuaries; create coastal community parks; install waste bins; plant 200 coconut seedlings; regularly clean up coastal area, remove illegal and abandoned structures; improve access to and along the coast; remove invasive alien vegetation; ensure compliance and monitoring, and rehabilitation of degraded areas which include dunes, estuaries; and, create job opportunities for residents.
If there could be an urgent intervention by all the concerned, improved livelihood of the members of the community will be achieved at the end of the work since accessibility to the beach by visitors means increase in sales and services. More importantly, dwellers of Lafiaji (basically women and youths) who will be directly engaged in the project will go home smiling each day not only because of the stipends that will be paid them but also as the work will build their capacity and offer them self-confidence.
Marine species at the brink of extinction are expected to bounce back at the end of the day. Also, a sustainable relationship can then be established between the organisation and stakeholders having a common interest for nature.
By Ojonugwa Ekpah (Conservation Officer, Technical, Nigerian Conservation Foundation)
The tropical forests of the Paraguayan Chaco are said to be disappearing more quickly than any other forests on earth.
Exploitation of the Paraguayan Chaco forest threatens to wipe out the Ayoreo, one of the last indigenous peoples living in isolation from industrial society. Photo credit: New York Times
According to conservationists, the rampant destruction is threatening jaguars, anteaters, armadillo, 500 species of bird, and several endemic species that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. It also threatens to wipe out one of the last indigenous peoples living in isolation from industrial society, the Ayoreo, who rely on the forest to freely pursue their nomadic lives.
Not-for-profit group, Rainforest Rescue, says the devastation is being caused by big agricultural companies, seeking to produce charcoal and rear cattle for beef. The trees are cut down, fed into smoking ovens, turned into charcoal and the charcoal is sold in some of Europe’s biggest supermarkets, adds the organisation.
Indeed, some 30 football fields of natural Paraguayan forest are presumably being destroyed every single day to supply the demand for charcoal. Every two weeks, an area the size of Manhattan disappears into charcoal ovens.
British environmental organisation, Earthsight, has traced charcoal from forest destruction in the Paraguayan Chaco to supermarkets in the EU and US, including major chains Aldi, Carrefour and Lidl.
“Without knowing it, customers across Europe are buying bags filled with felled trees from old-growth forests in South America, and using them to light their barbeques,” says Toby Hill, a researcher at Earthsight.
Earthsight recently published a report exposing the devastating environmental consequences of Paraguay’s charcoal business. Paraguay is the world’s fifth biggest exporter of charcoal.
Earthsight’s report charts the journey of the carbonised trees into European supermarkets like Aldi, Carrefour and Lidl. It states that, by selling the charcoal, the supermarkets are fuelling an environmental crisis that is endangering a region described by David Attenborough, veteran broadcaster and naturalist, as “one of the last great wilderness areas in the world”.
In an open letter to the supermarkets, Rainforest Rescue urges immediate action:
To: Aldi, Carrefour, Lidl
Dear company managers,
The British environmental organization Earthsight has traced charcoal from forest destruction in the Paraguayan Chaco to branches of Aldi, Carrefour and Lidl in Europe.
The production of this charcoal is having a devastating effect on the environment and local people. Charcoal producers are clear-cutting the country’s tropical forests, doing the dirty work for the beef industry who then use the cleared land to rear cattle. This threatens endangered and endemic species as well as indigenous communities who rely on the forest for their livelihoods.
Most of this charcoal is exported to Europe. Every customer who buys and burns this charcoal in their barbeques is unwittingly contributing to the rapid destruction of forests in the Paraguayan Chaco. Please take immediate action to ensure that no charcoal from forest destruction in Paraguay is sold by your company.
Parents and guardians in Lagos are taking measures to protect their children and wards from likely consequences of looming flood as the rains resume in full force, barely a week after parts of the state suffered severe flood attacks.
They said this became imperative now that the children are home for the long vacation.
The resumption of the rains has already started to take a toll on the socio-economic wellbeing of Lagosians as gridlocks spread across the state.
School children stole the show on Friday, July 14, 2017 during the annual tree planting campaign of Lagos State Government held at the premises of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) in Ikoyi, Lagos.
During the celebration, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode planted trees around the Broadcasting House, in recognition of the premium the country’s pioneer radio network pays to tree planting and maintenance.
Correspondent, Innocent Onoh, reports that the theme of this year’s tree planting campaign is: “Think Green, Plant Trees, Live Green”.
Director- General of the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Babatunde Irukera, has promised that the Council will support efforts to safeguard Nigerians from tobacco harms.
L-R: Hilda Ochefu of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; Akinbode Oluwafemi, Chair of Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) Board; and Mr. Babatunde Irukera, DG of Consumer Protection Council (CPC), in Abuja
Irukera made the promise when the tobacco control community comprising a host of civil society groups visited the Council’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, July 19, 2017.
The team, on the platform of the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA), included Environmental Rights Action, Cedars Foundation, and representatives of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Akinbode Oluwafemi, chair of the board of Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA) who led the delegation, commended Irukera on his new appointment which, he said, was tied to the DG’s passion for fighting injustices as exemplified in his role as counsel to Lagos government in the suit against tobacco transnationals in 2007.
Oluwafemi however noted that nothing has changed since then as the tobacco industry has recalibrated and now targets women and children in a renewed effort to get replacement smokers. He also revealed new developments in the TI strategy including intimidatory tactics and litigation against countries in Africa that plan to implement Tobacco Control laws.
The NTCA boss mentioned the recent Philip Morris International expose by Reuters and the revelation that some Nigerian delegates may have been compromised in attempts to thwart the FCTC implementation across the globe. Particularly worthy of mention, he added, should be the comments of a Nigerian delegate that the “Tobacco menace” is a myth.
He reminded the DG that the National Tobacco Control Act presents an opportunity to protect millions of Nigerians from tobacco addiction and its health, social, economic and environmental impacts.
He went on to stress that the magnitude of tobacco industry incursions into the country compelled the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, to seize the occasion of WNTD2017 to announce that nine provisions of the NTC Act will be enforced before the end of 2017.
The nine provisions are:
Prohibition of sale of tobacco products to and by anyone below 18.
Ban of sale of cigarettes in single sticks. Cigarettes must be sold in packs of 20 sticks only.
Smokeless tobacco shall be sold in a minimum of a pack of 30 grams.
Ban of sale or offer for sale or distribution of tobacco or tobacco products through mail, internet or other online devices.
Prohibition of interference of tobacco industry in public health and related issues.
Prohibition of smoking in anywhere on the premises of a child care facility; educational facility; and health care facility. Other prohibited places for smoking include playgrounds; amusement parks; plazas; public parks; stadium, public transports, restaurants, bars, or other public gathering spaces.
Prosecution of owner or manager of any of the places listed above, who permits, encourages or fails to stop smoking in the above listed places.
Prohibition of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship of any kind.
Compliance with specified standard for content as set out by Standards Organisation of Nigeria
Going further, he pointed out that an opportunity exists for the CPC to play a pivotal role in the enforcement of the nine provisions because of the national nature of its work.
Hilda Ochefu of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in her intervention, said CSOs are ready to partner with CPC in building the capacity of its staff to play roles in enforcing the nine provisions announced by the Minister of Health.
Ochefu implored the CPC to use its national structure to drive the enforcement of the nine provisions and champion the cause of smoke-free Nigeria.
She said CPC should adopt tobacco control as one of the key areas for intervention in its work to save Nigerians from the scourge of tobacco and lend its voice to calls for fast-tracked adoption of the TC regulation by the parliament.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) latest “WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic” published on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 finds that more countries have implemented tobacco control policies, ranging from graphic pack warnings and advertising bans to no smoking areas.
According to scientists, tobacco smoking is dangerous to health
About 4.7 billion people – 63% of the world’s population – are said to be covered by at least one comprehensive tobacco control measure, which has quadrupled since 2007 when only one billion people and 15% of the world’s population were covered. Strategies to implement such policies have saved millions of people from early death.
However, the tobacco industry continues to hamper government efforts to fully implement life- and cost-saving interventions, according to the new “WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2017”.
“Governments around the world must waste no time in incorporating all the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control into their national tobacco control programmes and policies,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “They must also clamp down on the illicit tobacco trade, which is exacerbating the global tobacco epidemic and its related health and socioeconomic consequences.”
Dr Tedros adds: “Working together, countries can prevent millions of people from dying each year from preventable tobacco-related illness, and save billions of dollars a year in avoidable health care expenditures and productivity losses.”
Today, 4.7 billion people are protected by at least one “best practice” tobacco control measure from the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), 3.6 billion more people than in 2007, according to the report. This progress has been possible because governments have intensified action to implement key measures of the WHO FCTC.
Strategies to support implementation of tobacco demand reduction measures in the WHO FCTC, like the “MPOWER” measures, have saved millions of people from early death, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in the past decade. MPOWER was established in 2008 to promote government action on six tobacco control strategies in-line with the WHO FCTC to:
Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies.
Protect people from tobacco smoke.
Offer help to quit tobacco use.
Warn people about the dangers of tobacco.
Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
Raise taxes on tobacco.
“One in 10 deaths around the world is caused by tobacco, but we can change that through MPOWER tobacco control measures, which have proven highly effective,” says Michael R. Bloomberg, WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies. “The progress that’s been made worldwide – and documented throughout this report – shows that it is possible for countries to turn the tide. Bloomberg Philanthropies looks forward to working with Director-General Dr Tedros and continuing our work with WHO.”
The new report, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, focuses on monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies. It finds that one third of countries have comprehensive systems to monitor tobacco use. While this is up from one quarter of countries monitoring tobacco use at recommended levels in 2007, governments still need to do more to prioritise or finance this area of work.
Even countries with limited resources can monitor tobacco use and implement prevention policies. By generating data on youth and adults, countries can, in turn, promote health, save healthcare costs and generate revenues for government services, the report finds. It adds that systematic monitoring of tobacco industry interference in government policymaking protects public health by shedding light on tobacco industry tactics. These include exaggerating the economic importance of the tobacco industry, discrediting proven science, and using litigation to intimidate governments.
“Countries can better protect their citizens, including children, from the tobacco industry and its products when they use tobacco monitoring systems,” says Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of WHO’s Department for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs).
“Tobacco industry interference in government policy-making represents a deadly barrier to advancing health and development in many countries,” says Dr Bettcher. “But by monitoring and blocking such activities, we can save lives and sow the seeds for a sustainable future for all.”
Other key findings
The “WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2017” also finds that:
43% of the world’s population (3.2 billion people) are covered by two or more MPOWER measures at the highest level, nearly seven times as many people as in 2007.
Eight countries, including five low- and middle-income countries, have implemented four or more MPOWER measures at the highest level (Brazil, Islamic Republic of Iran, Ireland, Madagascar, Malta, Panama, Turkey and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).
Monitor: Nepal, India and the Philippines are among countries that conducted WHO-backed initiatives to monitor tobacco use and then implemented measures to protect people from tobacco.
Nepal introduced the world’s largest health warnings on tobacco packaging surfaces (covering 90% of the package) in May 2015 after using a set of household tobacco survey questions that allowed authorities to detect a high prevalence of adult male smokers and users of smokeless products.
India launched a nationwide tobacco cessation programme and toll-free quit line in 2016 after conducting a “global adult tobacco survey” in 2009–10 that revealed high interest among almost 1 in 2 smokers and users of smokeless products to quit eventually.
The Philippines’ landmark Sin Tax Reform Law was passed in 2012 after its 2009 national adult tobacco survey showed high smoking rates among men (47.4%) and boys (12.9%). Such strong tobacco demand reduction measures have contributed to declining tobacco use, according to its 2015 adult tobacco survey results.
Protect: Comprehensive smoke-free legislation is currently in place for almost 1.5 billion people in 55 countries. Since 2007, dramatic progress has been witnessed in low- and middle-income countries, 35 of which have adopted a complete smoke-free law since 2007.
Offer: Appropriate cessation treatment is in place for 2.4 billion people in 26 countries.
Warn: More people are protected by strong graphic pack warnings than by any other MPOWER measure, covering almost 3.5 billion people in 78 countries – almost half the global population (47%).
Warn: 3.2 billion people live in a country that aired at least one comprehensive national anti-tobacco mass media campaign in the last two years.
Enforce: Bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship interfere with the tobacco industry’s ability to promote and sell its products, and reduce tobacco use. But only 15% of the world’s population is currently covered by a comprehensive ban.
Raise: Raising taxes to increase tobacco product prices is the most effective and cost-efficient means of reducing tobacco use and encouraging users to quit. But it is one of the least used tobacco control measures.
According to the WHO, tobacco use is the leading single preventable cause of death worldwide, killing over seven million people each year. Its economic costs are said to be enormous, totaling more than 1.4 trillion in health care costs and lost productivity.
A survey of private sector actions to deal with the consequences of climate change is being carried out by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Adaptation Committee to identify opportunities and risks for businesses.
Asun St Clair, Business representative to the Adaptation Committee
Businesses face increasing risks, significant financial challenges as well as opportunities both now and in the future because of climate change impacts such as floods and droughts. Adaptation refers to actions to deal with such impacts.
A 2015 study by The Economist Intelligence Unit estimated the value at risk, because of climate change, to the total global stock of manageable assets as ranging from $4.2 trillion to $43 trillion between now and the end of the century.
With this in mind, the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee aims to engage more closely with the private sector, enabling greater action to adapt to climate change impacts.
All private sector companies, organisations and networks, big and small, from around the globe, are warmly invited to complete a quick survey of their efforts. The survey contains 12 questions, and takes only five minutes to complete on-line. The survey is open until August 4, 2017.
The results of this survey will be used in two ways:
They will provide a basis for the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee to advance their engagement of the private sector in climate change adaptation action.
They will be communicated back to businesses, so that the private sector can also begin identifying how much adaptation action is being taken by participating businesses.
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the economic backbone of many societies, are already very vulnerable to natural disasters. Many SMEs believe they need to start focusing on adaptation, but they require help in moving from intent to action.
“Moving towards a resilient economy does not only address climate risks, but also presents many opportunities for businesses. We urge Senior Managers, Chief Sustainability Officers or Chief Financial Officers of as many businesses and industry associations as possible to take this survey so that we can better understand the risks but also opportunities for the private sector, and plan adaptation action together,” said Ms. Asun St Clair, Business representative to the Adaptation Committee.
“With the impacts of climate change already visible and increasing, the private sector has a crucial role to play in collaboration with governments in the transition to low-carbon, resilient and sustainable development, as reaffirmed in the Paris Agreement,” she said.
