Five hundred activists from the Southern African People’s Solidarity Network from Tuesday, August 15, 2017 move into Stay City and will, from Thursday, August 17 to Friday, August 18, hold a Permanent Peoples Tribunal to Dismantle Corporate Power with a focus on land and environment.
Participants at the 1st Session of hearings in Manzini, Swaziland, in 2016
This is a counter-summit to the 37th Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Pretoria, where South Africa is expected to assume the role of Chair of the sub-regional organisation. The summit takes place under the theme: “Partnering with the private sector in developing industry and regional value-chains”.
The 2nd Session of the Southern Africa Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Transnational Corporations is being organised by the Southern Africa Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power. The Tribunal takes place at the Old Women’s Jail at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa. It is a follow-up to the 1st Session of hearings which were held in Manzini, Swaziland, in 2016.
During the Tribunal, seven communities and movements from the Southern African region will give testimony to the violations of their human rights, environmental rights and the “Right to Say No!”
They will present their cases to a distinguished panel of jurors including:
Mireille Fanon-Mendes: President of the Frantz Fanon Foundation,
Nnimmo Bassey: Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation,
Stefano Liberti: award-winning journalist and filmmaker,
Donna Andrews: South African ecofeminist intellectual activist,
Lucy Edwards: Political and gender activism, and lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Namibia, and
Paolo Ramazzotti: Professor of Public Policy at the University of Macerata, Italy.
The cases that will be presented cover how transnational corporations destroy food and seed sovereignty, steal from Southern African peoples through illicit financial flows and tax havens, demolish forests which have been the life source for indigenous communities and worked with states to oppress dissenters through imprisonment without charge.
Mauritius-based hotel operator, LUX* Resorts & Hotels, has implemented 130 solar panels and batteries to fully substitute diesel-based power generation for the needs of Ile des Deux Cocos (an island resort), off-grid South-East Mauritius. The 20kWp project’s state-of-the-art design and storage solution will allow for 11 hours of utilisation daily and fulfil self-sufficiency of the property including during night-time.
Installation of Deux Cocos solar panels
Building upon the many eco-friendly initiatives already embedded in LUX* sustainable vision, the achievement,according to the promoters, “demonstrates the virtuous power of the group’s Tread Lightly programme whereby guests participation supports long-term improvement of the properties’ environmental impacts.”
They added that such allocation complements the carbon offsetting contribution channelled to regional CO2 compensation projects portfolio in partnership with Aera Group (formerly known as ecosur afrique), which maintains a tailored selection of carbon compensation commitments across Africa and Asia, matching up-to-date GHG impacts monitoring across destinations to best-in-class corresponding offset projects.
Recent entries in LUX* Tread Lightly compensation portfolio include voluntarily Verified Carbon Standard certified emission reductions from:
Producing Green Electricity From Individual Wind Mill Owners in India
Supporting Biogas Energy in Eastern Africa
Vishnee Payen, Sustainability & CSR Manager of LUX* Resorts & Hotels, commented: “LUX* ensures to have Sustainable Development at the core of its strategy and operations. The Tread Lightly initiative helps to contribute to local and global goals such as Energy Efficiency, Reduction in Carbon Emissions, also aligning with the SDGs and COP22 targets. We are dependent on the environment and it is our duty to protect it for ourselves and for future generations to come.
“This can only be achieved through tangible projects implementations and responsible resource consumption. LUX* will continue its journey towards renewable energy solutions and eco-products as far as possible and at the same time contributing to the economy and supporting communities.”
Alexandre Dunod, AERA Group advisory manager, highlighted “another mark of leadership in sustainability from LUX* which should inspire the industry in 2017 declared by UN as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. Environmental responsibility and transparency are growing significantly in the hospitality sector on the way to Paris agreement implementation and we are proud of being part of such pioneer efforts in the Indian Ocean and beyond.”
Nigeria is desirous of eradicating the use of polythene bags for recyclable paper bags and in the process generate wealth from waste, Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, has said.
Prof. Olukayode Oladipo of the University of Lagos, Akoka making a presentation at the 10th 10th GEF National Steering Committee Meeting in Abuja
The minister said on Wednesday, August 8, 2017 in Abuja in his opening remarks at the 10th Global Environment Facility (GEF) National Steering Committee Meeting that it is the dream of the government to committedly upscale issues of the environment, including thematic areas such as climate change, biodiversity, ecosystems and ecology preservation, desertification, water, as well as forest and land management.
Used for containing and transporting goods such as foods and produce, polythene or plastic bag is a type of container made of thin, flexible, plastic film or textile. Plastic bags are considered a menace because, besides being non-biodegradable and difficult to recycle, some escape the garbage collection process and end up in streams, which then lead them to end up in the open ocean.
“We have taken as a matter of seriousness issues of environmental sanitation, while it is our dream to eradicate use of polythene bags for retention of drinking water to recyclable paper bags that can further be transformed to generate wealth from its wastes, soonest,” Jibril stated.
Apparently reading the riot act, he added: “It is high time for us to get it right once and for all to avoid future environmental disasters that are grievous than those that we have experienced as well as ensure that we put a stop to environmental disasters that have bedevilled our rural and urban communities.”
The minister underscored the need for the nation to engage its National Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “so as to translate them to the attainment of the Green Economy and Sustainable Development”.
Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr Shehu Ahmed, disclosed that the meeting’s objectives are to evaluate progress made by implementing agencies, partners and stakeholders in ensuring that GEF-6 Projects in the country, which commenced July 2014, are developed and implemented in line with national priority, and to ensure proper articulation of projects towards GEF-7 Cycle.
According to him, almost all the projects under the new Cycle have been endorsed and that it is expected that the project documents (PIF) should have been transferred to the GEF secretariat to facilitate commencement of implementation.
Making a case for a National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP), Prof. Olukayode Oladipo of the University of Lagos, Akoka, stated that besides defining environmental priority actions that can constrain national development if left unchecked, the NEAP will help to identify the environmental challenges and needs of the country and propose strategic interventions to be put in place to address them.
“NEAP recognises the need to address the issues and challenges of national environment within a holistic framework that if properly implemented would ensure sustainable development in the country,” Prof. Oladipo noted, adding that NEAP would likewise assist government to:
Identify, prioritise and possibly quantify national environmental problems;
Provide a state-of-knowledge overview of the environmental conditions in the country;
Propose solutions to identified priority environmental problems in the form of programmes and projects, studies, issues and actions, strategies and activities, institutional and legislative reform, funding requirements and human resources capacity building needs;
Establish a clear indication of government’s priority areas with respect to the environment so as to guide and give proper orientation to donor intervention in this field.
In a presentation, Mr Oladipo Osibo of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) highlighted to some GEF projects being undertaken in conjunction with the UNDP.
While the “Niger Delta Biodiversity Project”, a GEF-5 project, is approaching end-of-life, GEF-6 initiatives like “De-risking Sustainable Off-grid Lighting Solutions in Nigeria”, “Sustainable Fuelwood Management in Nigeria” and “Third National Communication to the UNFCCC” are ongoing.
Under chemicals management, added Osibo, the “Sound Management & Disposal of PCBs” is at the project design stage, and is scheduled for submission in November 2017.
“Another GEF project on Pesticide Management has been technically cleared but still pending final approval,” he said, adding that the “Small Grants Programme (SGP)” is aimed at “supporting community environmental initiatives and livelihood enhancement.”
GEF Desk Officer, Mr. Festus Eguoje, said that the objective of the meeting is to provide a platform for issues in the implementation of the GEF-6 Cycle approved projects and harmonise experiences to build upon the country programmes for the GEF-7 Cycle proposals.
The Perfection Real Estate Investors Cooperative Society (PREICS) in Lagos on Sunday, August 6, 2017 unveiled housetypes designated for its Perfection Cooperatives Estates located in Ikorodu and Lekki. The PREICS was also formally launched the housing estates.
An impression of one of the estates
The PREICS is an independent membership-based real estate club whose sole purpose is wealth creation through real estate investment for the benefit of members.
With Nigeria facing an estimated 17 million housing deficit, PREICS president, Mr Niyi Adeleye, said that the initiative is aimed at bridging the gap – which could cost the government tens of trillions of Naira.
According to him, PREICS was born out of the need and passion to tackle the myriad challenges in the real estate sector of the Nigerian economy.
An impression of the three-bedroom terrace bungalow
His words: “The concept of the PREICS came early 2011 because of the need and passion to provide solutions to real human problems in the real estate sector of our economy while empowering people financially. We formally established and inaugurated PREICS on August 25, 2012. We later launched a campaign for membership with our friends and others people who possess the same mindset with us about wealth creation through real estate.
“We came together to kick-off the wealth creation process by pooling our resources together in order to take advantage of opportunities by investing in real estate and to enjoy all the benefits thereof together. By pooling our resources together we have been able to get involved in some mega real estate deals, we have also invested into expanse of land in different locations that is today known as the Perfection Cooperative Estate brand.”
The housing scheme will kick off from the Perfection Cooperative Estate Phase 1 in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.
According to Adeleye, members have been receiving passive income on investment every quarter from wealth created from time to time, while also generating employment opportunities for professionals like architects, legal consultants, land surveyors, quantity surveyors and engineers.
Chairman of occasion, Dr. Innocent Okoro, urged government to urgently encourage such types of cooperative society by allocating land free of charge, for the benefit of the larger society.
An impression of the highrise building comprising 10 three-bedroom apartments and 10 mini flats
“This will the make price of housing delivery per unit to fall. Again, government has to give tax incentives to cooperative societies of this nature to encourage them develop more houses. Bribery and corruption at high level in government offices must stop, as this discourages investment in housing,” he said.
He added: “On the part of the officers of the cooperative society, you must be very transparent to enable you command the trust of investors. Transparency and integrity must be your watch word when dealing with your members. You must not attempt to enrich yourselves at the expense of your investors who have entrusted you with their hard-earned money.
“Please, make sure you engage desired professionals who will guide you well enough before making any investment proposal to your members. Try as much as you can to take indemnity insurance policies to protect the investment of your investors.”
Under the Property Ownership Products, plots of land are being offered for sale at the Perfection Cooperative Estate Phases 1 and 2 in Ibeju Lekki, and Perfection Cooperative Estate Agric, Ikorodu, both in Lagos.
Housing units are likewise available for sale, and they include: two-bedroom terrace apartments, three-bedroom terrace apartments, blocks of six-in-one three-bedroom flats, three-bedroom terrace duplexes, blocks of 12-in-one mini flats, and high-rise buildings comprising 10 three-bedroom apartments and 10 mini flats.
Under the Real Estate Investment Products, the firm operates the Fractional Project Ownership Investment Scheme (FPOIS), which is a crowd funding investment scheme meant for the development of basic infrastructure like roads, electricity, drainage and apartments construction at Perfection Cooperative Estates.
Investors, it was gathered, stand to gain the following benefits:
10% annual interest paid 5% every six months for the entire life of the project
Dividend payment on sale of land and apartments every six months for the entire life of the project
Opportunity to win an all-expense-paid trip to different parts of the world
In Ethiopia, thousands of pilgrims flock to holy water sites for spiritual cleansing and physical healing. People often drink the holy water and perform ceremonial cleansing for their bodies or those of their loved ones. But there is a risk that these sites can be contaminated with bacteria that cause acute watery diarrhea (AWD) or other waterborne diseases as open defecation is a common practice in open fields close to holy water sites.
Bishop Abune Abraham advising on hygienic practices
To protect the pilgrims, World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Ministry of Health, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other partners to ensure that water safety and latrine access is improved around holy water sites.
“Keep the environment free from defecation by using latrines all the time; always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after latrine use, before food preparation, before eating and after caring for a person with acute watery diarrhea (AWD); thoroughly wash raw vegetables and fruits.” Following these guidelines can help save lives in communities affected by AWD. But for these vital health messages to reach the people who need them, they must come from trusted sources. In Ethiopia, WHO works with religious and community leaders to reach more people and save lives.
Churches that provide holy water are now building structures to protect holy water sources along with latrines within their compounds that pilgrims can use. Speaking to a crowd of about 800 people at St Ghiorgis Church in Amhara Region, north-east Ethiopia, Bishop Abune Abraham encouraged them to follow hygienic practices and to use the latrines provided by the church. He reminded them that personal hygiene and respectful use of holy sites is also a faith-related duty.
The Bishop and his leadership team met with heads of the regional health and water bureaus of the Amhara Region, WHO, UNICEF and OCHA to develop a plan to improve water safety and sanitation within church compounds and reach communities through the church, and to solicit the government and partners’ support in ensuring the provision of safe water to holy sites and surrounding areas.
To control water borne diseases in Ethiopia, WHO is coordinating the health cluster for preparedness and response; supporting the government in risk assessment; strengthening surveillance, including active case search and contact tracing; supporting case management and quality of care at treatment centers; and increasing risk communication and advocacy.
Amid a dire poaching crisis, wild Asian elephants in Myanmar received what appears to be swift and essential aid from thousands of supporters of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) who seem committed to protecting the iconic species.
A team of field rangers. Photo credit: WWF-Myanmar / Hkun Lat
In a reaction to an urgent call in June 2017, over 3,000 people donated $263,211 in less than four weeks to fund an emergency action plan to train rangers and get boots on the ground to fight wildlife crime.
“Training rangers is the first step on our journey to win this battle against poachers,” said Christy Williams, country director of WWF Myanmar. “Rangers are on the conservation frontlines, protecting the world’s natural and cultural treasures. With their commitment and the help of our supporters, there is hope for Asian elephants.”
There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, and fewer than 2,000 in Myanmar. For decades, they faced threats of habitat loss, human-elephant conflict, and, to a lesser extent as only male Asian elephants carry tusks, poaching to meet the demand for ivory.
However, they are now being killed for their skin and other body parts, according to the nature conservation group.
It adds that its emergency action plan to build ranger capacity and help combat the new elephant crisis in Myanmar began rolling out in July, 2017.
Williams lists the organisation’s accomplishments in this regard to include:
Purchased a four-wheel drive vehicle and three motorcycles for patrolling
Purchased uniforms for rangers
Purchased equipment, including camping gear
Trained 45 field rangers
She states: “WWF’s eight-day training provided basic but vital knowledge to 45 field rangers on a variety of issues including law enforcement methods and intelligence gathering. Rangers will now be able to collect and report on data, understand the biodiversity values in the landscape, identify and report illegal activity, conduct patrols, and manage and process crime scenes. WWF will continue to train these rangers so that all 45 rangers will be able to patrol the field by September.”
The WWF is however seeking assistance to actuatise its “Back a Ranger” and “Adopt an Elephant” projects.
“We cannot do this alone. Our supporters are critical to our fight to protect Myanmar’s elephants from threats like poaching. The launch of emergency plan to stop Myanmar’s elephant poaching crisis is just one example of how – with our supporters by our side – we are protecting wildlife and tackling the world’s greatest environmental problems,” says Nilanga Jayasinghe, the WWWF Senior Programme Officer, Asian Species.
The World Elephant Day was observed globally on Saturday, August 12, 2017.
The people of Belema/Offoin-Ama in Kula Kingdom in the restive Nigerian Niger Delta region took over the Belema Flow Station in the early hours of Friday, August 11, 2017. The take-over was done during a protest demanding SPDC to leave the facility.
Protesters at the Flow Station
According to the protesters, SPDC has been operating the Belema Flow Station for over 37 years and yet there is no visible development in the host community. They claim they lack: portable water, good roads, health facilities, scholarships and employment, among others.
The protesters, in their hundreds, stormed the crude oil flow station owned by Shell, demanding jobs and infrastructure development.
According to Reuters, the protesters complained they did not benefit from oil production in their area, a common refrain in the impoverished swampland that produces most of Nigeria’s oil. They also demanded an end to oil pollution in the area.
Soldiers and security guards did not disperse the crowd as they entered the Belema Flow Station in Rivers State, which feeds oil into Shell’s Bonny export terminal.
Shell had no immediate comment, and it was not immediately clear whether there was an impact on oil production.
While Bonny Light crude oil is currently under force majeure due to the closure of the Trans Niger Pipeline, exports continue via another export line.
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd operated Joint Venture (SPDC JV) has said its commitment to the welfare of host communities in the Niger Delta remains unshaken, even as it decried the illegal occupation of Belema Flow Station and Gas Plant on Friday, August 11, 2017 by some persons.
Protesters listen to an address
SPDC has informed the authorities of the illegal occupation and said in a statement on Friday that it is working towards resuming safe operations there.
The people of Belema/Offoin-Ama in Kula kingdom took over the Belema Flow Station in the early hours of Friday. The take-over was done during a protest demanding SPDC to leave the facility.
According to the protesters, SPDC has been operating the Belema Flow Station for over 37 years and yet there is no visible development in the host community. They claim they lack: portable water, good roads, health facilities, scholarships and employment, among others.
But Shell has debunked allegations of neglect of communities in Kula kingdom and Belema in Rivers State, saying that it had implemented a Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) in the area that led to a wide variety of social investment projects, including university scholarships awards.
It explained that the Rivers State Government initiated a mediation process for the resolution of the disagreements in the community, which had resulted in the creation of the Kula Project Implementation and Monitoring Committee (PIMC) in 2012. The PIMC, it was gathered, served as an interim platform for the delivery of social investment initiatives and programmes worth N263 million in the Soku-San Berth Project. These projects are said to be separate from the GMoU projects initiated by communities using funds provided by the SPDC JV.
A GMoU was eventually signed in 2014 for the Kula Cluster but has not been implemented because of continuing intra-community disagreements. As at 2015, there were a total of 11 court cases involving different groups with SPDC as a co-defendant in all of them.
“Sadly, these legal suits and disputes have rendered it impossible to implement more planned development projects in the affected communities,” said SPDC’s General Manager, External Relations, Igo Weli, while commenting on the allegations of neglect. “Notwithstanding that SPDC has divested its equity in OML 24, which covers most of the communities in Kula and Belema, the SPDC JV has continued to implement agreed Social Investment programmes such as scholarship and entrepreneurship schemes for the communities there.”
Despite the challenging environment, the SPDC JV said that it set aside over N600 million for a five-year period beginning 2014 for development initiatives at Kula and the satellite communities of Belema, Offoinama and Boro. SPDC JV said it also invested over N352 million in the improvement of school infrastructure, sanitation and health outreach programmes, construction of walkway for the community and electricity supply in Kula Kingdom in the past 10 years.
“The host communities of OML 25, including Belema and Offionama, have continued to benefit from contract awards, employment of unskilled labour and our social investment programmes, including yearly award of regular and special scholarships to eligible candidates from the area. With the divestment of its interest in OML 24, SPDC relinquished operatorship of the facilities in that field,” disclosed SPDC.
It adds: “SPDC’s social investment activities focus on community and enterprise development, education, health, access-to-energy, road safety and since 2016. Collectively, Nigeria has the second largest concentration of social investment spending in the Shell Group.
“The SPDC JV partners have contributed $29 billion to the economic growth of Nigeria between 2012 and 2016. SPDC JV is currently supporting the various GMoU Cluster Development Boards and mentoring NGOs to deploy a total of N7 billion for development projects of host communities’ choice in the Niger Delta under the GMoU programme.”
A new State of the Climate report has confirmed that 2016 surpassed 2015 as the warmest year in 137 years of record keeping.
High global sea level: In the low-lying Netherlands, floating houses such as these in Ijberg, a suburb of Amsterdam, are ready for higher sea levels. Photo credit: Cosmos Magazine
Last year’s record heat resulted from the combined influence of long-term global warming and a strong El Niño early in the year. The report found that the major indicators of climate change continued to reflect trends consistent with a warming planet. Several markers such as land and ocean temperatures, sea level, and greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere broke records set just one year prior.
These key findings and others are available from the State of the Climate in 2016 report released online on Thursday, August 10, 2017 by the American Meteorological Society (AMS).
The 27th annual issuance of the report, led by NOAA National Centres for Environmental Information, is based on contributions from nearly 500 scientists from more than 60 countries around the world and reflects tens of thousands of measurements from multiple independent datasets. It provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events, and other data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments located on land, water, ice, and in space.
The report’s climate indicators show patterns, changes, and trends of the global climate system. Examples of the indicators include various types of greenhouse gases; temperatures throughout the atmosphere, ocean, and land; cloud cover; sea level; ocean salinity; sea ice extent; and snow cover.
Report highlights include indications of a warming planet, and listed to include:
Greenhouse gases highest on record
Global surface temperature highest on record
Global lower tropospheric temperature highest on record
Sea surface temperatures highest on record
Global upper ocean heat content near-record high
Global sea level highest on record
Extremes observed in the water cycle and precipitation
The arctic continued to warm, sea ice extent remained low
Antarctic sees record low sea ice extent
Global ice and snow cover decline
Tropical cyclones were well above average overall
The State of the Climate in 2016 is the 27th edition in a peer-reviewed series published annually as a special supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. The journal makes the full report openly available online.
For 26-year-old Ms. Nneka Eze, empowerment comes from within.
Nneka Eze. Photo credit: Olufunke Modupe Olufon/World Bank
“My dream ever since I was a student was to own a big farm, my own farm, called ‘Nekky’s Farm,’ which will even export outside the country,” said Eze. “My country, Nigeria, will be a place where we produce food in abundance. This is my passion. It is a goal I have set for myself, and I am going to accomplish it.”
Nigeria is experiencing only a slow reduction in its poverty-to-growth rates, and in lowering income inequality as well. About half its 170 million people live on the poverty line (on $2.5 a day) and almost 75 percent perilously close to it (on $4 a day). Many Nigerians have limited access to even the most basic social services, face job losses and other labor market issues, and have few, new economic opportunities on offer to them, due to a dearth of infrastructure.
“An unemployed graduate of Agriculture Engineering, I walked into the Ministry of Agriculture and was directed to the Women and Youth Empowerment Programme,” said Eze, a beneficiary in Abakpa Enugu East in eastern Nigeria. “My experience since then has been a wonderful one. I received training in commercial broiler production.”
“It has not only been a rewarding experience, I am continuously learning every day,” she said. Broilers are chickens raised for meat, not eggs.
The Commercial Agriculture Development Project for Nigeria recognises beneficiaries as key players and partners in poverty reduction, and does this by laying down lasting mechanisms for starting micro-projects at grassroots level, principally for youth, women, the aged, and children.
Currently implemented in 26 states, the project supports the strengthening of skills, and the capacity of Local Government Authorities (LGAs) and other public agencies to support communities and build partnerships between them. The driving objective is community participation, with a commitment to results its focus.
“There is a strong support system,” said Martin Nnedu, from the Agricultural Products & Advisory Services. “Each micro-project is assigned an officer in the State Commercial Agriculture Development Office who provides technical assistance when needed, such as linking the beneficiaries to experts like veterinarians.”
Over 1,600 plans are being put into place, with about 3,435 micro-projects, of which more than 50 percent are completed and in use.
“Participation at the community level is broad-based and transparent,” said Adekunle Adesoye, a National Coordination Office Monitoring & Evaluation specialist. “And from my experience of visiting many micro-projects, the participants have been satisfied and are empowered to thrive.”
