As concern mounts that the world will fail to meet its targets to reduce carbon emissions, the Swedish government, the Ford Foundation and other funders will throw their weight behind a proven, yet underutilised, climate solution: recognising the land rights of the indigenous and forest peoples of Africa, Latin America and Asia, who have emerged as the globe’s most effective tropical forest protectors.
Peruvian Amazonian indigenous peoples
In the lead-up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) scheduled to hold in Bonn, Germany in November 2017, indigenous leaders, forestry experts and investors will on Tuesday, October 3, 2017 in Stockholm, Sweden join Swedish aid officials and Ford Foundation President to tackle major cause of climate change, violence and costly conflicts in the global South.
At least one quarter – or 54,546 million metric tons – of the carbon stored above ground in the world’s tropical forests is found in the collectively managed territories of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. This is equivalent to almost four times the world’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2014. Research has shown that where rights are secure, deforestation rates are lower and carbon storage and biodiversity higher.
Leaders attending the Development Talks will call on international climate negotiators to act on a growing body of evidence demonstrating the role that secure land rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities can play in protecting the tropical forests that are crucial to keeping global warming below two degrees. Secure land rights are also central for ending land conflicts that erupt when palm oil plantations, mines and massive dams drive Indigenous Peoples and local communities from their homes and destroy the tropical forests.
The event will formally launch the International Land and Forest Tenure Facility, a new institution dedicated to scaling up recognition of collective land and forest rights globally, thereby reducing conflict and furthering achievement of global goals on human rights, equality, the environment and development. An analysis of Tenure Facility pilot projects in Mali, Peru and Indonesia, to be released in Stockholm, will demonstrate significant progress, as local peoples use innovative legal tactics and GPS systems to map and monitor their territories and secure legal rights to their lands.
A new study released alongside these results will examine community-company conflicts in Southeast Asia, the latest in a series of papers documenting the significant cost of conflict to investors and companies that fail to address insecure land rights. An earlier paper by the same authors concludes that land conflict with local peoples can increase companies’ operating costs by as much as 29 times the baseline – often leading to outright abandonment of up-and-running operations.
Amidst increasing concerns about threats to their forests, wetlands and way of life, the Wapichan People of Guyana in South America have devised a system to defend their human rights and monitor their ancestral lands against harmful development.
Wapichan people
Community information has been collected using a grassroots land use monitoring arrangement that involves community monitoring teams, the use of smartphone technology, drones, and community digital maps – all controlled and managed directly by the villages. The Wapichan People on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 launched a locally owned and managed website to present their monitoring information on the internet. The web site can be accessed here: http://wapichanao.communitylands.org/
The hope of the Wapichan communities is that use of tools like the internet will help raise national and international awareness about the pressures on their territory. Increased visibility of rights abuse and environmental damage is expected to give momentum to their calls for secure land rights and national legal and policy reforms in support of community rights and protection of community conserved sites, including a Wapichan Conserved Forest.
Paulinus Albert, Chairperson of the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC), which is the legal representative body of 21 villages and communities in Wapichan territory in Guyana, advises: “Our territory is under pressure from rampant mining and plans for agribusiness and road developments. Uncontrolled mining expansion on our lands is resulting in deforestation, desecration of sacred sites and irreparable damage to our creeks, rivers and water sources.
“The situation is getting worse and threats are increasing. This is why we have decided to watch over our lands and forests, and to get organised to collect and publish information to tell the world what is going on.”
Toshao Geneve Thomas, elected leader of Awarewao Village, adds: “We need the country and the world to know what is happening here on our land, which is vital to our identity, livelihood and way of living. The trees cannot speak out, the birds, animals and wildlife cannot say stop! The fishes are defenceless as their homes and spawning grounds are destroyed. Who will speak for them? We want to stop hurtful mining. We will not allow it on our lands.”
Harms recorded by the indigenous monitoring system through more than 50 site visits made since 2015 include:
Encroachment on customary land and forest by illegal gold miners
Deforestation and destruction of waters sources, creeks and wetlands, including a total wipe out of Toucan and Panche Creeks, and severe damage to Locust Creek
Pollution of water courses with mercury and tailings sediment
Destruction of sacred forest and mountain areas, such as Mazao Mountain
Opening of mining roads in sensitive forest areas, including towards intact forests on the Karawaimintao mountain range
Mining prospecting in remote watersheds of the Kwitaro and Kuyuwini and Takatu Rivers
Violation of the right to free, prior and informed consent through imposed mining concessions and the establishment of a mining district (Mining District 6)
Illegal border crossings from Brazil used by miners, rustlers, smugglers and sports hunters
Illegal opening of air strips in the Parabara Savannah
Ron James, a community mapper involved in the monitoring project, explains: “By mapping the mining pollution sources we now understand how it affects wider river systems and water supplies that are essential to our villages for fishing, bathing and drinking. The headwaters of the Kwitaro, Kuyuwini and Takatu Rivers are under serious threat. We are bringing this monitoring information to the attention of the environmental and mining authorities, yet the problem continues unabated.”
This is not the first time the Wapichan communities have denounced destruction caused by illegal and concession mining. They have been raising concerns since the mid-1990s about the detrimental impact of medium-scale mining and the risks posed by large concessions controlled by foreign companies in the Marudi Mining fields. The District Council has raised serious concerns regarding a current large-scale license held by Guyana Goldstrike Inc of Canada, which overlaps ancestral lands that the State still has not titled, including sacred mountains located in the forested southern part of Wapichan territory. Despite promises of environmental assessments and “clean” mercury-free mining, little progress has been made. Villages protest that a genuine, good faith process of free, prior and informed consent has never taken place.
Looking towards actions and solutions, Nicholas Fredericks, Toshao of Shorinab Village and executive member of the National Toshaos Council, notes: “Our villages now plan to feed our reports on mining impacts, rights violations and threats to our territory into formal land talks with the government of Guyana, which started in 2016 and are ongoing. We also plan is to use the information to inform the proposed environmental and social impact assessment required before mining can continue in the Marudi Mining Licence. We are demanding that our villages be fully involved in the impact assessment in line with our rights as indigenous peoples.”
Other key community demands and remedies include:
Titling of Village customary lands through accelerated progress in the Wapichan land talks with the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs (MIPA)
Suspension of all mining operations, licenses and claims and a moratorium on all new mining roads in forest areas until a full Environmental Social Impact Assessment is completed in the Marudi mining field and surrounding areas (inside the mining license and elsewhere in other mining claims)
Closure of Mining District No. 6 (no new concessions)
Full application of the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for all mining developments and other interventions that may affect community lands, forests and rights in general, including over untitled lands subject to community land claims
Development of new land and concessions policies that fully protect fragile creek heads, watersheds and areas of high cultural, spiritual or livelihood value for Wapichan Villages from exploitation by extractive industries
Stronger enforcement of national and international laws and environmental regulations and proper sanctions for legal infractions.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake rocked central Mexico on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 killing about 55 people as buildings collapsed in plumes of dust and thousands fled into the streets in panic.
People remove debris from a collapsed building following an earthquake in the neighborhood of Condesa
The quake came less than two weeks after another quake left 90 dead in the country’s south, and it occurred as Mexicans commemorated the anniversary of a 1985 quake that killed thousands.
Mexican media broadcast images of multiple downed buildings in densely populated parts of Mexico City and nearby Cuernavaca. A column of smoke rose from a structure in one central neighborhood in the capital.
Morelos Gov. Graco Ramirez reported on Twitter that at least 42 people had died in his state south of Mexico City.
Gov. Alfredo del Mazo told the Televisa news network that two people died in the State of Mexico, which also borders the capital: a quarry worker who was killed when the quake unleashed a rockslide and another person who was hit by a falling lamppost.
Rescue workers rushed to the site of damaged or collapsed buildings in the capital, and reporters saw onlookers cheer as a woman was pulled from the rubble.
Rescuers immediately called for silence so that they could listen for others who might be trapped.
Gala Dluzhynska said she was taking a class with 11 other women on the second floor of a building on the trendy Alvaro Obregon street when the quake struck and window and ceiling panels fell as the building began to tear apart.
She said she fell in the stairs and people began to walk over her, before someone finally pulled her up.
“There were no stairs anymore. There were rocks,” she said.
They reached the bottom only to find it barred. A security final came and unlocked it.
The quake caused buildings to sway sickeningly in Mexico City and sent people throughout the city fleeing from homes and offices, and many people remained in the streets for hours, fearful of returning to the structures.
Alarms blared and traffic stopped around the Angel of Independence monument on the iconic Reforma Avenue.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.1 hit at 1:14 p.m. (2:15 p.m. EDT) and it was centered near the Puebla state town of Raboso, about 76 miles (123 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City.
Puebla Gov. Tony Gali tweeted that there had been damaged buildings in the city of Cholula including collapsed church steeples.
Earlier in the day workplaces across the city held readiness drills on the anniversary of the 1985 quake, a magnitude 8.0 shake, which killed thousands of people and devastated large parts of Mexico City.
Market stall vendor Edith Lopez, 25, said she was in a taxi a few blocks away when the quake struck. She said she saw glass bursting out of the windows of some buildings. She was anxiously trying to locate her children, whom she had left in the care of her disabled mother.
Local media broadcast video of whitecap waves churning the city’s normally placid canals of Xochimilco as boats bobbed up and down.
The Associated Press reports that Mexico City’s international airport suspended operations and was checking facilities for any damage.
Much of Mexico City is built on former lakebed, and the soil can amplify the effects of earthquakes centered hundreds of miles away.
The new quake appears to be unrelated to the magnitude 8.1 temblor that hit Sept. 7 off Mexico’s southern coast and which also was felt strongly in the capital.
U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Paul Earle noted that the epicenters of the two quakes are 400 miles (650 kilometers) apart and most aftershocks are within 100 kilometers.
There have been 19 earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or larger within 250 kilometers of Tuesday’s quake in the past century, Earle said.
Earth usually has about 15 to 20 earthquakes this size or larger each year, Earle said.
Initial calculations show that more than 30 million people would have felt moderate shaking from Tuesday’s quake. The US Geological Survey predicts “significant casualty and damage are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread.”
The Federal Republic of Germany on Friday, September 15, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 76th future Party to the Minamata Convention.
Angela Merkel, German Chancellor
This is the second ratification of the global pact after it entered into force and became legally binding on Wednesday, August 16, 2017. The first nation to ratify the treaty after it entered into force and became legally binding is the Republic of Namibia, which on Wednesday, September 6, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 75th future Party to the Minamata Convention.
Prior to the entry into force, Brazil on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 74th Party.
Earlier, Kiribati (July 28) and Syria (July 26) deposited their instruments of ratification to become 73rd and 72nd Parties, while Jamaica on Wednesday, July 19, 2017 became the 71st Party to the mercury convention.
Hitherto, the Governments of Rwanda, Palau, Thailand, Slovenia and Viet Nam deposited their instruments of ratification, thereby becoming the 66th to 70th future Parties to the mercury treaty.
The depositions were made on Wednesday, June 21; Thursday, June 22; Friday, June 23; and Thursday, June 29, 2017. While Palau deposited on Wednesday and Thailand on Thursday, both Slovenia and Viet Nam did likewise on Friday. Rwanda followed up a week later on Thursday.
Previously, Iran and Estonia had ratified the Convention, which has already entered into force, thanks to the landmark rash of ratifications on Thursday, May 18, 2017 that triggered the entry into force of the mercury accord, having garnered the required 50 ratifications.
On that day, the EU and seven of its member States – Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden – deposited their instruments of ratification at the UN Headquarters in New York, bringing to 51 that day the number of future Parties.
To commemorate the historic development, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Kumamoto Prefecture and Minamata City on Saturday, July 1, 2017 held “Celebrating Event for the Minamata Convention on Mercury – Voice from Minamata towards the Entry into Force” in Minamata City, Kumamoto, Japan.
The 1st Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention (COP1) will gather governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations from around the world in Geneva from September 24 to 29, 2017.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury (“Minamata Convention”) is a new international environmental convention for global community to work collaboratively against mercury pollution. The Minamata Convention aims at achieving environmentally sound mercury management throughout its life cycle. The Convention was adopted at the diplomatic conferences held in Minamata City and Kumamoto City in October 2013.
A new business campaign designed to fast-track the uptake of electric vehicles (EV) and infrastructure has been launched by The Climate Group at an event in New York on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 as business and government leaders gathered at Climate Week NYC.
Electric vehicles and solar panels could halt worldwide growth in demand for oil and coal by 2020
Baidu, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Heathrow Airport, HP Inc., IKEA Group, LeasePlan, METRO AG, PG&E, Unilever, and Vattenfall are the 10 first members of EV100, an initiative that encourages global business commitments on electric transport, with members swapping their large diesel/petrol vehicle fleets to electric vehicle fleets and/or installing electric battery charging infrastructure by 2030.
Helen Clarkson, CEO, The Climate Group, said: “We want to make electric transport the new normal. There are two fundamental problems to be addressed. Transport is still the fastest growing area of carbon emissions, as the shift to electric vehicles is not happening fast enough; and mass system change, even with Government intervention, needs much greater customer demand.
“EV100 will use companies’ collective global buying power and influence on employees and customers to build demand and cut costs. The members being announced today see the business logic in leading a faster transition and addressing local air quality issues in their markets. They are setting a competitive challenge to the auto industry to deliver more EVs, sooner and at lower cost.”
Together, EV100 members will send a strong market signal that there is mass demand for electric vehicles by 2030 or before, well ahead of current forecasts for global uptake. By setting out their future EV purchasing requirements on an ambitions timescale, these big purchasers can drive mass roll-out, reduce costs, and make electric cars more rapidly affordable for everyone around the world.
Pia Heidenmark-Cook, Acting CSO, IKEA Group, said: “IKEA Group wants to show that a transition to electric vehicles is possible, bringing benefits for both the global climate and the local environment around our stores. That’s why we are excited to join EV100 as founding members, and accelerate the change towards more sustainable transportation.”
Reflecting China’s role as a global leader on climate action, and the world’s largest car market, the Chinese tech giant Baidu is joining EV100 and urging other Chinese companies to follow suit. Baidu is also a world leader in the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and is developing future autonomous EV technology across the industry.
Wang Lu, Vice President, Baidu, said: “We are delighted to be the first Chinese company to join EV100. As one of the world’s leading IT companies, we are inspired to create a better future for all through technology innovation, and are committed to sustainability across our business operations. We have already made significant progress in promoting low carbon electromobility. We hope that other Chinese companies will follow our lead.”
International leasing company LeasePlan is committing to transition its own fleets as well as those of its customers as part of its ambition to achieve net zero emissions from the corporate automotive sector by 2030.
Tex Gunning, CEO, LeasePlan, said: “LeasePlan is delighted to be a founding member of EV100 and proud to announce today that its own employee fleet will be going electric, making us the first major leasing company to make the switch. Our ambition is for all employees to be driving electric cars by 2021. Over half the cars on the road today belong to companies. Making the transition to an electric fleet is one of the easiest ways for businesses to help tackle climate change.”
Deutsche Post DHL Group and the Swedish power company Vattenfall are also signing up to EV100 to build upon their ambitious electro-mobility targets. Vattenfall is working to transition its corporate fleet to EVs over the next five years while Deutsche Post DHL Group has invested in its own vehicle manufacturer StreetScooter to supply specialised postal vans for its operations.
Magnus Hall, CEO, Vattenfall, said: “Climate change is one of our biggest challenges so we are very happy to join the EV100 initiative. Replacing our whole 3,500 car fleet with EV in the coming five years, working with our customers to deploy charging infrastructure, and building northern Europe’s biggest connected charging network, are three examples of actions we are taking to promote a sustainable and climate smarter living for customers and citizens.”
EV100 is being launched at a time when the transport sector is the fastest-growing global contributor to climate change, with businesses owning a significant portion of all registered vehicles on the roads. EV100 will draw on business leadership to accelerate the shift to electric transport and help to make electric vehicles “the new normal” by 2030.
EV100 members recognise that transitioning to electric transport makes business sense. As well as helping deliver on sustainability goals, it will generate long-term savings while increasing competitiveness, and help to future-proof their operations.
HP Inc. has committed to roll out their progressive workplace charging scheme internationally. US utility PG&E, which is already heavily invested in EVs both for its customers and in its own operations, has committed to expand its engagement both on staff and customer charging. German retailer METRO AG has also committed to supporting EV charging for their staff and consumers, benefitting the public as well as their business. Unilever and Heathrow Airport have pledged comprehensive action as part of their prominent corporate sustainability plans.
Companies joining EV100 make a public commitment to fast-track EV uptake in one or more of the following four commitment areas by 2030:
Integrating electric vehicles directly into owned or leased corporate fleets
Placing requirements in service contracts for electric vehicle usage
Supporting staff to use electric vehicles (by installing workplace charging infrastructure)
Supporting electric vehicle uptake by customers (by installing customer charging infrastructure)
Melissa Lavinson, CSO, PG&E Corporation, said: “With nearly 300,000 electric vehicles already on California’s roads and bold goals for the future, we are at the forefront of the transition to a low-carbon transportation sector. By expanding the state’s EV infrastructure and operating a clean transportation fleet, PG&E will continue to help California meet the climate challenge, while making it more convenient for our customers to choose clean, affordable electricity to fuel their vehicles. We’re excited to join EV100 and help demonstrate what’s possible.”
The Climate Group is a member of the We Mean Business coalition of nonprofits working with global businesses to take action on climate change. EV100 will be one of the We Mean Business coalition’s suite of commitments that together enable further, faster corporate action on climate change.
Nigel Topping, CEO, We Mean Business, said: “The end of the internal combustion engine is inevitable. Companies committed to EV100 send a powerful signal that adds to the chorus from states, cities and car makers that the transition to 100% electric vehicles will happen much faster than many had anticipated just a few years ago.”
The High-Level Climate Champions, Ms. Hakima El Haite, and Mr. Inia B. Seruiratu, Fijian Minister of Agriculture on Tuesday, September 18, 2017 launched the Climate Action Leadership Network at the Climate Week in New York.
Members of the Climate Action Leadership Network
The vision is to bring together a high-level network of leaders to drive urgent climate action ahead of 2020, when national governments will meet to take stock of progress toward meeting the goal of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The launch coincided with the inaugural meeting of the Leadership Network, which convened at the United Nations Headquarters with the Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa.
During the meeting, the former President of Kiribati, Mr. Anote Tong, underscored the importance of broadening the leadership for Global Climate Action: “We need to go forward…there are different levels of challenges for countries regarding climate change; however, for the most vulnerable countries like mine, we don’t have a future if we don’t see immediate action. We need concrete solutions to guarantee our future.”
It is expected that this network – the founding members of which are listed below – will support the Champions and the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action to encourage governments to raise the ambition of their national climate pledges, in advance of when they are scheduled to take effect in 2020. To ensure representation from all sectors and geographies, membership will expand over time.
Founding members of the Climate Action Leadership Network:
Mr. Saad Abid, President, Bahri Association
Mr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, UAE
Mr. Miguel Arias Cañete, European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, EU
Mr. Marcelo Mena Carrasco. Minister of Environment, Chile
Ms. Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and Chair of C40
Ms. Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, Co-Chair, International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change to the UNFCCC
Ms. Jill Peeters, Founder of the Climate without Borders
Ms. Romina Picolotti, President of Centro de Derechos Humanos y Ambiente and Former Minister of Environment, Argentina
Mr. Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever
Mr. Manuel Pulgar Vidal, Leader of the Climate and Energy Practice of WWF International.
Mr. Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the UN Environment
Mr. Ashok-Alexander Sridharan, Mayor of Bonn and First Vice-President of ICLEI
Mr. Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator
Mr. Anote Tong, Former President of Kiribati
The need for broader leadership for Global Climate Action (GCA) was highlighted during the Marrakech climate negotiations last year when it was acknowledged that the Champions and the UN Climate Secretariat could not achieve the aims of the Marrakech Partnership by 2020 by acting alone.To create effective connections with those actors already directly engaged in accelerating climate action, the Champions therefore decided to establish a Leadership Network, as a means of mobilising decision-makers and thought-leaders committed to delivering of immediate climate action.
The Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action supports implementation of the Paris Agreement by enabling collaboration between governments and non-Party stakeholders (i.e. cities, regions, businesses and investors). It is led by the High-Level Climate Champions and its mission is to strengthen and enhance action by these actors to immediately lower emissions and increase resilience against climate impacts. To maximise the convening power of the UNFCCC and connect local, national, regional and international actors to promote solutions, the Partnership has spurred a range of initiatives, including the establishment of the newly-launched Climate Action Leadership Network.
A Federal High Court, Lagos will on September 25, 2017 hear the suit filed by Prince Toluwaleke Megba and Lucky Megba Ojonla Nigeria Limited against the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and five others over theirs right to operate in the inland waterways in Lagos for specific number of years.
Other respondents in the suit are Lagos state government, Attorney General of Lagos, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, Eleguishi Property Investment, and Van Oord Nigeria Limited.
The Federal High Court in Lagos
The court had at the last adjourned date, ordered parties to maintain status quo, pending the determination of the application.
A decision, which the applicants are alleging has been violated by the defendants.
The case with suit number FHC/L/CS/655/2017 is before Justice M.S. Hassan.
Following the creation of Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, conflict arose as to who is charged with the responsibility of regulating waterways in the Lagos between LASWA and NIWA.
As a result, the Incorporated Associations of Dredgers and Water Transport Operators had gone to court to challenge the state government on the LASWA creation, since they were already dealing with NIWA and the court ruled in favour of NIWA/NIMASA (Nigerian Maritime Administration and Security Agency) and the operators.
The court said then that operators should relate with NIWA since the 1999 Constitution places the control of the inland waterways on the exclusive list to be controlled by the Federal Government.
Although dissatisfied with the decision, Lagos State stopped interfering in the regulation and control of the waterways in the state but appealed the judgment.
Just recently, the Appeal Court, Lagos division delivered judgment affirming the powers of Lagos to control the inland waterways.
Now Lagos state government is bent on carrying out the judgment by approving the expansion of Ikate Kingdom by 200 hectares of land to Lekki Phase 1, through dredging of the lagoon, thereby dislodging those who were earlier in possession of the property.
Consequently, the applicants approached the court, seeking for an injunction to stop them for taken over possession of the disputed waterways.
The federal government has urged the media to report activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other issues of national interest professionally.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed (middle), during the meeting
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said this in a meeting with select media executives in Lagos on Monday, September 18, 2017.
According to Mohammed, the Nigerian media cannot afford to sit on the fence and allow anarchy to fester, because they cannot operative in an atmosphere of anarchy.
He said IPOB is a contraption sponsored by a “coalition of the politically disgruntled and the treasury looters” to destabilise the country and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
For him, with Buhari in the saddle, those disgruntled elements would not have access to loot public funds anymore.
Mohammed said, “The activities of IPOB became heightened with the advent of this administration, and have been unrelenting since then. If this is coincidental, then that coincidence is uncanny, at the least. Remember that Nnamdi Kanu, who led a protest at the Nigeria House in London against Boko Haram insurgency and in support of Nigeria’s unity under the (Goodluck) Jonathan administration, has suddenly metamorphosed into an IPOB monster who will rather set the nation ablaze.
“Has anyone wondered why IPOB decided to up the ante, so to say, in its violent campaign immediately it was announced that Nigeria has come out of recession? Now, instead of the government being given the chance to consolidate on that monumental achievement, it is being distracted, and the airwaves have been polluted with the activities of IPOB. The good news of the end of recession and its fall-outs are being replaced in the headlines with the IPOB show of shame.
“We saw this trend early on and we warned the nation about it. The starting point was the rise of hate speech, fake news and disinformation. These were used in an attempt to downgrade the achievements of the administration and to hoodwink an unsuspecting public into believing that the administration has not moved the nation forward an inch since assuming office. Since 2016, we have been calling attention to the dangers posed by hate speech, fake news and disinformation. Our calls did not gain traction until those behind the campaign sought to overwhelm the nation.
“The self-imposed IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is the master of hate speech. No one, including the same people whose rights he claimed to be championing, escaped his vitriolic and primitive attacks. We challenge all his sympathisers to scrutinise his incendiary, divisive and inciting speeches, the name-calling and the derogatory remarks about the nation’s leaders, and then tell the nation if such do not constitute hate speech. Leaders of thought and commentators who have shown the inclination to accommodate Kanu and his excesses should say if this is what they expect from someone who wants to lead.”
Mohammed said no nation would take IPOB’s activities lying low.
He justified the military’s verdict that IPOB is a terrorist organisation, with the allegations that the group, which had been professing non-violence, mounts roadblocks and extorts innocent citizens, confronts Nigerian military, triggers conflagration nationwide through attacks and reprisals, among other atrocious acts.
“IPOB engaged in physical confrontation with troops at a checkpoint on September 11, 2017, during which they attempted to snatch soldiers’ rifles,” he said.
On IPOB’s claim that it was fighting for the rights of Ndigbo, the minister said the group was not fighting anybody’s rights.
However, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has condemned the labelling of IPOB as a terrorist organisation by the army, describing it as unconstitutional.
“I wish to state that the announcement of the proscription of the group known as Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by governors of the South East states and the categorisation of the group as a ‘terrorist organisation’ by the Nigerian military are unconstitutional and do not follow due process.
“Our laws make clear provisions for taking such actions and, without the due process being followed, such declaration cannot have effect.
“I am sure the president will do the needful by initiating the right process. This will go a long way in demonstrating to the world at large that we are a country that operates by laid down process under every circumstance.
“So, those who have been hammering on this point should maintain their cool,” he said.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and global leaders from local governments, the private sector and civil society on Monday, September 18, 2017 agreed to accelerate efforts on climate action and to implement the Paris Agreement at a meeting during the UN General Assembly High Level Week.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General
The discussions herald a new phase in efforts aimed at mobilising and scaling up transformative action that will allow the world to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change. They also recognise that the coalitions that have come together to develop and adopt the Paris Agreement must now shift their focus to implementation.
Leaders identified a set of sectors to aggressively push for low carbon pathways which included technology, the transition to cleaner energy, setting a realistic price on carbon, and insurance, reducing the risks from disasters and the impacts of climate change.
The meeting was part of a series of informal discussions organised by the Secretary-General with world leaders, from both government, private sector and non-governmental organisations, to forge alliances between governments and business for implementing the Paris Agreement in the run-up to a Summit he will hold in 2019.
The Secretary-General will also meet with a group of heads of state and government on climate issues on Tuesday.
Among those attending the meeting were California Governor, Edmund G. Brown Jr; Michael R. Bloomberg, UN Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change; former Vice President, Al Gore; Climate Champion Hakima El Haite, Morocco, Inia Seruiratu; Climate Champion, Fiji, Patrick Pouyanne; CEO of Total, Safa’ Al Jayoussi; Executive Director of the NGO IndyAct, Jordan; and Manual Pulgar Vidal, from the World Wide Fund for Nature WWF.
The Secretary-General applauded the efforts of Mr. Bloomberg – including with the Global Covenant of Mayors, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, and the America’s Pledge initiative – to lead efforts driving climate action across a wide range of society. “I will lean on him as my Special Envoy to accelerate and deepen the role of sub-national actors in the implementation of the Paris Agreement in preparation of the 2019 Climate Summit.”
“Addressing climate change requires leadership from the groups that have the most direct connection to emissions – cities, regions, and businesses,” said Mr. Bloomberg. “I look forward to supporting the Secretary-General as the UN brings these non-national actors to the table to drive even more ambitious climate action.”
“Climate change, if unchecked, threatens all humanity,” said California Governor and UN Climate Change Conference Special Advisor for States and Regions Edmund G. Brown Jr. “California, with purpose and resolve, will join with the rest of the world to decarbonise the economy.”
Businesses and local governments are increasingly playing an out-sized role in advancing climate action – often surpassing the efforts of national governments. Cities, at the forefront of efforts to build resiliency and companies, businesses and investors have vastly increased action to reduce their global carbon footprint. But there is no formal mechanism to recognise and measure these contributions toward the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.
Mr. Gore said, “We are still behind where we should be in solving the climate crisis, but we see the path forward. Mobilising and engaging local, state and regional governments, businesses and investors and community organisers in the implementation process of the Paris Agreement is absolutely essential.”
Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan of Catbalogan, Philippines, welcomed the initiative to engage representatives from non-party entities. “It’s good to know that you’re not along in pushing for lower emissions. We cannot do this alone. This helps us move faster for our constituents and to help the lives of our people.”Safa’ Al Jayoussi, the Executive Director of the NGO IndyAct in Jordan, said “Getting all the actors in the same room as the Secretary-General is extremely important to us. It is really important as civil society to have our voices heard.”
The destruction and loss of life due to extreme weather events, such as the recent storms that ravage the Caribbean region and South Asia, have added an additional impetus for action.
Mr. Guterres said, “We count the costs in lives, livelihoods and damaged economies. Since 2008, some 20 million people a year have been forcibly displaced by floods, storms, fires and extreme temperature.”
He added, “Climate change is not a distant problem for future generations,” Mr. Guterres said. “It is here, now, and we need to deal with it.” He added that governments alone cannot handle the enormity of the challenge.
The Secretary-General said the commitments under the Paris Agreement are still insufficient to limit global temperature rise to well under 2°C. “There is at least a 14 Gigaton gap,” he said. “That is why I asked you here today. We can change this situation. I hope, together, we can emphatically bend the emission curve by 2020.”
The Secretary-General called for boosting efforts to mobilise financing and creating bankable projects, and to intensify efforts in high impact areas such as in key areas that will result in the largest emission decreases and greatest efforts to build resilience to the more intense storms and impacts of climate change.
This informal dialogue was the first concrete step towards the Secretary-General’s Climate Summit in 2019, the dialogue will focus on engaging Heads of State and Government for enhancing leadership and building informal coalitions in key areas as well as outlining steps towards an accelerated transformation that continues to drive emissions reduction together with sustained economic growth.
The African Women Water Sanitation and Hygiene Network (AWWASHNET) has decried the state of water infrastructure in communities across Lagos, even as it demands innovative financing of the sector within the realm of public control.
Observers believe that the bulk of the Lagos population have limited access to potable water
AWWASHNET made the demand after carrying out a fact-finding visit to different communities in Lagos, including Orile-Iganmu, Okokomaiko, Orile Agege, among others, drawing the conclusion that the state’s water infrastructure were in dire straits.
The group said women bear the brunt of the lack of water as they would have to go the extra mile to ensure they have adequate water for drinking and other domestic uses.
Vice Chairperson of AWWASHNET, Vickie Uremma, said: “In the communities visited, the stark reality of lack of water and rotting water infrastructure stared us in the face. Clearly, all the talk of the state government about guaranteeing access to water has only remained within the realm of talk.
“We observed broken pipes, commissioned water facilities that have never run for a single day and the attendant terrible sanitation situation that endanger the communities but most especially women that are generally known to be more susceptible to diseases related to lack of water.”
Uremma said that the situation would worsen if the state government presses ahead with plans to embark on Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the water sector instead of committing to democratically-controlled water systems.
“The solution to the water crisis we are witnessing in the communities is a sincere commitment on the part of the state government to ensure sustained funding of the sector just like it funds security and other sectors.”
She averred that water is a right and as such it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that it is available in adequate quantity for every citizen irrespective of their ability to pay or not, while exploring other not-for-profit innovations.”
The AWWASHN is a network of women activists and women-led organisations in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector in Africa formed in August, 2015.
