The Director General/CEO, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr Rufus Ebegba, has assured Nigerians that the Agency will continue to ensure that any genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) allowed into the country will pose no threat to human health or the environment.
DG/CEO NBMA, Dr. Rufus Ebegba (second left), receiving an award from the Director, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Comrade Adedotun Omoleye
Dr Ebegba, who said this while receiving an award bestowed on him by the National Youth Council of Nigeria in Abuja on Wednesday, September 19 2017, urged Nigerians to trust the federal government to safeguard their health and the environment from potential adverse impacts of modern biotechnology.
According to him, NBMA was established by government to ensure safety in the application of modern biotechnology and the use of its products, adding that the future and wellbeing of Nigerians are paramount to the government.
“The present administration sees the need for the youths to be gainfully employed that is why most of the staff of the Agency are youths. This is a deliberate attempt to ensure that the youths are empowered,” he said.
He urged them to shun violence and work together for the unity of the nation, noting that the youths are key to the development of the nation.
DG/CEO NBMA, Dr. Rufus Ebegba (left), receiving an award from President of the Association of Northern Nigerian Students, Comrade Haruna Hamza
While presenting the award, the President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Ugwumba Kelechi, commended the DG/CEO for his outstanding leadership in ensuring that the Agency is up and doing in the regulation of modern biotechnology and its products.
Also on Wednesday, the Association of Northern Nigerian Students (ANNS) presented an award of excellence to Dr Ebegba for his outstanding service to humanity.
Comrade Haruna Hamza, the president of the ANNS, while presenting the award, said the award was well deserved, adding that the DG is an ambassador of peace and urged him not to rest on his strides as the Northern students who are over 18 million in number are in support of his activities on GMOs regulation in the country.
The DG/CEO thanked both bodies and pledged to keep up the standard of the Agency for the good of the country.
Nigerian business leader Aliko Dangote told investors that going by its prowess in agriculture, Africa has the potential to become the food basket of the world.
Rwandan president, Paul Kagame (second left) with Nigerian businessman, Aliko Dangote (right)
In a packed room at a side event during the ongoing UN General Assembly in New York, business leaders and international diplomats invited by the Corporate Council for Africa heard Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, openly converse on Africa’s opportunities and challenges. The event held at the headquarters of global law firm Shearman and Sterling LLC.
Both leaders underscored the ongoing movement to diversify the African economy. In the case of Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, Dangote stated: “We should pray that oil prices remain low. This helps wean us off the dependency on revenues from petroleum. We must take oil to be the icing on the cake. We already have the cake,” he added.
In addition to agriculture, Dangote cited Nigeria’s vast mineral resources and gas as well as the need to manufacture more goods locally for domestic consumption. Both he and President Kagame cited continued need for heavy investments in education and connected the need for young people to be well trained for the jobs of tomorrow.
Dangote predicted that “five of the 12 million jobs needed in Africa soon must be created in Nigeria.”
Dangote’s fortune, which stems from cement, sugar, and other household commodities, has expanded into fertiliser and other processed high-value goods. “Technology of course helps us a lot and our factories are state-of-the-art with the use of robotics, but we shouldn’t be overly tech oriented to create wealth,” he told investors.
Mr. Dangote, who is often cited as one of the most inspiring business leaders in the world today and a model for young entrepreneurs, offered advice to Americans who tend to rely on outdated news and wrong perceptions of Africa, “Don’t be lazy. Go there and find the real story for yourself. Things have changed.”
Dangote cited the Rwanda success story where he has business interests as an example of positive change, good governance and leadership, and where corruption has been cured. He cited a personal experience of offering a $100 tip for services at the Kigali Airport to staff who refused to take money for work they were paid to do. President Kagame was praised for delivering the environment for growth he promised. “There is nothing African about corruption,” the Rwandan president added.
The session was moderated by Rosa Whitaker, former US Trade Representative and author of the AGOA (African Growth Opportunity Act), whose business consultancy is credited for helping both African governments and US companies develop commerce.
Seventeen non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have jointly dragged the Federal Government before an Abuja Federal High Court, over permits allegedly issued by the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) for genetically modified (GM) cotton and maize in Nigeria.
The GM Bt Cotton
The groups, led by the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), are asking the court to declare as null and void the permits granted Monsanto Agricultural Nigeria Limited for the commercial release of BT Cotton (MON 15985).
They are also asking for the revocation of the permit allegedly granted the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) for the confined field trial of NK603 and MON89034X NK 603 Maize in Nigeria.
According to the groups, the permits given to Monsanto were issued on May 1, 2016, a Public Holiday being Sunday and Workers Day were “illegal, null and void.” They also contended that the permit issued to NBDA violates the fundamental human rights of the general public.
They are therefore asking the court for a perpetual injunction to restrain both Monsanto and NBDA from carrying out any activity or further activity pursuant to those permits.
Listed as defendants in the suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/846/201) are: NBMA, the Minister of Environment, Monsanto, NABDA, Minister of Agriculture, the Attorney General of the Federation and the National Agency for Foods Drugs and Administration (NAFDAC).
The groups averred that the issuance of the permits to both Monsanto and NABDA constitute threat to the fundamental human rights of the general public and a breach of the 1999 Constitution as amended in 2011.
In response to the diesel scandal, the diesel tax advantage should be completely abandoned within the European Union (EU), according to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC).
Air pollution from diesel-powered cars
In Germany, for example, diesel would then be about 20 cents per litre more expensive at the pump. In return, however, this measure would allow Germany but also France to reduce the emissions of CO2 and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by about 10 percent over five years. This is because diesel drivers in particular are much more sensitive to fuel price changes than previously assumed: a price hike of 20 cents per liter would lower their overall consumption by an estimated 14 percent.
These are core findings of a new study conducted by the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC). MCC researcher Nicolas Koch together with Anne Zimmer of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have presented these findings in their article “Fuel Consumption Dynamics in Europe: Tax Reform Implications for Air Pollution and Carbon Emissions”, which was recently published in the journal Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice.
The new results are of particular relevance against the backdrop of the diesel scandal. The automobile industry is in a deep crisis, and bans on diesel vehicles are currently being considered in more than a dozen German cities. The mobility transition from fossil fuels to electricity could even play a role in the coalition negotiations following the Bundestag elections.
In Germany, the Greens are demanding a ban on new diesel cars from 2030 onwards. France and Britain have already announced a ban on new gasoline and diesel cars to be introduced at the latest from 2040 onwards. To date, however, the debate has been largely limited to prohibitions rather than looking at the tax break currently granted to diesel drivers.
The diesel scandal shows that emission standards alone are not sufficient to achieve climate protection targets and improved air quality. In contrast to emission standards and thresholds, a different diesel tax policy would provide significant revenues to EU countries. In fact, the fiscal households of Germany and France each stand to gain around €4 billion in the year of the reform, and those of Italy, Spain and the Netherlands €1 billion each. According to the study, these revenues could be invested in public transport or the research and development of cleaner driving technologies.
“The transition towards sustainable mobility with electric cars won’t in itself solve the diesel problem. Diesel would remain attractive in the countryside and for long-distance transport, especially since a lower fuel demand would lead to a price drop,” explains MCC researcher Koch, who supervised the study. “However, the fact that diesel vehicles are used primarily by companies, which are particularly sensitive to price changes at the fuel pump, gives us a great opportunity for introducing behavioral changes through policy.”
On the basis of EU data about fleet composition and fuel consumption, the researchers determined how strongly drivers of gasoline and diesel cars react to increases in fuel prices. They then calculated how emissions would change under two policy scenarios, one being the abolishment of diesel tax breaks and the other the introduction of a carbon tax. To emphasise the pure price effect, they assumed that the drivers’ income as well as the vehicle fleet remain the same. According to the study, both policies can significantly contribute to the reduction of NOx emissions and the compliance with CO2 reduction targets in the EU.
“In the electrification of the mobility sector, policy can embark on different paths,” says Ottmar Edenhofer, MCC Director and PIK Chief Economist. “In order to avoid having to impose diesel driving bans, policy makers should use every opportunity including the removal of the diesel tax advantages, as that measure already would allow for significant emissions reductions. The new revenues could be used to help absorb the burdens on commuters and heavy road users through new socially balanced mobility concepts.”
A complete elimination of the EU tax benefits for diesel fuels would also bring the ambitious EU climate protection targets for 2020 into reach. The transport sector, with its steadily rising emissions, is considered a key challenge to achieving these targets. “In terms of climate and environmental policy, there is really no reason for the diesel privilege. Per liter, diesel is significantly dirtier than a gasoline fuel. An end to the tax benefits for diesel would reduce as much CO2 emissions as a carbon price of 50 euros per ton,” says PIK researcher Anne Zimmer. “Yet a carbon tax of that magnitude would be difficult to implement in Europe. In contrast, abolishing the diesel tax advantages would provide EU member states the required funds to build new climate- and environmentally-friendly infrastructures.”
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.
