Up to two billion hectares of land are degraded. On average, 12 million hectares are lost every year and 169 countries are affected by land degradation, desertification and drought. In an unprecedented global campaign to save productive land, 112 countries, as of today, have agreed to make the Sustainable Development Goal target of achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030 a national target for action.

The world’s largest and most populous nations, including Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Russia and South Africa have committed to the national targets in a move that could see over 1.3 billion mostly poor people regaining food, water, energy and job security, and resilience to climate change. Conservative estimates put the cost of land degradation globally at $297 billion per year.

Under the land degradation neutrality target setting programme spearheaded by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and supported by 17 international partners, more than 60 of these countries have already established national land degradation baselines and set neutrality targets.

Joining the initiative signals a country’s determination to restore degraded land to ensure the amoung of productive land available today is maintained going forward.

“Desertification is the joint mission of all mankind and the responsibility of the international community to ensure a beautiful planet,” said Mr. Wang Yang, China’s Vice Premier.

“Over the coming decades China will put an emphasis on the development of an ecological civilisation – including by combating desertification – to ensure better societal fairness and human well-being,” he added.

Wang was speaking on behalf of President Xi Jinping at the Ministerial meeting of the 13th session of the UNCCD in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, where more than 80 ministers discussed pursuing land degradation neutrality as a viable response to the growing threats of desertification, drought, and sand and dust storms.

Desertification, land degradation and drought are threats to global security due to their impacts on number of livelihoods tied to the productivity of land – more than two billion. This year, drought led to the worst humanitarian crises since the Second World War. Distress migration driven by desertification in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to reach 60 million out to 2045.

“The population is growing at an extra 200,000 people every day, while 20 countries have declared drought emergencies in the last 18 months alone. We were clearly not sufficiently prepared for these challenges. Hundreds of millions of people go to bed desperate, hungry and thirsty as a result. Under business as usual scenarios, there is no future relief,” said Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary, UNCCD.

She said the Convention, at its current Conference, “can offer the poor a new deal. By using our land resources rationally and acting before it is too late, there is enough for everyone to live well… We can be better prepared for drought and offer stable, green and land-based employment and development for millions of rural people. We can promote harmony between city and country and offer opportunity for all,” Barbut added.

A priority issue for the ministers is the mechanism needed to ensure communities that are vulnerable and at risk of drought have the means to take early action. They will also consider how to address the new sources of sand and dust storms, how to motivate the private sector to invest in land-restoration, and motivate mayors and local and regional leaders to support the achievement of these targets.

The 13th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification (COP13) is taking place in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China.

At a press conference with journalists, Mr Liu Dongshen, Vice Minister State Forestry Administration, said for some years now, China has restored more land than it has degraded. Last year, it registered a net surplus of more than 2,000 square kilometers. This year, the country has restored over 1,000 square kilometers above the net balance.

In addition to the strategic plan for 2018-2030, the ministerial declaration and the decisions COP13 will take on drought, land rights and sand and dust storms, he underlined the mobilisation of youth as an important issue from the Conference, which China will pursue going forward.

More than 4,000 delegates are participating in COP13, which runs until September 16.

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) of Kenya is the principle government agency responsible for the management of the country’s environmental matters. A national regulatory body established by an act of parliament in the early 2000s, NEMA has in recent years enlarged its focus to support the government’s climate action strategy. In a recent interview with the Green Climate Fund (GCF), NEMA’s Wangare Kirumba, DAE Coordinator, and Kennedy Ochuka, Director, Finance and Administration, shed some light on the activities of the authority and its strategy with the GCF. Excerpts:

What is NEMA’s level of engagement on climate change?

NEMA has several streams of engagement. First and foremost, within Kenya’s Climate Change Act, the authority has been tasked with implementing actions as defined by the country’s Climate Change Council. This includes monitoring greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and reporting overall compliance against the limits set out by the Act. NEMA leads the government’s GHG reporting requirements to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has played a key role in the development of Kenya’s national climate change action plan as well as its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).

NEMA has also been given a mandate to expand climate finance sourcing from multilateral funding organisations. The authority’s accreditation to GCF followed its accreditation to the Adaptation Fund in 2012, and we have since secured resources from this fund to promote climate action in the country.

What are some of main challenges and opportunities in responding to climate change in Kenya?

Our first key challenge is getting proper data for decision making: data that is scientifically sound and area and ecosystem specific. A second challenge is resources. The impacts associated with climate change are very clear and the interventions to help communities adapt require resources that are currently not enough to address the scale of the problem. Third, overcoming knowledge gaps. Most green technologies that are readily-available today are not applicable to our context.
However, the opportunities are many and we see the GCF as a way to avail needed resources and build momentum and energy towards addressing climate change at the required level and scale. Through the various GCF platforms, like regional dialogues and workshops for direct access entities, we are able to learn what other countries and entities are doing so that we can apply such knowledge locally. Another noteworthy opportunity is the political support and commitment that the government has placed in NEMA, which has made it possible for the authority to have access to mechanisms like GCF and the Adaptation Fund.

Can you share some of the projects that you would like to bring to the GCF?

We have five funding proposals under development that are focused on adaptation with mitigation co-benefits. The proposals target a range of actions that have been identified as priorities by the government of Kenya. This includes climate smart agriculture, water management and ecosystem restoration, introduction of robust tree crops to address food security, and an existing livelihood enhancement programme to work with small-scale farmers to introduce renewable energy interventions at the household level. Another project we are putting to GCF is anchored in a new form of governance in Kenya that will provide county governments with access to climate finance. These newly-formed, semi-autonomous bodies will be able to use GCF resources to inform, design and implement adaptation actions at the community-level.

What advice would you give to other organisations seeking accreditation to the GCF?

Three words: Go for it. Be prepared to learn and stand ready to grow as GCF matures. Bring your ideas and a willingness to be flexible. Prepare well and get the full support of your institution. Accreditation cannot be approached from a single unit or team; it must be an organisation-wide initiative that garners buy-in from top management. Lastly, the GCF process is strong on National Designated Authority (NDA) engagement and, as an entity, you will need to work with your NDA right from the beginning. As soon as possible, start building this relationship for a fruitful engagement.

We very much feel GCF is supporting us and pushing us to bring dynamic and strong proposals forward. As a direct access accredited entity, we feel like a valued partner.

The Chairman, National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has provided N250 million as relief assistance to victims of the devastating flood in Benue State.

Dangote, who made the disclosure on Sunday, September 10, 2017 in Lagos, stated that this was in response to the request by the Benue State Government.

He said that the committee had also approved the release of one of its completed Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Hostels in the state as a temporary shelter for some of the displaced people.

Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, had on October 11, 2012, inaugurated the Dangote-led 34-member National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation.

The committee was charged with raising additional funds to support the government’s efforts to provide adequate relief and post-impact rehabilitation to persons and communities affected by floods in the country.

Dangote said the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had disclosed that more than 110,000 people in 24 communities, including Makurdi, were displaced by the recent flood in Benue.

The committee chairman said that, asides the donation to Benue, his committee had also donated N150 million to provide relief assistance to flood victims in Anambra.

Dangote, in a statement endorsed by Mr. Sunday Esan of the Corporate Communication Department of Dangote Group, said that the committee had also released N118 million to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

He added that this was to augment the N1.6 billion released by the Federal Government for procurement of food and non-food relief materials in aid of flood victims in 16 states.

According to him, the states are Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Abuja FCT, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau and Sokoto.

He said that the committee was currently implementing the various projects in the 24 states affected by the 2012 nationwide floods.

Dangote said that the rationale behind the projects was to assist the benefiting states to better handle future emergencies, including flooding.

Disaster risk management experts, who met last week in Lagos, have set out to develop a unified nationally identified model for developing capacity at the grassroots level.

The two-day gathering (from Wednesday, September 6 to Thursday, September 7, 2017) was was originally designed as a Training of Trainers (TOT) for developing national capacities for Risk Identification, Monitoring and Assessment Monitoring (RIMA). But certain unforeseen developments, such as the inability of the Project Technical Adviser to be present at the event, informed a slight adjustment to the focus of the workshop.

Consequently, participants resolved to draft a training manual, conduct a training session, and develop a unified teaching model.

Several years ago, the National Emergency Management Agency, (NEMA) with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), commissioned a study to, among others, develop:

• A guide for RIMA conduct
• A programme for developing National Capacity and Capability in RIMA, and
• A country-wide action programme for undertaking RIMA.

In the bid to operationalise the process, stakeholders are meant to standardise National Core Technical capability in RIMA – a major anchor to the workshop.

The meeting featured representatives of six national centres of excellence for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR),which are recognised as the potential regional hub to facilitate the RIMA training in each geo-political zone.

The centres include: University of Maiduguri (North East zone), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (North West), Federal University of Technology, Minna (North Central), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (South East), University of Port Harcourt (South South) and University of Ibadan (South West).

“Each of the universities has a centre for disaster risk reduction and management, and we intend to use the centres to reach out to communities in their respective regions, in the light of the fact that they are already experts with ready –made technical capacity,” said Benjamin Oghenah, Deputy Director, Disaster Risk Reduction at NEMA.

He added: “We are now developing one unified model to be used nationally, both in content and methodology, that can be applied across the nation through these centres while utilising the peculiarities they face in their specific regions.

“We are hoping that the UNDP will provide the support so that each centre will now go back to the states within their region and undertake the RIMA.”

Oghenah disclosed that, apart from the DRR centres of excellence, State Environmental Management Agencies (SEMAs) of Kaduna, Lagos and Bayelsa also attended the workshop “to observe what is happening and give a critique”.

“Bayelsa SEMA complained of funding constraints,” he said, remarking that disaster risk management is now taking global attention, and that the emphasis is more on risk management than the hazard.

After a nearly week-long rampage through the Caribbean, Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys at 9:10 am (local time) on Sunday (September 10, 2017) morning as a 130 mph Category 4 – beginning a day-long onslaught of the country’s most hurricane-prone state.

Winds at the National Weather Service office in Key West frequently approached 100 mph as meteorologists braced themselves inside their fortified office, providing updates on the storm. “This Is As Real As It Gets,” one of them wrote in a tweet. Later in the day, Irma’s core of winds and storm surge will move up the state’s west coast, maintaining at least Category 3 strength until the center is north of Tampa.

An impact this strong is rare, even for Florida. Just six hurricanes in U.S. history have made landfall at a greater intensity than Irma, the last being Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Together with last month’s landfall of Hurricane Harvey, Irma marks the first time in U.S. history that two Category 4 hurricanes have made landfall in the same year, let alone back-to-back.

Miami-Dade County, where Irma was previously feared to be headed, was rocked by wind gusting up to 100 mph that knocked out power to more than half of its 1.1 million customers. Tornado warnings punctuated the night. The constant howl of wind was interrupted every so often with something slapping into shutters.

Nearly seven million people have been asked to flee the path of the storm; depending on how many have actually left, this could be the largest mass evacuation in U.S. history. The storm is so huge that tropical storm watches extend as far inland as Atlanta. Heavy rain and frequent tornadoes plagued the Miami area overnight, and should continue throughout the day.

As the storm moves away from the Keys, the biggest worry is Irma’s immense coastal flood potential, which could bring record-setting inundation to nearly all of the state’s West Coast cities, including Naples, Ft. Myers, and Tampa. In southwest Florida, water levels could approach 15 feet above normal, with waves an additional 30 feet on top of that. That’s enough to submerge entire neighborhoods.

In Naples, water levels are expected to sharply rise as Irma’s center passes by and winds shift from offshore to onshore – creating a tsunami-like effect which could lead to an eight-foot wall of water inundating beaches in a matter of minutes. Irma’s surge is expected to be concentrated in Ft. Myers, where residents spent the night in the hallways of local schools.

In Tampa Bay, widely considered to be the most vulnerable metro area in the country to severe storm surge, Irma’s massive circulation could align to produce a near worst-case scenario should it track just offshore. The last time Tampa had a direct hit with a hurricane as strong as Irma was 1921, when the region had less than 2 percent of its current population. Official forecasts call for Irma to move directly over the metro area.

In addition to the coastal flooding, Irma is expected to bring up to two feet of rain to large parts of Florida today, and since the hurricane is wider than Florida itself, hurricane force winds could affect the state’s East Coast cities as well.

Such widespread impacts means Irma will almost surely become one of the worst hurricanes in U.S. history. Quick growth statewide in recent years means there are many more people in harm’s way than during 1992’s Hurricane Andrew, the last storm this strong to hit the state. Initial estimates from insurers are that, with Harvey, Irma could rank among the country’s all-time costliest natural disasters.

The connection between climate change and hurricanes like Harvey and Irma is complicated, but there’s one thing for sure: Rising seas are making coastal floods worse, and seas are rising in Florida at some of the fastest rates anywhere in the world.

Courtesy: Daily Beast