United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in New York on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 issued a call to action to meet the climate challenge.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General
Speaking to students, business leaders and academics at the New York University Stern School of Business, Mr. Guterres described both the increasing risks from climate change and the compelling opportunities provided by climate action to create jobs, generate economic growth and build the foundations for a safer and more stable world.
“The effects of climate change are dangerous and they are accelerating,” he said. “It is absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris Agreement – and that we fulfil that duty with increased ambition.”
Mr. Guterres stressed that climate action is already under way, and that countries and companies that are involved would reap the rewards.
“Thousands of private corporations, including major oil and gas companies, are taking their own action”, Mr. Guterres said. “They know that green business is good business. It is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do.”
“The sustainability train has left the station. Get on board or get left behind. Those who fail to bet on the green economy will be living in a grey future. “Those who embrace green technologies will set the gold standard for economic leadership in the 21st century.”
Mr. Guterres laid out a five-point action plan to mobilise the world behind climate action.
First, intensified political engagement to raise the bar on efforts to limit temperature rise to well below 2 degrees and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.
Second, stronger, integrated support by the entire United Nations development system for Governments as they strive to meet climate commitments and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Third, engagement with Governments and major actors, including the coal, oil and gas industries, to accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy.
Fourth, heightened efforts to mobilize national and international resources for adaptation, resilience, and the implementation of national climate action plans.
Fifth, new and strengthened partnerships, including with the private sector and through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation.
The Secretary-General said he intends to convene a climate summit in 2019 and is strongly committed to working with all governments and partners to bridge divergent views and forge a shared vision of the way forward to address climate change – an unprecedented threat but also an an unparallelled opportunity.
The people of Bepotintin near Ashanti Bekwi in Ghana are probably relieved, following the arrest of the Chinese born “galamsey” or illegal mining operator, Aisha Huang, whose area of operation included their farmlands.
A cross section of the participants at the Forum in Accra, Ghana on the Campaign against Irresponsible Mining
They must be relieved because the continuous vandalising of their erstwhile cocoa farms has ceased. But their relief is short-lived, because their once lucrative cocoa farms are no more and in its place are lost livelihoods, degraded farm lands and destroyed water bodies.
In the words of Civic Response’s Albert Katako, who visited the area recently, “the worst is yet to come, because the cumulative impacts of hazardous chemicals used in mining, will begin to manifest later in the health of the people, in about five years from now.”
It is for this reason, among others, that participants at a forum held a fortnight ago in Accra on irresponsible mining called for a one-year moratorium on illegal mining, within the short term. This is to allow for space for broadened discussions on the subject and to define long term mutually beneficial and appropriate solutions.
These are some of the key recommendations participants made at the event dubbed “Forum on the Campaign against Irresponsible Mining,” organised by Wacam, Tropenbos Ghana and Citi FM. The participants were mainly members of civil society organisations, media, academia, public and private sector institutions.
They concluded that any type of mining, which severely degrades land, water bodies and forests, is not worth pursuing. This is because, aside destroying the livelihoods of people, especially those who directly depend on these natural resources, such mining threatens food security and is not cost effective eventually.
The tone for the discussion was set by the Chairman for the occasion, Nana Kobina Nketsia, Paramount Chief of Essikado Traditional Area in the Western Region, and the team of facilitators namely Umaru Sanda of Citi FM, Mrs. Hannah Owusu-Koranteng of Wacam and Kobina Nketsia of Tropenbos Ghana.
Their posture on the subject was that “illegal mining has turned the nation’s blessings into curses, resulted in unprecedented environmental damages; government’s demonstrated commitment to tackle the issue head-on is commendable; but there is need to clearly define what the problem is so that the right strategies may be found.”
Subsequently, three key presentations were delivered that traced the historical perspective of mining; established the legal context and implications; and provided an overview of the Multilateral Mining Integration Project (MMIP) of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
John Opoku, a legal practitioner, mentioned the historical land marks in mining as including the arrival of the Portuguese and their interactions with the chiefs; farmers in the early days engaging in artisanal mining as part time activity; and the fine gold exhibition organised under President Hilla Liman’s administration in 1980 that publicised Ghana internationally as a rich gold country.
He mentioned others as the participation of Ghana in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) and Structural Adjustment Programme (SAR) in 1983 under President Jerry John Rawlings.
Mr. Opoku explained that these programmes introduced the three elements of privatisation, liberalisation or open market and globalisation into the national economy, thereby granting free access to all sectors of the economy including mining to the international community.
He also made reference to the introduction of the Minerals and Mining Law 1986 (PNDC L) 153, saying it legalised surface mining in Ghana.
Augustine Niber of the Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) threw more light on the legal dimensions of the debate and explained that government’s objective for the introduction of the ERP and SAP was to attract foreign direct investment to help turn around the general economy of Ghana, and the mining sector in particular, as it was near collapse at the time.
He recalled that PNDC L 153 “was passed to speed up the process of deregulation and the freeing of the mining sector from state intervention.” M. Niber added that “… this generated financial and other incentive including the formal introduction of surface or open pit mining ….”
He noted that “since the aim of PNDC L 153 was to attract foreign direct investment, the law was heavily skewed towards the interest of the investor than the overall interest of the country, and thus failed to provide protection for affected mining communities in particular.”
Delving further into the sector’s legal instruments, Mr. Niber said attempts were made to correct the shortcomings of PNDC L 153 with the passage of other laws. These include the Minerals and Mining Act 2006 (Act 703), passed to govern the operations of both large and small scale mining. Another one is Act 703, which repealed the Small Scale Gold Mining Law 1989 (PNDC 218), and the Diamonds Decree 1972 (NRCD 32).
“However,” he observed, “instead of Act 703 correcting the short comings of PNDC L 153, it fell short of expectation and rather compounded the problems with additional short comings resulting in some of the issues of irresponsible mining, we’re experiencing today….”
Mr. Niber made some proposals to help sustain the fight against irresponsible mining. “We have to reform our mining related institutions and eliminate the conflicting roles that have sometimes hindered their operations. We also need to provide the regulators with the power to prosecute offenders in their enforcement of laws….”
The Facilitator of the Multilateral Mining Integrated Project, Dr. Isaac Karikari, said the five-year project seeks to control irresponsible mining in the country through a collaborative, law enforcement and technological approach.
He said, “The project is an opportunity for civil society groups and other stakeholders interested in tackling illegal mining activities, to make recommendations that can feed into government’s policy action for a sustained campaign and lasting solution.”
His presentation was followed by a panel discussion that brought to the fore how different groups perceive and are responding to the issue at stake. It further highlighted subtle underlying problems that have to be taken into consideration in the fight against irresponsible mining.
The Director of the Ghana Association of Small Scale Miners, Nii Adjetey, was openly disturbed about how small scale mining operations have been lumped together with that of galamsey operators and asked for a distinction to be made between the two.
He stated, “We are licensed and our activities are governed by law. We do not engage in illegal mining and we’re even against galamsey operators, so we want the moratorium on small scale mining to be lifted.”
This call was opposed by Daniel Owusu-Koranteng of Wacam. He said “the issue at stake is about the negative impacts of mining on the country, whether by legal or illegal means and described mining as “A Tragedy of the Commons.”
For his part, Dr. Emmanuel Yamoah Tenkorang of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Cape Coast, noted, “The issues of mining are very complicated, involving a power imbalance with strong lobbying by the multinationals.”
This was following by hearty discussions on the floor which all pointed to one thing: “the need for a comprehensive national cost analysis of the mining sector, offering recommendations including the possible trade-offs the country will have to make to ensure sustainable development, secured livelihoods and the health of the people.”
Action to stamp out tobacco use can help countries prevent millions of people falling ill and dying from tobacco-related disease, combat poverty and, according to a first-ever World Health Organisation (WHO) report, reduce large-scale environmental degradation.
Imposing a special levy on tobacco products is considered a means of raising revenue while also reducing the consumption and health impacts of tobacco use
On World No Tobacco Day 2017, WHO is highlighting how tobacco threatens the development of nations worldwide, and is calling on governments to implement strong tobacco control measures. These include banning marketing and advertising of tobacco, promoting plain packaging of tobacco products, raising excise taxes, and making indoor public places and workplaces smoke-free.
Tobacco’s health and economic costs
According to the UN health body, tobacco use kills more than seven million people every year and costs households and governments over $ 1.4 trillion through healthcare expenditure and lost productivity.
“Tobacco threatens us all,” says WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan. “Tobacco exacerbates poverty, reduces economic productivity, contributes to poor household food choices, and pollutes indoor air.”
Dr Chan adds: “But by taking robust tobacco control measures, governments can safeguard their countries’ futures by protecting tobacco users and non-users from these deadly products, generating revenues to fund health and other social services, and saving their environments from the ravages tobacco causes.”
All countries have committed to the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, which aims to strengthen universal peace and eradicate poverty. Key elements of this agenda include implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and, by 2030, reducing by one-third premature death from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including heart and lung diseases, cancer, and diabetes, for which tobacco use is a key risk factor.
Tobacco scars the environment
The first-ever WHO report, Tobacco and its environmental impact: an overview, also shows the impact of this product on nature, including:
Tobacco waste contains over 7,000 toxic chemicals that poison the environment, including human carcinogens.
Tobacco smoke emissions contribute thousands of tons of human carcinogens, toxicants, and greenhouse gases to the environment. And tobacco waste is the largest type of litter by count globally.
Up to 10 billion of the 15 billion cigarettes sold daily are disposed in the environment.
Cigarette butts account for 30–40% of all items collected in coastal and urban clean-ups.
Tobacco threatens women, children, and livelihoods
Tobacco threatens all people, and national and regional development, in many ways, including:
Poverty: Around 860 million adult smokers live in low- and middle-income countries. Many studies have shown that in the poorest households, spending on tobacco products often represents more than 10% of total household expenditure – meaning less money for food, education and healthcare.
Children and education: Tobacco farming stops children attending school. 10%–14% of children from tobacco-growing families miss class because of working in tobacco fields.
Women: 60%–70% of tobacco farm workers are women, putting them in close contact with often hazardous chemicals.
Health: Tobacco contributes to 16% of all noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) deaths.
Taxation: a powerful tobacco control tool
“Many governments are taking action against tobacco, from banning advertising and marketing, to introducing plain packaging for tobacco products, and smoke-free work and public places,” says Dr Oleg Chestnov, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for NCDs and Mental Health. “But one of the least used, but most effective, tobacco control measures to help countries address development needs is through increasing tobacco tax and prices.”
Governments collect nearly $270 billion in tobacco excise tax revenues each year, but this could increase by over 50%, generating an additional $141 billion, simply from raising taxes on cigarettes by just $0.80 per pack (equivalent to one international dollar) in all countries. Increased tobacco taxation revenues will strengthen domestic resource mobilisation, creating the fiscal space needed for countries to meet development priorities under the “2030 Agenda”.
“Tobacco is a major barrier to development globally,” says Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of WHO’s Department for the Prevention on NCDs. “Tobacco-related death and illness are drivers of poverty, leaving households without breadwinners, diverting limited household resources to purchase tobacco products rather than food and school materials, and forcing many people to pay for medical expenses.”
“But action to control it will provide countries with a powerful tool to protect their citizens and futures,” Dr Bettcher adds.
Delegates at the World Health Organisation (WHO) organised World Health Assembly holding in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday, May 29, 2017 reached new agreements on dementia; immunisation; refugee and migrant health; substandard and falsified medical products, and the world drug problem.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan. Photo credit: Alain Grosclaude/AFP/Getty Images)
Dementia
Delegates at the World Health Assembly today endorsed a global action plan on the public health response to dementia 2017-2025 and committed to developing ambitious national strategies and implementation plans. The global plan aims to improve the lives of people with dementia, their families and the people who care for them, while decreasing the impact of dementia on communities and countries. Areas for action include: reducing the risk of dementia; diagnosis, treatment and care; research and innovative technologies; and development of supportive environments for carers.
They called on the WHO Secretariat to offer technical support, tools and guidance to Member States as they develop national and subnational plans and to draw up a global research agenda for dementia. Delegates recognised the importance of WHO’s Global Dementia Observatory as a system for monitoring progress both within countries and at the global level.
Delegates emphasised the need to integrate health and social care approaches, and to align actions to tackle dementia with those for other aspects of mental health, as well as noncommunicable diseases and ageing. They also highlighted the importance of ensuring respect for the human rights of people living with dementia, both when developing plans and when implementing them.
Worldwide, around 47 million people have dementia, with nearly 9.9 million new cases each year. Nearly 60% of people with dementia live in low- and middle-income countries.
Immunisation
Delegates agreed to strengthen immunization to achieve the goals of the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP). In 2012, the Health Assembly endorsed GVAP, a commitment to ensure that no one misses out on vital immunisation by 2020. However, progress towards the targets laid out in that plan is off track. Halfway through the decade covered by the plan, more than 19 million children were still missing out on basic immunisations.
The resolution urges Member States to strengthen the governance and leadership of national immunisation programmes. It also calls on them to improve monitoring and surveillance systems to ensure that up-to-date data guides policy and programmatic decisions to optimise performance and impact. It calls on countries to expand immunisation services beyond infancy; mobilise domestic financing, and strengthen international cooperation to achieve GVAP goals. It requests the WHO Secretariat to continue supporting countries to achieve regional and global vaccination goals. It recommends scaling up advocacy efforts to improve understanding of the value of vaccines and of the urgent need to meet the GVAP goals. The Secretariat will report back in 2020 and 2022 on achievements against the 2020 goals and targets.
Immunisation averts an estimated two to three million deaths every year from diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), and measles. An additional 1.5 million deaths could be avoided if global vaccination coverage were improved.
Refugee and migrant health
Delegates asked the Director-General to provide advice to countries in order to promote the health of refugees and migrants, and to gather evidence that will contribute to a draft global action to be considered at the 72nd World Health Assembly in 2019. They also encouraged Member States to use the framework of priorities and guiding principles to promote the health of refugees and migrants developed by WHO, in collaboration with IOM and UNHCR, to inform discussions among Member States and partners engaged in the development of the UN global compact on refugees and the UN global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
There are an estimated 1 billion migrants in the world – one in seven of the world’s population. This rapid increase of population movement has important public health implications, and requires an adequate response from the health sector. International human rights standards and conventions exist to protect the rights of migrants and refugees, including their right to health. But many refugees and migrants often lack access to health services and financial protection for health.
Health problems faced by newly-arrived refuges and migrants can include accidental injuries, hypothermia, burns, cardiovascular events, pregnancy and delivery-related complications. Women and girls frequently face specific challenges, particularly in maternal, newborn and child health, sexual and reproductive health, and violence. Children are prone to acute infections such as respiratory infections and diarrhoea because of poor living conditions and deprivation during migration and forced displacement. Lack of hygiene can lead to skin infections.
Refugees and migrants are also at risk of psychosocial disorders, drug abuse, nutrition disorders, alcoholism and exposure to violence. Those with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) can also suffer interruption of care, due either to lack of access or to the decimation of health care systems and providers.
Substandard and falsified medical products
“Substandard” medical products (also called “out of specification”) are authorised by national regulatory authorities, but fail to meet either national or international quality standards or specifications – or in some cases, both. “Falsified” medical products deliberately or fraudulently misrepresent their identity, composition or source.
The Assembly also agreed a definition of “unregistered or unlicensed medical products”. These have not been assessed or approved by the relevant national or regional regulatory authority for the market in which they are marketed, distributed or used.
The new terminology aims to establish a common understanding of what is meant by substandard and falsified medical products and to facilitate a more thorough and accurate comparison and analysis of data. It focuses solely on the public health implications of substandard and falsified products, and does not cover the protection of intellectual property rights.
Substandard and falsified medical products can harm patients and fail to treat the diseases for which they were intended. They lead to loss of confidence in medicines, healthcare providers and health systems, and affect every region of the world. Anti-malarials and antibiotics are amongst the most commonly reported substandard and falsified medical products, but all types of medicines can be substandard and falsified. They can be found in illegal street markets, via unregulated websites, and in pharmacies, clinics and hospitals.
Delegates agreed to adopt the new name of “substandard and falsified” (SF) medical products for what have until now been known as “substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit (SSFFC)” medical products.
The world drug problem and public health
Delegates agreed on the need for intensified efforts to help Member States address the world drug problem. They asked the WHO Secretariat to strengthen its collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Narcotics Control Board to implement the health-related recommendations of in the outcome document of the 2016 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the world drug problem (UNGASS).
It has been 26 years since the Health Assembly made a decision on this topic. The Secretariat was asked to report back on progress in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
According to WHO’s latest estimates, psychoactive drug use is responsible for more than 450 000 deaths each year. The drug-attributable disease burden accounts for about 1.5% of the global burden of disease. Furthermore, injecting drug use accounts for an estimated 30% of new HIV infections outside sub-Saharan Africa and contributes significantly to hepatitis B and C epidemics in all regions.
“Involving women in peace and disarmament processes elevates the prospect of their success.”
Those were the words of recipients of the Right Livelihood Award and members of the World Future Council, a statement titled: “Women Leading for Peace” released on Wednesday, May 24, 2017 to commemorate the International Women’s Day for Disarmament and Peace.
Alyn Ware, a Right Livelihood Laureate
“We highlight the success of peace and disarmament initiatives in which women have played an important role, including in Bougainville, Colombia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Philippines, Sierra Leone, and other regions around the world,” they further stated.
Coming just days after the tragic terrorist bombing in Manchester UK, the statement condemns terrorist acts and any other forms of indiscriminate violence, including the use of nuclear weapons.
“We express concern over the existential threats to humanity and the planet from climate change and the increased threat of nuclear war – a situation which has moved the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to move the Doomsday Clock to 2½ minutes to midnight.
“The threats to our planet – of climate change, environmental degradation, poverty, terrorism and war – can only be overcome by nations and the global community working in cooperation – something not possible while nations maintain large and expensive militaries and threaten to destroy each other, including with nuclear weapons.”
Business participation and investment in sustainable landscapes is critical for achieving inclusive green growth, according to a new report released recently at the Forest and Landscape Investment Forum.
Sara Scherr, President of EcoAgriculture Partners
The report, titled: “Business for Sustainable Landscapes: An action agenda for sustainable development”, underscores the numerous benefits that business can realise by investing in landscapes – from reducing their environmental and social risks to protecting their assets or sourcing area by supporting vital ecosystems, such as forests, rivers and freshwater.
Businesses increasingly recognise that working in landscape partnerships can help them address critical issues that go beyond their immediate supply chains. Yet, today, only a quarter of the 428 large, multi-stakeholder landscape partnerships surveyed include business.
The report, however, confirms that innovative financial instruments designed to support landscape investments are rapidly emerging, which can help fast-track business engagement in landscape partnerships. These include new blended finance schemes, impact investment funds, investment screens and standards, and investment strategies in sustainable supply chain programmes, among others.
The report, produced by EcoAgriculture Partners, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), SAI Platform and Sustainable Food Lab under the auspices of the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative, outlines an action agenda with concrete steps that business, as well as finance institutions, governments and landscape programme leaders, can take to strengthen these partnerships and advance a socio-economic transformation based on sustainable production and economic growth.
“Collaborative landscape approaches align stakeholders in a particular place to resolve complex issues that cannot be successfully resolved by actors working alone,” says Sara Scherr, President of EcoAgriculture Partners and one of the key authors of the report. “These partnerships reflect growing recognition that long-term business success is tied to healthy communities and ecosystems,” she added.
“Although landscapes are still not a natural business environment for most companies, the frontrunners are now starting to grasp the potential, take responsibility beyond their direct interests and seek collaborative solutions to address issues like water scarcity, deforestation or ecosystem services by landscape projects,” says Peter Erik Ywema, Director Strategy and Engagement, SAI Platform.
“Innovative financial instruments designed to support landscape investments are emerging, and they have the potential to help drive nature-based solutions, such as forest landscape restoration and climate-smart supply chains,” says Stewart Maginnis, Global Director of IUCN, which co-authored the report. “IUCN’s Regional Forest Landscape Restoration Hub for Eastern and Southern Africa, which was established last year, is an excellent example of how increased coordination at a landscape level can catalyse resources and technical capacity to deliver tangible benefits for communities.”
Local and global business champions, investors, government officials and civil society representatives met this week to discuss these findings and other sustainable landscape opportunities at the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Forest and Landscape Investment Forum in Kigali, Rwanda.
Some 200 million Chinese users of a digital payment giant are now using an app that gamifies carbon footprint tracking – cutting greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrating the massive potential of Fintech (financial technology) for supporting sustainable development.
Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial
A report released on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 by the Green Digital Finance Alliance, which works to make the benefits of greening digital finance a reality, showed that almost half of Ant Financial Services Group’s 450 million users signed up to the first-of-its-kind app in just nine months. To the alliance’s knowledge, this is the largest take-up of a new digital platform over such a short time period.
“Two hundred million people – that’s three percent of the world’s population – are greening their lives because they are getting immediate information about the environmental impact of their choices in a fun and competitive way,” said Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment.
“This shows that digital finance holds a huge untapped power to mobilise people in support of sustainable development and the fight against climate change. And this power is literally at our fingertips through our mobile devices.”
Ant Financial, a leading digital financial services company, tracks purchases made through its Alipay payment platform to award “green energy points” in the Ant Forest Programme. The scoring system is based on how environmentally friendly a purchase is – such as paying a bill online instead of travelling to a store to do it, or buying a metro ticket instead of fuel for a car.
The points allow users to grow virtual trees and, through the in-built social network component, compete with friends.
Released to coincide with a meeting of the G20 platform aimed at throwing the weight of public and private finance behind sustainable development (Greeninvest), the report found that, by the end of January 2017, the approach had avoided 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, thanks to the accumulation of small behavior changes, with much more to come.
When enough points have been earned to grow a virtual tree, it is converted into a real tree, planted in the desert in Inner Mongolia. Over one million trees had been planted by the end of January 2017. It is too early to calculate the carbon sink benefits, but they are expected to be significant.
“Increasing pressures on the environment are damaging ecosystems and threatening the lives of millions of people. But the world is fighting back,” said Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial. “Emerging digital technologies are enabling a bottom-up approach to the battle – avoiding greenhouse gas emissions gram by gram, bus fare by bus fare, day by day.
“This is essential to complement top-down action, such as the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda on sustainable development. The success of the programme is a sign of the powerful change we can create when people are provided with the opportunity to live a greener life.”
Currently, the world is far short of the trillions of dollars in financing needed to head off climate change and other environmental challenges such as pollution and unrestrained natural resource use. Green finance, including digital, is key to closing this gap.
Green finance is a growing global movement. Countries from China to France and the UK have launched initiatives to boost flows of private capital for climate and sustainability. The G20 has set up a green finance study group. And last year saw the green bond market grow by more than $80 billion to $170 billion – the best showing since its launch in 2007.
But these top-down approaches will not be enough unless ordinary people make changes in their own lives, which is where approaches such as the Ant Forest Programme come in.
“The exciting thing about the Ant Forest Programme is that it makes carbon relevant in online identities,” said Simon Zadek, Co-Director of UN Environment’s Inquiry into the Design of Sustainable Financial System, which serves as the secretariat for the alliance. “It is a whole new way of thinking about carbon markets, and is incredibly relevant for young people and generations going forward.
“This is an early-stage experiment that other businesses and governments can build on. Just imagine the impact we could make on climate change, for example, by rolling out this model – which makes good environmental choices easy, fun and rewarding – across the globe.”
Ant Financial aims to expand the programme to more people in its 450 million user base and turn its carbon-tracking method into an agreed protocol that can be used by other digital platforms.
Along with UN Environment, Ant Financial was a founding partner of the Green Digital Finance Alliance. The alliance is both the first platform looking at the greening of digital finance and the first around global public goods co-founded by a Chinese company.
Golf multiple champion, Tiger Woods, has revealed that alcohol was “not involved” in his arrest while driving in Florida, USA, early on Monday, May 29, 2017.
Tiger Woods
The player, who was charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI), blamed “an unexpected reaction to prescribed medication”.
Police records show the 41-year-old golfer was pulled over at about 3.00 local time, about 7.00 GMT, near his home in Jupiter and later taken into custody.
He was released from Palm Beach County jail at 10.30 local time.
The record says that Woods was released “on his own recognisance”, meaning he promised in writing to co-operate with future legal proceedings.
“I understand the severity of what I did and I take full responsibility for my actions.
“I want the public to know that alcohol was not involved. What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications.
“I didn’t realise the mix of medications had affected me so strongly,” he explained.
Woods has been recovering from back surgery. In his most recent comment about his health, he wrote that the surgery had relieved terrible pain and that he hadn’t “felt this good in years”.
Government is ensuring the participation of Nigerians in wildlife enforcement, while limiting conservation to specific areas that does not conflict with the interests of the local communities.
Nature conservation in Nigeria: the Gashaka-Gumti National Park
This is aimed at addressing challenges relating to the fact that conservation areas include the traditional hunting grounds of the communities living around such areas, so as not to deny them their hunting rights.
Furthermore, all revenues earned from hunting licenses and proceeds from the sale of wildlife trophies are being ploughed back into conservation activities.
These measures are said to be part of the actions being undertaken by the authorities to achieve the Aichi Biodiversity Targets 2020.
Developed at the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, the Aichi Biodiversity Targets are intended to help countries measure their progress in preventing the loss of biodiversity and improving benefits from biodiversity to society.
According to the CBD, Nigeria is also striving to meet the Targets by ensuring that, while issuing CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) licenses, the export of fauna and flora does not impact on the population of the species concerned.
“There have been cases of breaches of CITES procedures by individuals however, unfortunately, no capacity exists for detecting these breaches.”
It was gathered that invasive alien species that threaten biodiversity and their habitats by displacing original species, spreading diseases, competing for resources, parasitism, have been identified; but that Nigeria has ongoing invasive control projects and programmes in place and has achieved some level of success in implementing actions to address these threats.
Regarding support mechanisms for national implementation of the CBD, the country is said to have developed various strategies and programmes for sustainable management of biodiversity, thereby promoting adequate levels of funding, and integrated human development programmes.
Achievement of some of these strategies has reportedly been realised through the Local Empowerment and Environmental Management Programme (LEEMP), a project designed to empower the rural populace in carrying out actions that protect the environment.
Also, the Department of Forestry in the Federal Ministry of Environment and the State Ministries of the Environment have set up various initiatives to manage and use wetlands and arid zones in the country in a sustainable manner, guiding local communities in this regard in accordance with the LEEMP.
However, the major constraints identified in conserving biodiversity comprise a dearth of trained and skilled manpower and appropriate technologies, as well as inadequate funding for implementing various biodiversity programmes.
In response, the curricula in relevant departments of some universities and institutions of higher learning, discloses Nigeria, have been redesigned to address training in biodiversity conservation for professionals in the country. Some activities have also been conducted in regard to legislation and institutional arrangements and mainstreaming biodiversity into national programmes.
Additionally, Nigeria has integrated biodiversity concerns into its environmental policy, but additional funding is required as is a review of funding strategies for biodiversity conservation to ensure adequate financial allocation to the Federal Ministry of Environment and other relevant establishments.
In this regard, the Federal Government has instructed that a major aspect of the Ecological Fund be directed towards afforestation programmes. Trust funds are used to finance activities for the Ondo, Oyo and Cross River states, while other funding is obtained from multilateral agencies, NGOs, CBOs and the private sector.
Some private organisations, particularly in the petroleum sector, are reportedly incorporating conservation programmes in their operations, even as public agencies are making efforts to mainstream biodiversity conservation in their operations.
The Federal Ministry of Environment is said to be at an advanced stage in establishing an environment desk in each relevant agency and institution in order to ensure compliance with mainstreaming conservation and other environmental issues in their programmes.
Nigeria is also putting in place mechanisms for monitoring and reviewing implementation of the Convention.
For instance, the existing Biodiversity Action Plan is said to have established a framework for the continuous assessment and monitoring of biodiversity and a system for measuring the achievement of the stated targets. Environmental monitoring of conservation plots, agricultural lands, wildlife domestication, aquaculture, and conservation of medicinal plants is also being carried out.
Similarly, notes the CBD, Nigeria has embarked on a review of biodiversity-related laws which is being conducted through a consultative process, involving the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMJ), the Law Review Commission and the Nigerian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, the Federal Ministry of Environment, the National Assembly and other relevant stakeholders.
The Dangote Group has disclosed that it is investing $1 billion in rice cultivation in five states to boost food self-sufficiency.
A rice farm. Photo credit: www.osundefender.org
The organisation made the disclosure on Monday, May 29, 2017 at the just concluded 2017 Gateway Trade Fair, which was held in Abeokuta, and in respect of which it emerged as the second most patronised exhibitor.
To mark its Day at the Fair, a subsidiary of the Group, Dangote Cement, gave out several tools and implements to the block makers in Ogun State in appreciation of their patronages. Tools such as wheel barrowers, shovels, umbrellas and hand gloves were donated to block makers who assembled from different areas of the state.
During the 10-day trade fair, Dangote Flour gave customers and participants free sampling of its new pasta products. The wet sampling made the Group’s pavilion the centre of activities at the Fair as participants trooped in for their daily meal. Customers were rewarded with branded coolers, kitchen aprons, exercise books and customised ladles.
Commending Dangote Group for its sponsorship and participation at the Fair, President of Ogun State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OGUNCCIMA), Mrs. Adesola Adebutu, said the support given by the Group went a long way in making the staging of the Fair a success.
She commended the Pan African Conglomerate for its giant strides in economic development of the country through massive investments in several sectors of the economy describing the feat as worthy of emulation by other Nigerians.
A director of Dangote Group, Tunde Mabogunje, who represented the Group at the special day, said that the partnership with OGUNCCIMA is beneficial as Ogun State is the host of the 12 mmtpa Dangote Cement Plant, Ibese, the second largest cement plant in Nigeria.
Dangote Cement, he said, “through the plant, provides thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the state. As a responsible corporate citizen, we participate fully in all events and activities designed to drive social and economic welfare of the state.”
He described the theme for this year’s Trade Fair: “Promoting Agricultural Value Chain through SMEs for Nigeria Economic Recovery” as being apt, given the nation is now paying attention to Agriculture, which has the potential of becoming the major driver of the economy instead of oil, pointing out that in line with the theme the Group is at the forefront of job creation and is the largest employer of labour outside government.
Mabogunje stated: “We have been contributing our quota to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy. Towards aiding agriculture, we are building a fertiliser plant in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos State. When completed, farmers will have regular access to fertiliser for their farming activities. The delays and disruptions experienced in waiting for imported fertiliser will cease.”
“We are investing about $1 billion in rice cultivation. We have an outgrowers scheme where thousands of farmers are empowered with improved seeds and items needed to cultivate rice.”
