World’s most expensive player, Paul Pogba, has dedicated the Europa victory over Ajax to victims of Monday’s attack in the city of Manchester, England.
Paul Pogba celebrates with the Europa League trophy
Pogba, who starred for Manchester United, scored one of the two goals that ensured that the British team triumphed over the Dutch side in Stockholm, Sweden on Wednesday, May 24, 2017.
He said that his goal and his team’s victory were for the 22 people who were killed by a suicide bomber, following a concert at the Manchester Arena.
Pogba and Henrikh Mikhitaryan scored in each half to earn a United victory on Wednesday. Pogba, who returned to Old Trafford from Juventus last summer for a world record fee of £89 million, saw his shot from the edge of the box deflected in off Davidson Sanchez in the 18th minute.
Club mate midfielder, Mikhitaryan, flicked the ball in from close range for his sixth goal in the Europa League this season, three minutes after the break.
United’s victory in Stockholm means the club has now won all three of Europe’s major competitions, having previously won the Champions League three times (in 1968,1999 and 2008) and the Cup Winners Cup in 1991.
The Europa League is the second major trophy of José Mourinho’s debut season in charge, having also won the League Cup in February.
The Federal Government on Thursday, May 25, 2017 in Abuja had an interactive session with civil society organisations operating in the environment and development sector.
At the daylong event, Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, assured the campaigners of government’s continued partnership with them towards the realisation of a safe and sustainable environment.
The Minister of State giving a keynote addressMr Goni Ahmed, DG/CEO, National Agency for the Great Green Wall in Nigeria, speaking on government’s efforts to improve the Green Great Wall Programme and engagement with CSOsDr Andrew Ilo commenting on the need to link the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP)A representative of African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development commenting of the Niger Delta cleanup and need for sensitisationA participant representing the NACGOND also commenting on the Niger Delta cleanup process and need for sensitisationMr Hamzat Lawal of Connected Development speaking on the need to follow up on saving Shikira and improve transparencyChike Chikwendu of Friends of the Environment giving an opening remark and expectations of the forumThe Environment Minister of State responding to questions and comments from the participants
Campaigners against the adoption of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Nigeria have taken their demands to the Minister of State, Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril. The groups are demanding increased funding to research institutions to encourage home-grown technology to boost the country’s food security.
The Minister assured the group of government’s commitment to upholding standards on scientific findings while appreciating concerns raised over the safety of the GMO technology, which began about 37 years ago, compelling groups in Nigeria to continue to demand accountability from the government.
The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has challenged the Federal Government to revoke the licence issued to Monsanto Nigeria, if indeed it is committed to protecting the food sovereignty of the citizens.
The Foundation wants an urgent repeal of the National Biosafety Management Act, which it claims fails to protect the consumers of food containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but protects corporations like Monsanto.
The eighth Petersberg Climate Dialogue concluded on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 with a clear commitment to the Paris Agreement and to its ambitious implementation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) delivers her speech on May 23, 2017 in Berlin at the Petersberg Climate VIII Dialogue event. Photo credit: AFP PHOTO / POOL / Kay Nietfeld
The key topic at this year’s meeting was the preparation for the Climate Conference COP23, to take place in November in Bonn under the Presidency of Fiji.
Ministers from regions around the world responded to the joint invitation from Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks and the Prime Minister of Fiji, Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama.
Prime Minister Bainimarama said: “Only by the entire world coming together as one to address the impacts of climate change can we effectively tackle this crisis. Climate change affects every person on earth and especially those in vulnerable countries like Fiji. I am convinced that when we act in the interest of the most vulnerable, we are acting in the interests of us all – because we are all vulnerable and we all need to act.”
Federal Environment Minister Hendricks said: “The Petersberg Climate Dialogue has shown strong multilateral solidarity on the issue of climate action. The world is standing together and bringing the Paris Agreement to life. More and more countries understand that climate action modernises economies. Ambitious, well-made climate policy does not put the brakes on growth – it fuels growth.”
The OECD report “Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth”, which was drawn up as a part of the German G20 Presidency, was a topic of discussion at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. Another focus of the talks was the preparation for the Climate Conference COP23, which will address the rulebook on the detailed implementation of the Paris Agreement.
In addition, preparation for the 2018 Facilitative Dialogue was discussed. This dialogue will assess in detail the progress the international community has made so far in climate action.
Germany is supporting Fiji as technical host of COP23. In cooperation with the UNFCCC-Secretariat, Fiji and Germany have created a plan for a conference that will give space to climate diplomats as well as non-state actors. According to the principle “one conference, two zones”, there will be the “Bula Zone” for negotiations and the “Bonn Zone” devoted to climate initiatives and projects.
Prime Minister Bainimarama remarked: “In Bonn, I will be dividing my time between what we are calling the Bula Zone – the formal negotiations – and the Bonn Zone – which is where much of the action will be. My goal is to also encourage the non-state actors to further initiatives that connect the global and the local.”
Minister Hendricks commented: “Fiji is the first Small Island Developing State to take on the Presidency of a Climate Conference. We are happy and thankful that Fiji will be actively pushing forward the implementation of the Paris Agreement and we are pleased to assist Fiji in carrying out the conference. In Paris, the international community concluded an agreement. Now we want to network societies more closely. Climate action will ultimately only succeed if as many stakeholders as possible do their part.”
The German government has been organising the Petersberg Climate Dialogue since 2010, when it was held on the Petersberg near Bonn. This meeting has now established itself as an important event for international climate diplomacy. It is held in an informal setting to foster open debate. The co-chair at the Climate Dialogue is the country presiding over the next Climate Change Conference.
In an article published recently in “Climate Change – The New Economy”, Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN’s top climate change official, calls on G7 leaders to heavily invest in ventures aimed at tackling the climate change scourge
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Less than two years following the adoption of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, nations are now getting down to the challenging task of implementing their pledges and getting on track to a low-carbon, resilient world. The G7 countries, as the club of the richest industrialised nations, can play a key role in raising ever higher ambition and action that in turn can benefit their national economies and the rest of the globe.
There is real cause for optimism starting with the status of the Paris Agreement itself. The treaty came into force less than one year after it was born and to date well over 140 nations, including all the members of the G7, have ratified it.
Several countries, including members of the G7, have also announced long-term climate plans that reflect the long-term goal of the Agreement – namely to achieve climate neutrality in the second half of the century as a key to keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees C.
Meanwhile, subnational governments are also setting ambitious targets and implementing game-changing initiatives. At the last annual UN climate conference in Marrakech, a club of subnational governments, the Under2 Coalition, who have committed to reducing their emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050, announced their membership had grown to 165.
The combined GDP of these 165 members is close to $26 trillion – a third of the global economy – and covers a population of around one billion people living in North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
According to We Mean Business, the number of companies making climate commitments has also more than doubled since Paris 2015. And the companies acting are now worth $8 trillion in market capitalisation.
Nearly 500 investors with over $25 trillion in total assets under management, including pension funds and high net worth individuals, have pledged to decarbonise their portfolios.
New market instruments are also emerging such as Green Bonds, which in 2016 saw a record issuance of over $80 billion and are up over 40 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 versus the same period last year.
A diverse range of private and government organisations have issued green bonds, from Apple and Toyota to the French government and New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. These developments are being underpinned by a growing wealth of policy-making that promises to embed the transition to a low-carbon, resilient and sustainable world.
In early May, the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economic provided an update on Global Trends in Climate Legislation.
It shows that today there are now over 1,200 climate change or climate change-relevant laws in place world-wide: a 20-fold increase over 20 years when compared with 1997, when there were just 60 such laws in place.
So the world is moving to implement the Paris Agreement and the linked Sustainable Development Goals which are the foundation of the 2030 Agenda. In 2016, global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were flat for a third straight year even as the global economy grew, according to the International Energy Agency.
But there can be no room for complacency. The current pace of positive change is still well behind the curve and unless ambition is significantly raised, and raised soon, we may lock in a highly hazardous temperature rise of 3, 4 or more degrees Celsius this century.
One fundamental area is reforming the global financial architecture so that more finance flows into sustainable investments. By some estimates, $90 trillion-worth of investment should be directed into what one may term green investments by 2030, covering everything from promoting more renewable energy and energy efficiency to sustainable transportation.
Currently, $300 trillion of assets are held by banks, the capital markets and institutional investors. So we are faced with a problem of allocation, rather than outright scarcity.
There are some promising developments. In all, the total number of policy and regulatory measures to build a more sustainable financial system has more than doubled in the past five years.
The UN Environment, in a recent report, says actions taken by finance ministries, central banks and regulators to promote sustainable finance have risen to 217 and now exist in nearly 60 countries.
These range from actions steering finance towards clean energy, assessments of climate risk for insurance companies and on to producing road maps that set out how to “green” an entire financial system as China did last year.
These are all promising signs of positive momentum, but the world’s financial architecture is still ill-equipped to deliver the necessary transformation.
The national climate plans submitted by governments represent a real improvement on business as usual, but do not yet provide the signals needed to steer capital towards global climate action.
So while it is true that investors are starting to measure the carbon footprint of portfolios and increase exposure to green assets, only a tiny minority has introduced comprehensive climate strategies.
The financial system clearly needs to evolve further to price environmental risks, overcome short-termism and deliver greater transparency on climate performance.
Making this happen, and take place with a sense of urgency, will require different players to put in place mutually reinforcing financial policies and regulations that support the Paris Agreement.
If we can get it right, private capital will respond – and the trillions needed for transformation across countries North and South will flow.
The G7 club of nations, working with, for example, the G20, have the human and political resources able to power up this change. It is time to deploy them.
More than 9.8 million people were employed in the renewable energy sector in 2016, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA Director-General. Photo credit: utilities-me.com
“Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2017”, released at IRENA’s 13th Council meeting, provides the latest employment figures of the renewable energy sector and insight into the factors affecting the renewable labour market.
“Falling costs and enabling policies have steadily driven up investment and employment in renewable energy worldwide since IRENA’s first annual assessment in 2012, when just over seven million people were working in the sector,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “In the last four years, for instance, the number of jobs in the solar and wind sectors combined has more than doubled.
“Renewables are directly supporting broader socio-economic objectives, with employment creation increasingly recognised as a central component of the global energy transition. As the scales continue to tip in favour of renewables, we expect that the number of people working in the renewables sector could reach 24 million by 2030, more than offsetting fossil-fuel job losses and becoming a major economic driver around the world,” Mr. Amin added.
The Annual review shows that global renewable-energy employment, excluding large hydropower, reached 8.3 million in 2016. When accounting for direct employment in large hydropower, the total number of renewable-energy jobs globally climbs to 9.8 million. China, Brazil, the United States, India, Japan and Germany accounted for most of the renewable-energy jobs. In China for example, 3.64 million people worked in renewables in 2016, a rise of 3.4 per cent.
IRENA’s report shows that solar photovoltaic (PV) was the largest employer in 2016, with 3.1 million jobs – up 12 per cent from 2015 – mainly in China, the United States and India. In the United States, jobs in the solar industry increased 17 times faster than the overall economy, growing 24.5 per cent from the previous year to over 260,000. New wind installations contributed to a 7 per cent increase in global wind employment, raising it up to 1.2 million jobs. Brazil, China, the United States and India also proved to be key bioenergy job markets, with biofuels accounting for 1.7 million jobs, biomass 0.7 million, and biogas 0.3 million.
“IRENA has provided this year a more complete picture on the state of employment in the renewables sector, by including large hydropower data. It is important to recognise these additional 1.5 million working people, as they represent the largest renewable energy technology by installed capacity,” said Dr. Rabia Ferroukhi, Head of IRENA’s Policy Unit and Deputy Director of Knowledge, Policy and Finance.
The report finds that globally, 62 per cent of the jobs are located in Asia. Installation and manufacturing jobs continue to shift to the region, particularly Malaysia and Thailand, which has become global centre for solar PV fabrication.
In Africa, utility-scale renewable energy developments have made great strides, with South Africa and North Africa accounting for three-quarters of the continent’s 62,000 renewable jobs.
“In some African countries, with the right resources and infrastructure, we are seeing jobs emerge in manufacturing and installation for utility-scale projects. For much of the continent however, distributed renewables, like off-grid solar, are bringing energy access and economic development. These off-grid mini-grid solutions are giving communities the chance to leap-frog traditional electricity infrastructure development and create new jobs in the process,” Dr. Ferroukhi said.
Djibouti, Cote d’Ivoire, Somalia and Ghana on Monday, May 22, 2017 signed the ISA framework agreement to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), while Comoros signed and submitted its ratification instrument on Tuesday. Nauru also submitted its instrument of ratification.
The African Development Bank Annual Meeting held in Gandhinagar, India
An ISA event was held on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Annual Meeting in Gandhinagar, capital of the state of Gujarat in Western India. Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley, graced the signing and ratification ceremony organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
A total of 30 countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Guinea Bissau, India, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Nauru, Niger, Republic of Guinea, Senegal, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu) signed the ISA Framework Agreement in Marrakech on November 15, 2016 (within 41 days of finalising the text of the agreement, a record). Rwanda signed the Framework Agreement on January 9, 2017, taking the total number of signatories to 25 countries.
Within seven months of the opening of the Framework Agreement for signature in November 2016, the total number of signatories to the ISA framework agreement reached 31, with six countries ratifying the agreement, a record in itself. The ISA, as a legal entity, will come into existence once 15 countries ratify and deposit the framework agreement.
India and France were the first two countries to ratify the Framework Agreement. Fiji has also completed the ratification process and will deposit its instrument with the MEA in the next few weeks.
The ISA initiative was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on November 30, 2015 by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and French President, Francois Hollande. The ISA is conceived as a coalition of solar resource rich countries to address their special energy needs and will provide a platform to collaborate on addressing the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach.
The Prime Minister of India and the President of France jointly laid the foundation stone of the ISA headquarters and inaugurated the interim Secretariat of the ISA in National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram, Haryana on January 25, 2016. Launching the Secretariat, Prime Minister of India described the ISA as a potent tool for mutual cooperation among the member countries for mutual gains through enhances solar energy utilisation.
The total Government of India support including the normative cost of the land will be about Rs. 400 crore ($62 million). Of this, Rs. 175 crore ($27 million) will be utilised for building infrastructure and recurring expenditure.
The recurring expenditure on ISA is met from voluntary contributions from member countries, bilateral and multilateral agencies; other appropriate institutions; and from interest earned from the augmented corpus to be built up. In addition to contribution for creating ISA corpus fund, Government of India has offered training support for ISA member countries at National Institute for Solar Energy (NISE) and also support for demonstration projects for solar home lighting, solar pumps for farmers and for other solar applications. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) also announced contribution of $1 million each to the ISA corpus fund.
The International Steering Committee of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), open to all 121 prospective member countries of the ISA (those falling between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn) held its meetings in Paris (Dec 1, 2015), Abu Dhabi (Jan 18, 2016), and New York (April 22, 2016). The ISC held its 4th meeting on October 5, 2016 in New Delhi, India.
At the 4th ISC meeting in New Delhi, the draft Framework Agreement on establishment of the ISA was circulated among the prospective member countries. Prospective ISA countries were requested to convey their acceptance, suggest comments (if any) or seek clarifications (if required) on the Draft Framework Agreement of the ISA by 17 October 2016. The finalised ISA Framework Agreement, which seeks to establish ISA as a treaty-based organisation was opened for signature at the 22nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-22) in Marrakech, Morocco that held last November. MEA’s Economic Diplomacy Division has been spearheading the process of getting the prospective countries to sign up and ratify the framework agreement.
The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India has set aside $2 billion for solar projects in Africa out of Government of India’s $10 Billion concessional Line of Credit for Africa. The LOC will be extended to all those African countries that have signed and ratified the International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement.
Deutsche Bank in London on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 signed an Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) with the Green Climate Fund (GCF), enabling the Bank to receive and use GCF capital to raise further funds from private sector investors to support action on climate change.
The agreement was signed by Nicolas Moreau, Head of Deutsche Asset Management and member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank AG, and Executive Director of the GCF, Howard Bamsey
The agreement was signed by Nicolas Moreau, Head of Deutsche Asset Management and member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank AG, and Executive Director of the GCF, Howard Bamsey.
“We are pleased to sign this agreement in order to work with GCF to mobilise private sector capital and increase contributions to climate financing for adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation measures in developing countries,” said Nicolas Moreau.
The GCF works through a wide range of Accredited Entities to channel its resources to projects and programmes. Deutsche Bank is the second commercial bank to sign an Accreditation Master Agreement with GCF.
“This signature marks a milestone for GCF as it unlocks the broad international expertise of Deutsche Bank in directing private investment flows toward climate action,” Mr. Bamsey said. “It follows from GCF’s recognition of the essential role of the private sector in filling climate finance gaps.”
Accreditation Master Agreements are critical as they deepen ties between the Green Climate Fund and its partners, and act as a prerequisite for the disbursement of GCF-approved climate projects.
The GCF has already approved the first funding proposal from Deutsche Bank at its 14th meeting in Songdo, South Korea, in October 2016. The Universal Green Energy Access Programme combines capital from GCF with that of private sector investors to finance renewable electricity access for nearly half a million people and small and medium sized enterprises in cooperation with local banks in Africa.
The GCF’s anchor investment of $78.4 million allows Sustainable Investments, the group within Deutsche Asset Management that manages environmental and social assets, to raise a total of $300 million in capital.
The proposal has been endorsed by the Governments of Benin, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria and Tanzania, which is where the programme will initially focus investments in the first three years. The signing of the Accreditation Master Agreement marks a major step towards implementation of this programme.
The GCF mission is to expand collective human action to respond to climate change. The Fund aims to mobilise funding at scale to invest in low-emission and climate-resilient development in emerging economies and frontier markets. GCF provides loans, equity, guarantees, and grants to private sector corporations in developing countries. Supported by close to 200 governments, the Fund is the largest dedicated international climate fund. GCF is mandated to engage with private sector investors, developers, entrepreneurs, corporations, and small and medium sized enterprises in all developing countries.
The Super Eagles touched down in Corsica, France, on the evening of Tuesday, May 23, 2017, and have since checked into the Best Western Hotel, Ajaccio Amivante, for a friendly match.
Super Eagles manager, Gernot Rohr
The players already in camp for training include home-based quartets of Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Alhassan Ibrahim, Stephen Odeh and Sikiru Olutunbosun.
Other early arrivals in camp are Ebuchi, William Ekong, Elder Echiejile, Uche Agbo, Chidozie Awaziem, Oghenekaro Etebo, Dele Alampasu and Henry Onyekuru.
The Super Eagles will take on Corsica Senior team at the Stade François Coty Ajaccio, starting from 8pm on Friday, and then travel to Paris for the Hawks of Togo on the 1st of June at the Stade Municipal de Saint Leu La Foret, Paris, starting from 7.30 pm.
In another development, Sam Allardyce has resigned as Crystal Palace manager, five months after he joined the Premier League club.
Allardyce replaced Allan Pardew in December on a two-and-half years deal with the Eagles, one point above the relegation zone.
But the 62-year-old, who had an ill-fated one-game spell as England boss, led the club to eight wins from 21 games and guided them to a 14th place finish.
Allardyce, who is done with the rescue mission, is looking for a new assignment, while Palace is still reeling from the shock of Allardyce’s sudden departure.
The club has already been inundated with agents claiming to represent managers interested in the job including the former Manchester City Manager, Roberto Mancini, andMarco Silva, who is expected to inform Hull City that he is leaving, following the team’s relegation to the Championship.
