The Global Water Partnership (GWP) Steering Committee has announced the appointment of Dr. Monika Weber-Fahr as the GWP’s Executive Secretary, effective from May 7, 2018.

Weber-Fahr joins the GWP after over 20 years in the development field, with diverse experiences in creating and sharing knowledge across global networks and communities. Weber-Fahr succeeds Rudolph Cleveringa, who is retiring.

“At the start of the UN International Decade for Action – Water for Sustainable Development, we are excited to bring in someone with handson experience in innovation and in building strong partnerships,” said Dr. Oyun Saanjasuren, GWP Chair, as she announced the unanimous decision to appoint Weber-Fahr. “Monika’s strengths in translating knowledge on complex issues into pragmatic actions will help shine a light on how the GWP multi-stakeholder partnership brings about excellence in integrated water resources management.”

With a background as an economist, Weber-Fahr began working in development in 1994 with the World Bank. Building communities and partnerships around knowledge and collaboration became a passion that she pursued across multiple projects in areas related to sustainable development and the field of education. For the International Finance Corporation (IFC), she built the Global Business Line for Sustainable Business Advisory, working with the private sector to pursue people-planetprofit opportunities, including on water efficiency and new clean water technologies.

Most recently, Weber-Fahr worked as Chief Operating Officer at Sustainable Energy for ALL (SEforALL), an international NGO promoting access to clean, affordable, and modern energy, where she built organisational management structures and supported day-to-day operations serving a broad network of public-private partnerships.

In accepting the position, Weber-Fahr is passionate about GWP’s local to global reach, noting the network’s platform for changing the way water is managed.

“Good water governance is not optional anymore,” she said. “With growing risks of water pollution, groundwater exploitation, and rainfall variability, we need to come together around the values we hold dear to take decisions on limited resources, mindful of all options and how they influence each other. We need to bring new knowledge, data, and technologies to this critical task, with the centrality of water allowing us to connect with partners across all SDGs and the climate agreements. I am honoured and humbled by the opportunity to serve GWP in its mission to ensure a water secure world for all, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable communities.”

Saanjasuren noted that Weber-Fahr would be taking over as the GWP network begins developing a new strategy. The current one concludes at the end of 2019.

“We are grateful that Rudolph brought increased clarity to GWP’s comparative advantage, as well as a strong focus on core functions at the global secretariat, a foundation Monika will build on,” said Saanjasuren.

Weber-Fahr holds a Ph.D. in Business Economics, a M.Sc. and a B.Sc. in Economics, a Diploma in International Relations, and a Diploma in Corporate Governance.

Taiwan has announced plans to ban plastic items in an attempt to reduce plastic pollution. As reported by EcoWatch, Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Agency put forward a 12-year plan that will officially begin in 2019 with a blanket ban on plastic straws in stores and restaurants. In 2020, the ban will be extended to all dining establishments.

By 2025 people will have to pay a fee to use plastic straws, bags, cups, and disposable utensils. Although the specific pricing was not disclosed, we suspect it’ll be high enough to deter people from using plastic items. The plan is to ultimately phase out all plastics by 2030, and replace them with reusable and biodegradable items.

Lai Ying-ying, an EPA official supervising the new initiative, explained to Channel NewsAsia that the average Taiwan citizen uses roughly 700 plastic bags a year. Under the new plans, the hope is this number will be reduced to 100 bags by 2025 and 0 by 2030.

In addition to the ban, Taiwan Today reports that the EPA is also launching a series of programmes to remove plastic waste and other garbage from the nation’s waters.

Taiwan is the latest nation to implements plans to combat plastic waste. In 2017, both Kenya and China announced bans on various plastic items. The United Kingdom has made moves to end plastic pollution as well, following Sir David Attenborough’s plea to take the matter seriously and the launch of the science show Blue Planet II, which brought more attention to how plastics affect marine life.

Even the BBC is changing its policy on plastic. The media company announced in February it would ban all plastic cups, utensils, and containers by 2020, citing the aforementioned Blue Planet II as the cause behind the change. So far, the company’s kitchens have replaced plastic cups with glasses.

It’s encouraging to see more nations taking a stand against plastic pollution, but more work will need to be done to truly make an impact. There are trillions of pieces of plastic in our oceans as of 2016; those don’t simply disappear once we decide to stop using plastic utensils.

By Kyree Leary

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on Monday, February 26, 2018 said the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) would contribute to the economic and food reserves of countries on its borders if restored.

Mr Getachew Engida, the Deputy Director General (DDG) UNESCO, said this at the opening of the International Conference on Lake Chad (ICLC) in Abuja.

The conference, which is tagged: “Saving the Lake Chad to Revitalise the Basin’s Ecosystem for Sustainable Livelihood, Security and Development’’, is holding from  Feb. 26 to 28.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference, which is convened by UNESCO and the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), has countries bordering the Lake Chad Basin in attendance.

The countries are Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and  Central African Republic.

Engida said that 90 per cent of activities in agriculture and fishery were the livelihood of countries bordering the lake making it economically viable.

He said when the livelihood of any nation was affected, such nation was bound to suffer setbacks in development.

“The LCB is an important source of fresh water on which more than 40 million people in Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad and Niger depend.

“Rainfalls have declined over the past 50 years and the lake’s surface area has shrunk by more than 90 per cent, affecting the region’s ecosystems and economy.

“About two million people in the region have been displaced. We need to break the cycle of ecological disaster on LCB,” he said.

He said the shrinking of the lake had contributed immensely to the activities of security attacks, especially Boko Haram.

According to him, UNESCO has over 20 years working experience in the region and will ensure that the current project addresses the need surrounding the lake squarely.

Engida said that in the course of the conference, UNESCO would launch Biosphere and Heritage of Lake Chad project (BIOPALT), a project funded by the African Development Bank for the period of three years.

Engida said that BIOPALT would contribute to the rehabilitation of wildlife migration corridors between Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.

According to him, the rehabilitation will help preserve oases and prevent the drying up of water supplies by restoring ponds.

He said two biosphere reserves and heritage sites were being established by the LCB.

“It will also focus on income generating activities such as the production of spirulina, an algae traditionally harvested by women, and support efforts to preserve Lake Chad’s iconic Kuri cattle and endangered species.

“BIOPALT will help countries bordering the lake to work together to meet the management and preservation standards required for trans-boundary sites in the LCB to Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage sites.

“Two Biosphere Reserves are currently established in the Lake Chad Basin- Waza by Cameroon and Bamingui Bangoran by Central African Republic.

“Also two World Heritage sites are established, which are Manovo-Gounda, St. Floris National Park in Central African Republic and Lakes of Ounianga in Chad,” he said.

Mrs Mariam Katagum, ambassador and permanent delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO said that the conference was expected to propose long term mechanism in actualising the restoration of the LCB and African Union Agenda of 2063.

She said that the conference would highlight lessons to be drawn from recent advances in science and international efforts to reverse environmental degradation of lakes of states confronted with problems similar to Lake Chad.

Katagum said that stakeholders would ensure sustained effort in launching the lake to the World Heritage site, among other benefits the lake could offer.

By Ijeoma Ndubisi