The National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) in Ibadan, Oyo State, has said that it will soon make a drought-resistant tomato variety available to farmers in the country.
The tomatoes scarcity in markets forced Nigeria to import the item from Cameroon and Ghana. Photo credit: authorityngr.com
Dr. Olagorite Adetula, Director of Research and Head of Vegetable and Floriculture Department of NIHORT, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan.
Adetula said the drought-resistant variety would enable farmers to cultivate tomatoes all year round and eradicate scarcity of the food item during the dry season in the country.
Adetula also said all year farming would help to boost the income of farmers and improve the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
According to her, 80 per cent of most varieties of tomatoes presently in the country are lost during the dry season.
She said: “The drought-resistant tomato the institute is currently working on can with withstand dry season and bacteria wilt (Ralstonia Solanacerum) and fungi wilt (Fusarium Oxysporium) that usually destroy tomatoes during the dry season.
“We have tried the drought-resistant tomato variety with some selected farmers in Benue and Plateau States and it yielded very well in that location.
“But we still have to test this variety in different ecological zones and as well as follow the guidelines in releasing new varieties of seeds in Nigeria before we can release this drought-resistant tomato variety to farmers.
“As soon as the institute gets fund, we are going to try this variety in Ibadan, Kano, Gombe and Mbato in Imo among others, and then complete the necessary guidelines.”
Adetula further said most of the imported tomato seeds are not well adapted to the Nigerian environment unlike the new variety being introduced by NIHORT.
She said: “Most farmers spray chemicals to control disease and research has shown that no chemical can effectively control tomato disease, especially bacteria wilt, which affects tomato production.
“It is therefore necessary to develop an improved variety of tomato with tolerance to bacteria wilt. By God’s grace, we have been able to develop a drought-resistant tomato variety, which can withstand bacteria wilt.”
The G20 group of nations, cooperating together and supporting vulnerable countries, has the power to propel the global economy towards the low-carbon, resilient and prosperous future defined by the Paris Climate Change Agreement, writes the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, in a recent edition of G7G20. She adds that the Paris Agreement is not like a chain that can be broken by one link, but an ever deeper and widening web of internationally aligned self-interest that bodes well now and over the years and decades to come.
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC
It is a busy year for the government and people of Germany: five months after the country hosts the G20 summit in Hamburg, the eyes of the world will be on the former capital city of Bonn for the 2017 United Nations climate conference.
The links are not merely geographical
The G20 members, acting nationally, cooperating together and supporting vulnerable countries beyond their group, have the power to propel the global economy towards the low-carbon, resilient and prosperous future envisioned in the Paris Climate Change Agreement as part of the wide-ranging Sustainable Development Goals.
This was underlined in a recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) called Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth.
It argues that “bringing together the growth and climate agendas” could add one per cent to average economic output in the G20 by 2021 and lift 2050 output by up to 2.8 per cent.
If the economic benefits of avoiding climate change impacts such as coastal flooding or storm damage are factored in, the net increase to gross domestic product in 2050 would be nearly five per cent.
A just transition
The report singles out infrastructure investment as crucial. Limiting the global temperature rise to well below 2°C, in line with one of the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals, will require close to $7 trillion a year between now and 2030.
But the study points out that this is only around 10 per cent more than investing in carbon-intensive infrastructure and indeed would help save money – as well as help save the planet – because of increases in energy efficiency leading to annual fuel savings globally of around $1.7 trillion.
The report makes recommendations that underline the importance of integrating the aims and ambitions of the Paris Agreement in national economic policies – for example, the strengthening of climate mitigation policies including carbon pricing, fossil-fuel subsidy reform, smart regulations and the use of public procurement to help drive low-carbon growth.
The report also underlines the importance of private sector investments and support from local government, companies and workers is not just a transition, but a just transition.
Continuing Paris in Bonn
The OECD report is timely – in November more than 190 countries, presided over by the island state of Fiji, will be hosted by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bonn on the banks of the Rhine.
The 2017 UN climate conference needs to make important strides towards finishing the guidelines needed to fully implement the Paris Agreement while also setting the stage for a dialogue in the following year on achieving the agreement’s even lower goal of 1.5°C.
The Bonn conference will also prepare for an assessment or stocktake, planned for 2018, that will seek to evaluate how all the countries’ efforts are collectively getting the world on track to achieve the Paris Agreement.
Higher ambition is needed, and needed quickly, as the OECD and other reports say. The current set of national climate action plans are a marked improvement over what was on the table pre-Paris 2015, but they are still behind the curve.
Preserving forests
It is not just hard infrastructure such as the power, buildings and transportation sectors where climate-friendly investment is needed – there also needs to be smarter management of the world’s soft infrastructure, including forests and agricultural systems.
There is positive news here too. CDP, the former Carbon Disclosure Project, is reporting that ever more companies are joining an international initiative under the post-Paris global climate action agenda aimed at deforestation-free commodity supply chains.
New ones include McDonald’s Latin American franchise Arcos Dorados, Swiss fragrance and flavour company Firmenich, Brazilian meatpacker JBS, American healthcare company Johnson & Johnson, Brazilian paper producer Klabin and Canadian restaurant group Restaurant Brands International.
Forests play a critical role in reducing global warming, and deforestation itself is responsible for as much as 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, as well as habitat loss and social conflict.
Momentum since Paris has been nothing short of breathtaking – the agreement came into force less than 12 months after being adopted and to date over 150 Parties to the Agreement have ratified it.
The announcement by the United States in June that it would withdraw from the Paris Agreement has triggered widespread disappointment but also unprecedented solidarity among all other nations and cities, states and the private sector in the US and beyond.
There’s a new reality in global climate action
That reality is that this is not like a chain, broken by one link, but an ever deeper and widening web of internationally aligned self-interest that bodes well now and over the years and decades to come.
With the Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, the Government of Germany and the City of Bonn, I look forward to welcoming all the parties to the Paris Agreement in November so we together can accelerate implementation further and faster everywhere and write the next historic chapters of our shared future.
The Climate Action Network (CAN) has welcomed the G20 summit’s commitment to strengthen climate action. This, according to CAN, is the first time a G20 Summit has produced a detailed Climate and Energy Action Plan outlining a progressive to-do list to jointly tackle climate change. All countries, save one, recognise that this is about protecting people’s health, safeguarding ecosystems, promoting economic prosperity and global stability.
Fresh climate commitment: G20 leaders at the Hamburg summit
Unfazed by the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the G19 stand united, supported by allies in numerous cities, regions and businesses, to forge ahead with a safe and clean future for all. Civil society wants all countries to build on this momentum, even as it calls on them to implement the Paris Agreement, come prepared to assess their collective progress in 2018 and trigger a process to ratchet up climate ambition by 2020. As the next hosts of the G20, civil society expressed its support for Argentina to take forward the climate agenda.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, leader of WWF’s Global Climate & Energy Practice, said: “Despite US pressure, world leaders at the G20 Summit showed they are serious about creating an equitable transition to a decarbonised world by by sending a strong signal on the Paris climate agreement. The Action Plan on Climate and Energy for Growth attached to the Communique is the most detailed climate to-do list we have ever seen from the G20. Now it’s about taking concrete action within and between countries, building on existing efforts by business, cities and civil society and amplifying those through true governmental leadership.”
Sven Harmeling, Climate Change Advocacy Coordinator for CARE International: “CARE welcomes the G20 leaders’ greater attention to the climate crisis. The clear commitment by 19 of the G20 members to implementing the Paris Agreement is an important signal, but it requires greater action, immediately, to live up to the group’s responsibility.
“The endorsed Action Plan on Climate and Energy for Growth, though by far not sufficient to tackle the climate crisis, can help achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Alongside much stronger and more rapid emission cuts through shifting away from fossil fuels, this must prioritise greater efforts and support to protect vulnerable people, especially poor women and girls, from climate disruption and the human suffering it creates.”
Wendel Trio, Director, Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe: “We welcome the continued commitment of our leaders to the Paris Agreement. The adoption of the Climate and Energy Action Plan is a clear indication that the world’s largest economies are well aware that action is urgently needed to make the zero carbon transition happen.
“The next step is obviously to move from commitment to action, by raising the level of ambition of the Paris pledges, phasing out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020 and providing support to those most vulnerable to climate change impacts.”
Christoph Bals, Policy Director, Germanwatch: “The G20 has passed the first part of the Trump Test on climate. 19 leaders in Hamburg stood united in their commitment to the Paris Agreement and its swift implementation. President Trump tries to undermine the Paris Agreement, but instead he has further isolated himself. His objective to sell American fossil fuels to the world received a hard reality check at the G20.
“In the Communiqué, even the United States accepted a commitment to a global transition towards low-greenhouse gas emission energy systems consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This includes SDG 7 which aims to substantially raise the share of renewables and double the improvement rate for energy efficiency by 2030. The future belongs to energy efficiency and renewable energy. The second part of the climate test will come at home. For Germany, this means agreeing on a planned phase-out of coal and a transition strategy for the transport sector.”
Alex Doukas, Senior Campaigner, Oil Change International: “Rightfully, other G20 leaders put Donald Trump in the corner for a time out over his absurd climate change denial. They deserve credit for standing united behind the Paris Agreement. Yet talk is cheap, and unfortunately the G19 failed to take action to demonstrate that they’re serious about climate action by actually ending handouts to the fossil fuel industry, instead of once again offering the same tired ‘commitment’ backed by little action. All fossil fuel subsidies must end by 2020 – a crucial step that civil society groups, major investors, and big insurers are all pushing for.”
Sasanka Thilakasiri, Senior Policy Advisor, Oxfam: “With the other 19 members firmly defending the Paris Agreement as ‘irreversible,’ President Trump’s stubborn insistence on propping up the fossil fuel industry leaves him isolated and stuck in the past.“
Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists: “The G20 summit provides another powerful demonstration that the rest of the world is moving ahead with climate action, leaving President Trump isolated following his ill-advised decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
“Other leaders understand that climate change threatens the prosperity and wellbeing of their citizens, and are eager to capitalise on the tremendous economic opportunities offered by energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions.
“The Hamburg Climate and Energy Action Plan – endorsed by all the other countries attending the summit – provides a roadmap for implementing and strengthening the commitments that countries made in Paris, as is needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Adoption of the plan, along with the declaration by all other leaders that the Paris Agreement is ‘irreversible,’ shows that President Trump’s ‘fossil fuels forever’ agenda is failing to get any traction, no matter how hard he tries to cling to it.
“President Trump may have forced inclusion of language in the communiqué on access to and use of fossil fuels by threatening to block the whole text if he didn’t get his way, but that will do nothing to slow the accelerating shift away from polluting fossil fuels towards a global economy powered by clean, renewable energy.”
Mohamed Adow, Christian Aid, International Climate Lead, said: “After this G20 summit, there’s no doubt that the world’s largest economies are taking climate action seriously. The message from world leaders in Hamburg is clear: Donald Trump’s isolationist stance on climate policy is simply not going to derail plans to implement and advance the Paris Agreement.
“The US President’s weak attempts to capsize the climate movement have failed: he is now marooned on a political island of his own making, with his head buried in the sand. Meanwhile the rest of the world is moving ahead, having outlined a comprehensive Climate and Energy Action Plan which allows them to get on with the business at hand – the transition to a green economy.
“The G20 (or G19) have collectively sent a strong signal that they’re committed to implementing and advancing the Paris Agreement, and that they’re working together to deliver better growth, prosperity and stability. They have proven that the global evidence-based values which bind us together, and which allow us to confront global challenges, are secure.”
“We are pleased that the EU and China – two of the world’s top three biggest economies – have demonstrated their commitment to steer the way towards a low-carbon economy. Their leadership – and that of Angela Merkel’s – has strengthened the global resolve to make a big shift away from dirty energy. Now, perhaps we can finally shift gears from just defending the Paris Agreement, to enacting it and delivering at home.”
Greenpeace International: “The G19 held the line, defending the Paris Agreement against Trump’s backward decision to withdraw, but that is not enough. The G19 should have committed to accelerate the transformation away from coal, oil and gas. If Paris was the starting point, Hamburg must sow the seeds of much greater ambition.
“Millions of people suffering from the impacts of climate change are demanding urgent action to end the age of coal, oil and gas. To put words into action, the G19 must now accelerate the clean energy transition and set sail from Hamburg with an agenda of change.
“Merkel, as G20 host, helped secure a united G19 outcome, but she must now lead the way at home and end Germany’s reliance on coal by committing to a socially just coal phase-out by 2030.”
The Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso-based Volta Basin Authority (VBA) has initiated a series of consultative processes towards developing a Water Charter for the integrated management of water resources in the six riparian countries of the Volta Basin. The countries are Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin, Togo and Cote d’ Ivoire.
The Volta River is shared by Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin, Togo and Cote d’ Ivoire in the West African sub-region
The Water Charter’s vision is, “a basin shared by willing and cooperating partners, managing the water resources rationally and sustainably for their comprehensive socio-economic development.” When completed, the Water Charter will serve as the conventional instrument to strengthen inter-state cooperation on the shared river basin for the mutual benefits of member countries.
Overview of the VSIP
This initiative is part of activities under the Volta River Basin Strategic Action Programme Implementation Project (VSIP) being jointly funded by the World Bank through the Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the VBA at a total cost of $10.94 million.
VSIP was evolved from the 2015-2024 Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the Volta Basin and the 2015-2019 Strategic Plan of the VBA, following findings of a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis in the Volta Basin in 2013.
The findings revealed environmental problems like: changes in water quantity and seasonal flows; degradation of ecosystems; and deterioration of water quality. Other problems identified were climate change and its consequences; and lack of coordination in the management of the shared water resources. The study concluded that these problems could aggravate water shortages, conflicts on water use and water borne diseases.
Thus, VSIP is packaged in response to these findings, with the overall goal to enhance the capacity of the VBA for transboundary water resources management. It has four components; the first of which is the Development of the Volta Basin Water Charter. The others are Facilitating Dialogue, Communication and Project Management; Implementation of SAP Actions and Project Monitoring.
Development Process of the Volta Basin Water Charter
The Development of the Volta Basin Water Charter is being rolled out in three phases over a three-year period from 2017 to 2019. Phase 1 comprises various measures including an estimation of the existing water resources available in the Volta Basin in country and across the region. There is also a technical diagnosis to appreciate current and prospective water demands within the countries.
Another measure is the legal assessment at the national level across the countries to understand the different national, international and sub-regional conventions relating to water and the environment as well as provide an understanding of the legal set up in the water and environment sectors of member countries.
Also to be carried out is an institutional assessment to identify relevant existing structures at the national, sub-regional and international levels.
The BRL Engineering Team of Experts is leading the process, which will result in the development of a Shared Water Diagnostic Report on Transboundary Issues, to be addressed in the Water Charter.
The consultative processes involve stakeholder meetings, focus group discussions and face-to-face interviews. To this end, a team made up of officials of the VBA and a representative of the leading group was in Accra, Ghana, hosted and assisted by the Water Resources Commission (WRC), to interact with key partners and stakeholders as a start of the initial process towards developing the Volta basin Water Charter.
This will be replicated in all the other countries to ensure the collation of comprehensive and appropriate data.
Phase 2 of the Development of the Volta Basin Water Charter has to do with the drafting of the Charter, which will subsequently be subjected to stakeholder consultation. Following that, the draft Charter will be validated by the Team of Technical Experts and finalised, then approved by the Ministers and adopted by the Heads of States.
Phase 3 will involve the development of Action Plans to implement the Charter. This will include the production of communication, education and informational materials; and holding of sensitisation forums to facilitate the required ratification of the Water Charter by the Parliaments of the six riparian countries.
The Water Charter is expected to be a legal document binding on all member countries.
The Volta River and Basin
The Volta River is Africa’s 9th largest river that flows for a total distance of 1, 850 km and is shared by Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin, Togo and Cote d’ Ivoire in the West African sub-region. Its main tributaries are the Black Volta (Mouhoun), White Volta (Nakanbe), the Oti (Pendjari) and most rivers in the lower Volta that drain into the Volta Lake. Downstream the lake in Ghana, the Volta River discharges into the Atlantic Ocean
The Volta Basin is a source of livelihood and a driver of socio-economic development for the majority of its 23.9 million inhabitants who are engaged in agriculture, livestock breeding, fisheries and aquaculture, and forestry.
The Volta Basin Authority was established in 2007 following the signing of a Convention by the riparian countries, to promote permanent consultation for rational, sustainable and equitable management of the water resources of the Volta Basin for poverty alleviation and better socio-economic integration.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has commenced the transfer of its first REDD+ disbursement to help Ecuador reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and protect its forests.
Ecuador’s Minister of Environment, Tarsicio Granizo
The current transfer of $7.9 million to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a GCF Accredited Entity, marks a key milestone for the Fund. It is the first time GCF is distributing climate finance supporting REDD+.
REDD+ refers to a process moderated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which supports countries’ efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
The GCF contribution to Ecuador is part of $84 million financing to assist this South American nation halt net deforestation by 2020.
GCF’s investment will co-finance Ecuador’s REDD+ action plan. Targeted investment will control agricultural expansion into forest areas, while agricultural and livestock production practices will be implemented to reduce deforestation.
The climate finance will also encourage loans that encourage sustainable farming practices, promote tax incentives for activities supporting REDD+, and ease the flow of deforestation-free commodities in the global market.
Ecuador’s Minister of Environment, Tarsicio Granizo, said Ecuador has just finished its preparation phase for REDD+ according to UNFCCC guidelines and requirements.
“The funding received by the Green Climate Fund is very important because it allows us to continue with the implementation phase of the policies and actions set out in the REDD+ Action Plan,” said Mr Granizo, referring to his country’s UNFCCC-backed strategy to incorporate REDD+.
Jessica Faieta, Assistant Secretary General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean at UNDP, added the “implementation of the REDD+ Action Plan in Ecuador, possible thanks to the funding received from the Green Climate Fund, is an important milestone in helping the country achieve net zero deforestation by 2020.” She said the plan would also generate benefits for local communities, with a special focus on women and youth.
The GCF currently provides support to maintain and amplify efforts to implement the early phases of REDD+. In addition, GCF has been consulting widely on how to incorporate REDD+ results-based payments as a cornerstone of its climate finance and provide finance for countries in all phases of REDD+.
This issue is slated to be discussed at the 17th GCF Board meeting, currently being held at the Fund’s headquarters in Songdo, South Korea.
GCF Senior Forest and Land Use Specialist, Juan Chang, said REDD+ has enormous potential in bringing together the benefits of climate finance and sustainable development.
“REDD+ can contribute to significantly reduce emissions generated from unsustainable land use activities, conserve standing natural forests and increase carbon stocks in previously degraded lands, while also respecting indigenous people and forest-dependent people living in these ecosystems,” he said.
Mr Chang added the full implementation of REDD+ from an idea to established practice received a major boost after it became a key element of the Paris Agreement (article 5) following years of REDD+ negotiations.
One of the most recent REDD+ studies indicates it has the potential to reduce global emissions by up to 24 to 30 percent.
Data from 77 countries show that antibiotic resistance is making gonorrhoea – a common sexually-transmitted infection – much harder, and sometimes impossible, to treat.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Photo credit: AFP / FABRICE COFFRINI (Photo credit should read FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)
“The bacteria that cause gonorrhoea are particularly smart. Every time we use a new class of antibiotics to treat the infection, the bacteria evolve to resist them,” said Dr Teodora Wi, Medical Officer, Human Reproduction, at the World Health Organisation (WHO).
WHO reports widespread resistance to older and cheaper antibiotics. Some countries – particularly high-income ones, where surveillance is best – are finding cases of the infection that are untreatable by all known antibiotics.
“These cases may just be the tip of the iceberg, since systems to diagnose and report untreatable infections are lacking in lower-income countries where gonorrhoea is actually more common,” adds Dr Wi.
Each year, an estimated 78 million people are infected with gonorrhoea. Gonorrhoea can infect the genitals, rectum, and throat. Complications of gonorrhoea disproportionally affect women, including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy and infertility, as well as an increased risk of HIV.
Decreasing condom use, increased urbanisation and travel, poor infection detection rates, and inadequate or failed treatment all contribute to this increase.
Monitoring drug resistance
The WHO Global Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (WHO GASP), monitors trends in drug-resistant gonorrhoea. WHO GASP data from 2009 to 2014 find widespread resistance to ciprofloxacin (97% of countries that reported data in that period found drug-resistant strains), increasing resistance to azithromycin (81%), and the emergence of resistance to the current last-resort treatment: the extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESCs) oral cefixime or injectable ceftriaxone (66%).
Currently, in most countries, ESCs are the only single antibiotic that remain effective for treating gonorrhoea. But resistance to cefixime – and more rarely to ceftriaxone – has now been reported in more than 50 countries. As a result, WHO issued updated global treatment recommendations in 2016 advising doctors to give two antibiotics: ceftriaxone and azithromycin.
Development of new drugs
The R&D pipeline for gonorrhoea is relatively empty, with only three new candidate drugs in various stages of clinical development: solithromycin, for which a phase III trial has recently been completed; zoliflodacin, which has completed a phase II trial; and gepotidacin, which has also completed a phase II trial.
The development of new antibiotics is not very attractive for commercial pharmaceutical companies. Treatments are taken only for short periods of time (unlike medicines for chronic diseases) and they become less effective as resistance develops, meaning that the supply of new drugs constantly needs to be replenished.
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and WHO have launched the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP), a not-for-profit research and development organisation, hosted by DNDi, to address this issue. GARDP’s mission is to develop new antibiotic treatments and promote appropriate use, so that they remain effective for as long as possible, while ensuring access for all in need. One of GARDP’s key priorities is the development of new antibiotic treatments for gonorrhoea.
“To address the pressing need for new treatments for gonorrhoea, we urgently need to seize the opportunities we have with existing drugs and candidates in the pipeline. In the short term, we aim to accelerate the development and introduction of at least one of these pipeline drugs, and will evaluate the possible development of combination treatments for public health use,” said Dr Manica Balasegaram, GARDP Director. “Any new treatment developed should be accessible to everyone who needs it, while ensuring it’s used appropriately, so that drug resistance is slowed as much as possible.”
Gonorrhoea prevention
Gonorrhoea can be prevented through safer sexual behaviour, in particular consistent and correct condom use. Information, education, and communication can promote and enable safer sex practices, improve people’s ability to recognise the symptoms of gonorrhoea and other sexually transmitted infections, and increase the likelihood they will seek care. Today, lack of public awareness, lack of training of health workers, and stigma around sexually transmitted infections remain barriers to greater and more effective use of these interventions.
There are no affordable, rapid, point-of-care diagnostic tests for gonorrhoea. Many people who are infected with gonorrhoea do not have any symptoms, so they go undiagnosed and untreated. On the other hand, however, when patients do have symptoms, such as discharge from the urethra or the vagina, doctors often assume it is gonorrhoea and prescribe antibiotics – even though people may be suffering from another kind of infection. The overall inappropriate use of antibiotics increases the development of antibiotic resistance in gonorrhoea as well as other bacterial diseases.
“To control gonorrhoea, we need new tools and systems for better prevention, treatment, earlier diagnosis, and more complete tracking and reporting of new infections, antibiotic use, resistance and treatment failures,” said Dr Marc Sprenger, Director of Antimicrobial Resistance at WHO. “Specifically, we need new antibiotics, as well as rapid, accurate, point-of-care diagnostic tests – ideally, ones that can predict which antibiotics will work on that particular infection – and longer term, a vaccine to prevent gonorrhoea.”
The Federal Government has said that it is aware of the challenges of climate change and thus determined to address its effects on the nation.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama
Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, said this when he inaugurated the Ecological Fund intervention projects, executed at the Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu in Isiuzo Local Government Area of Enugu State on Friday, July 7, 2017.
The projects included internal roads covering four kilometres (km), soil erosion and flood control.
Onyeama said: “We have seen the counter effects of climate change and the challenges it poses to our people. How to support every community faced with this challenge is the priority of this government.”
The minister said that the intervention was part of government’s quest to deliver its promises.
Onyeama said: “The origin of these projects was an appeal made by the school authorities and the Federal Government has made an immediate response too.
“This is evident of the importance this administration attaches to development in our educational institutions.”
The minister said that colleges of education were one of the most important pillars the current administration had to support in order to make the country great.
He said also that there was need to make life attractive for the teeming youths in the rural areas in order to stem rural-urban migration.
Provost of the institution, Prof. Benjamin Mbah, said the projects were the first of such intervention since the start of academic activities in the institution in 1981.
He said that the actualisation of the projects had saved members of staff and students from the hazards of recurrent flooding that had wreaked havoc in the institution over the years.
Mbah said: “What we experienced then was walking unsteadily, sinking and falling on the clay and muddy road.”
The provost, however, said that the execution of the projects was just the beginning of the jobs that needed to be done to salvage the institution.
Mbah said that the amount of flooding in the institution was phenomenal, adding that efforts needed to be made to put it to good use.
He said that the emphasis on the diversification of the economy would be boosted in the area if the aspect of the flood water was used for agricultural production, adding that Eha-Amufu was a major rice producing area.
He said: “A very important aspect of the jobs that still needed to be done is the harnessing of the flood water that passes through this institution.
“If we can harvest the water for irrigation farming and artificial pond, we can grow fishes here and get our youths employed.”
Mbah appealed to the government to execute the remaining projects in the school, adding that they had requested for the construction of a12km internal roads.
The project supervisor, Gabriel Deage, said that the projects were executed in accordance with international standard.
Deage said that though they encountered several challenges in the course of executing the jobs but the projects were guaranteed to last for 20 years.
He said that more than 14 culverts were constructed along with big drainage and application of asphalt on a 4km road.
Stating that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the “boldest agenda for humanity” and requires equally bold changes in the United Nations development system, Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday, July 5, 2017 outlined steps to better place the organisation to deliver tangible results in the lives of the people it serves.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres presenting his report to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Photo credit: UN Photo/ Kim Haughton
“The UN development system, therefore, must itself be far more integrated (and aligned) in our response (…) to work seamlessly across sectors and specialisations – and to do so more effectively.”
Mr. Guterres noted that his report to the Council (on repositioning the UN development system) is an integral component of the broader reform agenda at the UN to better meet the world’s complex and interlinked challenges.
He added that his ideas and proposals are intended to spur further discussions in the Council and to solicit the views of Member States on a number of key areas. A more detailed report will be submitted in December.
Eight guiding ideas
Mr. Guterres highlighted eight key guiding areas for his proposed reforms. The first is accelerating the transition of the UN development system from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the 2030 Agenda and, at the same time, closing gaps and improving skillsets.
“We must be able to provide advice, pool expertise and help governments implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help convene the partners they require to take actions to scale,” he said.
He also highlighted the need for a stronger focus on financing for development to help governments to better leverage financing as well as working with a broad range of actors including the private sector, international financial institutions and other partners.
Another area of focus is enhancing the effectiveness of UN Country Teams – which comprise all UN agencies operating in a particular country – to build on the strengths of individual agencies while delivering with greater coherence, unity and accountability.
He also underlined the need to “delink” the functions of UN Resident Coordinators from UNDP Resident Representatives to enable more effective and integrated analysis and planning at the country level to encompass the dimensions of sustainable development.
Further, he noted that reform efforts would be taking place at the headquarters levels as well to ensure that no new bureaucracies or superstructures are created.
To that end, he announced that Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has been tasked to oversee and provide strategic guidance to the UN Development Group and lead a Steering Committee to strengthen coherence between humanitarian action and development work.
Other areas of focus included strengthening a more cohesive UN policy voice at the regional level; strengthening accountability of the UN development system; and ensuring effective and efficient funding structures that would offer greater value-for-money and reporting on system-wide results.
Success will be seen through results on the ground
Noting that the success of the reforms would be seen in tangible results in the lives of the people served by the organisation, the Secretary-General said that many of the issues raised in the report would require further consideration and that he looked forward to working with the Member States on that matter.
“Repositioning the UN development system is our shared responsibility (…) I am convinced that, together, we can take the bold steps that the new agenda requires and that humanity deserves,” he stated.
In addition to high temperatures, extreme weather affected many different parts of the world in June and early July. This summary is compiled by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Secretariat based on reports from national meteorological and hydrological services. It updates a previous report issued on June 20.
The annual monsoon season has been accompanied by torrential rainfall in many parts of China
Temperatures
The Iranian city of Ahwaz reported a temperature of 53.7°C on Thursday, June 29, 2017 as part of a heatwave with temperatures in excess of 50°C in a number of locations across the region (including Iraq and Kuwait). A committee for WMO’s Weather and Climate Extremes archive will examine several extremely high temperatures reported within the past year to see if they qualify as new records. In addition to the temperature seen in Ahwaz, there was a reported temperature of about 54°C in Turbat, in southwestern Pakistan (late May), and also in Mitrabah in Kuwait in July 2016.
Europe: June 2017 was very much warmer than the 1981-2010 average over southern and central Europe, especially over the Iberian Peninsula, where Portugal experienced devastating wildfires. The heatwave shifted from the Iberian Peninsula to southeastern Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean towards the end of June, with temperatures well over 40°C in many countries. The high temperatures were sometimes accompanied by damaging summer storms, hailstorms, torrential rainfall and flash floods.
The Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), which acts as WMO’s Regional Climate Centre for Europe’s Node on Climate Monitoring, updated its Climate Watch Advisory on Friday, July 7, 2017. “A period with significantly above-normal temperatures and heat waves, at least for the next week, is expected for most parts of the eastern Mediterranean (from Italy, Balkans to Caucasus and Middle East). The weekly anomalies are forecasted with up to +3°C (with daily temperature maxima up to or above 40°C). The probability for this anomaly is estimated to be above 80%. This warm period could come along with thunderstorms, showers or forest fires.”
The Climate Watch Advisory is used as guidance for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services who are responsible for issuing forecasts and warnings. Meteorological services have also been providing information on air quality, UV levels and wildfire risk.
Conversely, temperatures have been well below average over the north-east of Europe. The contrast between south-west and north-east continues a pattern that was present in April and May, according to ECMWF.
In the Russian Federation, June 2017 was widely called Junabre (June plus November) because of the cold weather in the European parts of the country. A cyclonic depression caused extreme precipitation, with 185 % of monthly average rainfall falling in the last two days of June, causing casualties and economic disruption. June was the coldest month in the past 14 years for Moscow. Siberia also experienced anomalous weather events, with unusually cold weather changing to unusually warm weather in the second half of the month. The temperature topped 30° C (Solovievsk in Zabaikalsky Krai 39,4, Ulan-Ude in Buryatia 38,9, Karam in the North of Irkutsk Oblast 38,5).
Temperatures were also much above average, and high in absolute terms, over Morocco and northern Algeria. June temperatures were also much above average offshore of parts of Antarctica, where sea-ice cover was unusually low. Much of South America and Africa were warmer than average, according to the ECMWF analysis. Temperatures were well below average over East Antarctica. Several other regions experienced temperatures that were a little below average.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that, starting around June 18 and continuing for over a week, scorching temperatures hit the western United States of America from Arizona to the Pacific Northwest. June 20 was a particularly hot day for the southwestern United States. Las Vegas, Nevada (47.2°C or 117°F), and Needles, CA (51.7°C or 125°F), both tied their all-time record.
In Arizona, Phoenix saw temperatures hit 48.3°C or 119°F. The heat caused multiple canceled flights out of Phoenix International Airport. The hotter the air, the less dense it is, which means less lift for airplanes as they take off. In order to take off, the planes would have needed a longer runway, which was not available in Phoenix. From June 17-27, Phoenix International Airport has had 11 straight days with temperatures of at least 110°F, or 43°C.
As the heat wave continued, the hot air spread west and north. On June 25, Portland, Oregon reached 38°C or 101°F and Seattle, Washington, hit 35.6°C or 96°F – tying its hottest June day on record. Dangerous heat was expected across much of Southwest California on July 7, according to the National Weather Service.
Precipitation
China: The annual monsoon season has been accompanied by torrential rainfall in many parts of China for extended periods in June and early July, causing considerable economic losses and transport disruption. For instance, more than 600 flights were cancelled at Beijing airport alone on July 6 as a result of rainfall.
The rainfall was one of the contributing factors to a deadly landslide with many casualties on June 24 in Maoxian County, Sichuan. In North and Northeast China, the National Meteorological Centre said that from June 21 to June 24, the maximum hourly rainfall was between 20-40 mm.
Authorities issued warnings about water levels along key tributaries of the Yangtzee River basin. There was a red alert on July 2 along the whole course of the Xiangjiang River which was near or above record levels. The water level in the section of the river in Changsha, capital of Hunan, reached 39.21 meters on July 2, higher than the previous record of 39.18 meters set by a massive flood in 1998. Since June 22, flooding has inundated parts of several cities In Hunan, forced 311,300 people to evacuate, damaged 295,160 hectares of crops and destroyed 6,369 houses, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
Bangladesh: Tropical cyclone Mora at the end of May caused considerable damage and some casualties. This was followed throughout June by heavy monsoon rainfall which caused severe flooding and contributed to deadly mudslides. Authorities were reported as saying that nearly 900,000 people were affected by floods as of 5 July.
Japan: tropical storm Nanmadol was associated with torrential rainfall in southern Japan. The city of Hamada in Shimane, which faces the Sea of Japan, saw hourly precipitation of over 80 mm on July 6, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The prefectural governments issued evacuation orders and advisories on Wednesday to a total of nearly 60,000 residents in affected areas.
Australia had the second driest June on record, with rainfall 62% below average for Australia as a whole, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. June was the driest on record for large areas of southern Australia because of persistent high pressure and a lack of cold fronts.
The Government of the Republic of Rwanda on Thursday, June 29, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification, thereby becoming the 70th future Party to the Minamata Convention.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda
Hitherto, the Governments of Palau, Thailand, Slovenia and Viet Nam deposited their instruments of ratification, thereby becoming the 66th to 69th future Parties to the mercury treaty.
The depositions were made on Wednesday, June 21; Thursday, June 22; and Friday, June 23, 2017. While Palau deposited on Wednesday and Thailand on Thursday, both Slovenia and Viet Nam did likewise on Friday.
Previously, Iran and Estonia had ratified the Convention, which has already entered into force, thanks to the landmark rash of ratifications on Thursday, May 18, 2017 that triggered the entry into force of the mercury accord, having garnered the required 50 ratifications.
On that day, the EU and seven of its member States – Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden – deposited their instruments of ratification at the UN Headquarters in New York, bringing to 51 that day the number of future Parties.
As a result, on August 16 2017, the Convention, which aims at protecting human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds, will become legally binding for all its Parties.
To commemorate the historic development, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Ministry of the Environment of Japan, Kumamoto Prefecture and Minamata City on Saturday, July 1, 2017 held “Celebrating Event for the Minamata Convention on Mercury – Voice from Minamata towards the Entry into Force” in Minamata City, Kumamoto, Japan.
The 1st Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention (COP1) will gather governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations from around the world in Geneva from September 24 to 29, 2017.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury (“Minamata Convention”) is a new international environmental convention for global community to work collaboratively against mercury pollution. The Minamata Convention aims at achieving environmentally sound mercury management throughout its life cycle. The Convention was adopted at the diplomatic conferences held in Minamata City and Kumamoto City in October 2013.
