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High-tech forest-monitoring tools revolutionising knowledge on tropical forests

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High-tech forest-monitoring tools revolutionising knowledge on tropical forests

A “golden age” of technology – from satellites and remote sensing to cloud computing, drones and innovative ground data collection – have enabled the tracking and monitoring of the world’s tropical forests, providing an unprecedented opportunity to maximise the role forests play is soaking up and storing carbon and providing many goods and services for sustainable development, reveals a working paper released on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at a major global gathering focused on efforts to save the world’s rainforests.

Nigeria REDD+
High tech has enabled the tracking and monitoring of the world’s tropical forests. Photo credit: UNDP Cambodia/Chansok Lay/Oddar Meanchey

“If we have hope of protecting the world’s forests, everyone involved – from policymakers and law enforcement to investors and indigenous peoples – must embrace the full power of the information age,” said Rachael Petersen, Deputy Director of Global Forest Watch. “Though forests have been here for millennia, only in the last 10 years, thanks to these new tools and data sources, have we gained a detailed understanding of how forest cover is changing worldwide.”

The working paper, tilled: “Tropical Forest Monitoring” and written by a team of researchers from World Resources Institute and Wageningen University, is one of nine studies released on Wednesday at the opening of the two-day Oslo Tropical Forest Forum, an event hosted by the Norwegian government to celebrate results and identify remaining challenges 10 years after reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) was included in the climate change negotiations, and to advance strategies for mobilising forests to help achieve the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“We’re losing forests across the tropics too quickly, mostly due the production of beef, palm oil, soy and wood products – not to mention forest fires,” said Crystal Davis, Director of Global Forest Watch. “But now, we have an arsenal of cutting-edge technologies that help identify where and when forests are being destroyed. Illegal loggers chopping down protected trees, agriculture companies breaking zero-deforestation commitments, palm oil producers setting fire to peatlands and other players behind forest destruction can no longer hide.”

Advances in satellite-based remote sensing and other technologies that have emerged in recent years provide speedy, low-cost methods to map and monitor forests. The researchers point to several key technical improvements: satellite data has become more detailed, enabling the tracking of more subtle changes – such as the sudden appearance of roads or farm plots in protected forests. Some of the satellites can even “see” through cloud cover, smoke and haze, enabling forest monitoring in the midst of forest fires or other weather events. Cheaper computing costs and innovations in artificial intelligence mean researchers can process satellite imagery over large areas automatically using advanced algorithms – including estimating forest loss for the entire world.

“In the past, countries compiled statistics on forests from expensive and time-consuming field missions,” said Petersen. “While it’s still important to have ‘boots on the ground,’ in the battle to save forests, we increasingly rely on ‘eyes in the sky’ to give us a comprehensive picture of where forests are located and how they are changing.”

For example, it is often too dangerous or expensive to track illegal activity on the ground. These new technologies are helping governments and NGOs crack down on forest crimes, sometimes for the first time. Satellite images, when combined with additional data like national park boundaries or logging permits, are especially useful in providing “early warnings” of ongoing illegal activity, such as the building of a road, enabling law enforcement to swoop in investigate before activity spreads.

  • In 2004, Brazil developed the first national early warning system, called DETER, to target illegal logging and the illegal clearing of land for agriculture. The national environmental enforcement agency (IBAMA) uses DETER to determine which field investigations they should undertake and how best to implement national laws and policies. Peru and Colombia are developing similar systems for cracking down on illegal deforestation.
  • The Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM) distributes weekly forest disturbance alerts via their online portal Geobosques to over 800 subscribers from government, civil society and the private sector. The alerts help Peruvian authorities to identify, halt, and prosecute cases of illegal logging and mining.
  • In Uganda, the Jane Goodall Institute trained monitors at Uganda’s National Forest Authority (NFA) and park rangers with Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to use weekly forest disturbance alerts to monitor national parks and forests. NFA and UWA staff now use those alerts and other data to prioritise patrols, find and document illegal forest clearing. These data have led to prosecutions, fines, and investigations within several critical habitats, including Kibale National Park.

Satellite data, the paper says, is also critical for consistently measuring progress on the protection of forests and quantifying how much carbon is stored in trees, a prerequisite for programs like REDD+ that reward forest nations for keeping trees standing. These forest monitoring technologies also offer a cheap, consistent, and reliable way to track progress on commitments by governments and companies to protect forests.

  • To meet Paris Agreement goals, for example, countries must “inventory” their greenhouse gas emissions, which would require the calculation of forest loss (which emits carbon) and forest gain (which absorbs carbon).
  • Measuring the success of such pledges as the New York Declaration on forests, which aims to halve deforestation by 2020, end it completely by 2030, and restore hundreds of millions of acres of degraded land together with the Bonn Challenge) necessitates the close monitoring of forest re-growth.
  • To be eligible for REDD+ payments, countries must devise national forest monitoring systems to track progress in reducing deforestation and forest degradation against an agreed baseline.
  • Finally, the more than 400 companies that have made pledges to get deforestation out of their commodity supply chains can’t be held accountable for implementing their commitments without accurate forest data.

Thanks to REDD+ readiness funding, many countries have improved their ability to monitor their forests, how much carbon they store, and how they are changing. However, the paper suggests that despite this skyrocketing demand for better forest data, there is a gap between what new technologies make possible and what is still practiced by national officials monitoring forests. Despite significant investments by international donors, tropical forest government agencies often do not have the staff, financial resources, or computing infrastructure to take advantage of rapidly advancing technology.

“Forest nations are increasingly attuned to the importance of saving tropical forests, which not only store carbon, but also provide clean air, fresh water, food, medicines, incomes, and a wealth of plant and animal life,” said Martin Herold, professor of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing at Wageningen University. “In the hands of the officials who need them most, these forest monitoring tools could make or break the global fight to save our forests. We should focus our efforts not just on improving the technology, but more importantly, on supporting government institutions to adopt it and apply it to their biggest challenges moving forward.”

“We will soon be able to detect deforestation every day in high resolution from space. But it won’t do any good if the knowledge stays in research labs or academic publications. Park rangers, law enforcement officers, and indigenous peoples need to act on this information. While technology continues to improve, we should invest greater resources on building the capacity to own this information and incentives to support data-based decision making,” Petersen added.

At the same time, forest monitoring efforts carried out by non-government organisations and posted online, can help citizens access forest data when national governments don’t share their numbers. Indigenous people, for example, seeking to claim rights to their forests to protect them from destruction, increasingly complement their forest monitoring efforts at the local level – using drones, GPS and mobile phones – with satellite data.

The paper cautions, however, that that the rapidly expanding options for monitoring forests poses a new set of challenges. As forest-measuring tools proliferate, varying factors, such as the definition of a forest, the time frame measured or the quality of the data, can lead to conflicting estimates of the deforestation rates and a lack of comparability across countries. The authors call for a more systematic understanding of how and why country-reported data differ from independent estimates, and suggest that greater guidance is needed for countries to take advantage of recent technological developments and minimise confusion.

“Forest monitoring technology alone won’t save forests,” said Frances Seymour, Programme Chair of the Oslo Tropical Forests Forum and lead author of “Why Forests? Why Now?” “But increased transparency is a critical enabling tool for many of the most promising strategies for stopping deforestation, including enhanced law enforcement, REDD+ financial incentives, and efforts to get deforestation out of commodity supply chains.”

Local communities outperform governments, groups in conservation, says report

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Local communities outperform governments, groups in conservation, says report

New findings released on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 in Oslo suggest Indigenous Peoples and local communities dramatically outperform other managers, conserving lands and forests for a quarter the cost of public and private investments to conserve protected areas.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz

The new report, “Cornered by Protected Areas,” co-authored by Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) was released as forest researchers revealed a spike in deforestation that threatens efforts to reach global climate goals.

“If we are to save the world’s forests and prevent a climate crisis, Indigenous Peoples and local communities must be part of the solution,” Tauli-Corpuz reminded participants from government, civil society, and the scientific community at the world’s largest gathering on tropical forests and their role in achieving global climate and development goals. “Based on a growing body of evidence, they make tremendous contributions, conserving some of the most biodiverse lands on Earth.”

Separately, but also in Oslo, a new analysis from the University of Maryland on Global Forest Watch was released on Wednesday, reporting the loss of a record-high 15.8 million hectares of tropical forest cover in 2017. The findings suggest that efforts of Indigenous Peoples to conserve the world’s forests and forest carbon are more urgent than ever before, said Tauli-Corpuz.

“This conservation research underscores the cost of ignoring communities and their immense contributions to conservation,” said Alain Frechette, Director of Strategic Analysis and Global Engagement at RRI. “Investments in forest protection would be more efficient and more just if allocated to the people who have kept the forests standing up until now.”

Indigenous Peoples and local communities have customary rights to at least half of the world’s land, but legal ownership over just 10 percent. Research has shown that legally recognized indigenous and community forests store more carbon and experience lower rates of deforestation than forests under other tenure regimes – including protected areas.

Despite protecting their lands – often for generations – Indigenous Peoples and local communities are confronting a growing trend in the designation of their lands across the Global South as “protected areas,” creating a crisis of criminalisation and human rights violations, according to the findings presented today by Tauli-Corpuz.

“Instead of partnering with the people who live in and depend on forests, conservation initiatives continue to drive communities from their ancestral lands, part of a larger trend of criminalisation worldwide,” said Tauli-Corpuz. “In some cases, they are declared squatters in their own territories. In my capacity as Special Rapporteur, I have seen a disturbing uptick of harassment, criminalisation, and even extrajudicial killings targeting communities.”

The new report examined the impacts of protected areas on Indigenous People and local communities in 28 countries, and estimated the conservation investments of communities in 14 countries. It concluded that:

  • Indigenous Peoples and local communities have only limited recognition of their community land rights in protected areas;
  • In spite of this legal insecurity, indigenous and local communities worldwide invest up to $4.57 billion per year in conservation, including up to $1.71 billion per year in forest conservation – as much as 23 percent of the amount spent on land and forest conservation by the formal environmental community;
  • Communities achieved equal or better conservation results with lower levels of investment – showing that they are not only the most effective, but also the most cost effective stewards of their lands.

In Peru, for instance, legal recognition of community forest rights reduced deforestation and disturbance by as much as 81 percent in the year following titling, and by 56 percent the year after; in other words, securing land rights can lead to immediate environmental benefits.

In Brazil, community forests store 36 percent more carbon per hectare than other forests. And given that indigenous and local community lands hold at least one quarter of the world’s aboveground tropical forest carbon – and likely much more – ensuring that communities have secure rights to these lands is critical to larger efforts to protect forests and the carbon they contain.

Governments and environmental organisations have made numerous commitments and pledged to adhere to international standards, yet the communities responsible for maintaining the world’s lands and forests face increasing threats.

The trend of “militarisation of conservation” – arming park rangers and organising them as a military unit – began as a way to help rangers defend themselves against poachers and organised terrorists, but the report notes that violence by armed rangers against unarmed Indigenous Peoples and local communities has been documented in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, South Africa, and elsewhere.

India’s Kaziranga National Park alone has seen 106 extrajudicial killings in the last 20 years. Elsewhere, communities face criminalisation and violence for practicing their traditional livelihoods.

The findings come as the Special Rapporteur herself faces charges of terrorism in her native Philippines by President Rodrigo Duterte’s government, which Tauli-Corpuz believes were filed in retaliation for her advocacy on behalf of displaced Indigenous Peoples in the Mindanao region of the Philippines.

“The science is clear: forests are the best tool we have to combat climate change, and to conserve our forests we need to recognise the rights of the Indigenous Peoples and local communities who invest in protecting them,” said Frechette. “Global conservation schemes such as REDD+ and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets reference the need to consult Indigenous Peoples and local communities. But this is clearly not enough. In order to fully respect the rights of the world’s Indigenous Peoples, we urgently need to move toward rights-based conservation models that can secure human well-being and global progress on climate and development priorities.”

Accurate data, collaboration necessary for waste management – Environmentalist

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Accurate data, collaboration necessary for waste management – Environmentalist

An environmentalist, Dr Abdulganiyu Adelopo, has said that effective waste management will require accurate data generation and collaboration with the academia.

waste compactors
Waste management: waste compactors in Lagos

Adelopo, Quality Control Officer, Works and Physical Department, University of Lagos, made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday, June 27, 2018.

“For the government to plan sustainable waste management solutions to any community, reliable data on waste generation is mandatory.

“If you do not have adequate information, you can proffer a solution that will work today and fail tomorrow. “We lack adequate statistics to manage waste in Lagos, and accurate data for waste generated in the country.

“For example, Lagos State Government may not be able to have adequate waste planning in Alimosho LGA because it does not have precise data of waste generated there.

“We have to manage what is on ground and prevent excessive generation of waste to salvage the situation,” he told NAN.

Adelopo said that lack of precise data in waste generation contributed much to waste management problems in Nigeria.

“Appropriate data generation would help to solve our waste problem because it will help us to address the issues effectively,” he said.

Adelopo said that the government would need accurate data to provide necessary waste management infrastructure.

“Accurate data is also necessary in the allocation of plastic waste bins to households and communities.

“Emphasis on precise data generation for waste management is the source of the solution.

“You cannot allocate properly when you do not have the data, you cannot allocate one bin for a house that produces waste that can fill five bins.’’

The environmentalist called for collaboration between governments and the academia in proffering effective solutions to waste management in the country.

“There are a lot of researches going on in the academia to resolve issues of waste generation and management in the country.

“However the issue at hand is the adaptation of researches into government policies on waste management.

“In the last administration, Lagos State Government had an opportunity to win a World Bank grant in solving environmental pollution due to its collaboration with the academia.

“If there is sincere, unbiased integration and collaboration between the academia and the government, we will be able to solve waste management problems in the country,” he said.

By Mercy Okhiade

Absence of indigenous land rights will engender insecurity in Amazon

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Absence of indigenous land rights will engender insecurity in Amazon

On the eve of its address to the Oslo Tropical Forest Forum (OTFF), Peru’s national indigenous organisation, AIDESEP, has launched a joint report with the Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) which highlights the Peruvian government’s seeming inability to meet its progressive commitments to recognise indigenous peoples’ land rights. On a positive note, it documents rapid progress in the registration of indigenous lands thanks to decentralised funding programmes implemented and overseen by indigenous organisations.

Shipibo Konibo
Members of the Shipibo Konibo Indian community in the Peuvian Amazon

In the words of Lizardo Cauper Pezo, President of AIDESEP, “Peru is one of the only countries in the world where, thanks to the struggle of indigenous organisations, climate funds are being invested directly in the recognition of indigenous territories.  In practice however, change is slow and contradictory and these initiatives risk being undermined by bureaucratic obstacles. While the process of titling new territories is not fast enough, deforestation continues to advance.”

The report, titled: “A marathon not a sprint: The role of international climate finance in securing indigenous land rights in Peru”, tracks the status of commitments made by the Peruvian government since 2011 as part of its national climate mitigation strategy. These promises included reform of its outdated laws on indigenous land rights to align them with international human rights laws and to accelerate progress on the titling and demarcation of approximately 20 million hectares of indigenous lands and over 1300 communities whose recognition remained pending. In concrete terms the government committed to titling at least 5 million hectares of indigenous lands and earmarked at least $20 million worth of funding from international donors for the purpose. Donors include the Norwegian government, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank’s Forest Investment Programme (FIP).

The commitments responded to a welcome recognition from the Peruvian government that, and in line with increasing evidence from around the world, efforts to protect forests will only be equitable and effective if the land rights of indigenous and forest dependent communities are respected and recognised.

Despite this, the vast majority of these funds and projects have remained unimplemented in an apparent quagmire of red tape. The only real progress has been made by indigenous organisations themselves as direct recipients of the Forest Investment Programme’s Dedicated Grant Mechanism (FIP-DGM) for indigenous peoples which by the end of 2017 had resulted in the legal registration of 124 indigenous communities and the titling of 10 after just one year. To date, the sum total of indigenous peoples’ climate finance advocacy has resulted in the recognition of over 150 communities and the titling of 50.

Roberto Espinoza, co-author of the report, highlighted that “the experience of AIDESEP in Peru, having managed to ensure that the territorial rights of indigenous peoples were on the climate agenda and having redirected the investment of funds to that end, demonstrates that it is both possible and feasible to advance the objectives of territoriality and autonomy of indigenous peoples through participating in and influencing national and global climate processes. Nevertheless, progress is slow, with steps forward and backward and is in permanent conflict with the resistance and contradictions in the state and multilateral bureaucracies. That is why it continues to be a race of endurance, tenacity and persistence and one whose results take time to show. These results have now materialised and will continue to materialise. It is not a race of “speed” in which there are immediate results not is it neither ideal nor sufficient, because the “accumulation of lands through dispossession” is advancing rapidly. The important thing is the lessons that AIDESEP has left and its contribution to the international indigenous movement about how to reorient climate processes”.

Meanwhile, as the report outlines, the Peruvian government continues to favour a conservation model based on the creation of exclusive protected areas and the application of discriminatory and arbitrary criteria even when they do title indigenous peoples’ lands. These include the failure to recognise the full extent of indigenous peoples’ traditional lands while those “titles” that are issued are done so in the form of a “leasehold contract” which are not only precarious but extremely restrictive. To make matters worse, legal initiatives by indigenous organisations in the San Martin region to rectify these laws have been responded to with threats from the Peruvian government to cancel or suspend the land titling programme being implemented by the UNDP.

Worse still, despite the commitments made by the Peruvian government in 2008 to reduce net deforestation from an average of 123,000ha per year to zero by 2020 annual rates of deforestation have continued to increase year after year to over 160,000ha per year in 2016. In 2014 another joint report by AIDESEP and FPP highlighted how deforestation in the Peruvian amazon was spiralling out of control as a result of contradictory government policies favouring extractive industries and infrastructure projects aggravated by weak enforcement and environmental regulation alongside the existence of legal loopholes and perverse incentives that promoted deforestation.

Finally the report calls on the Peruvian government and the backers of its national climate strategy to significantly ramp up efforts to secure indigenous peoples’ lands and fulfil its legal obligations.

Dr Conrad Feather, co-author of the report explained: “The Inter American Court of Human rights has repeatedly established that States must safeguard indigenous lands and create no concessions or private holdings until the land rights of indigenous peoples in the area have been resolved. The Peruvian government claims it is too expensive and complicated to title indigenous peoples’ lands but they are the ones designing the onerous and complex procedures.

“If they really wanted to comply with the law and safeguard indigenous lands they could even do this without millions of dollars’ worth of funds. They could simply register indigenous land claims that have been filed and prevent any land allocations in the vicinity until the titling of that community had been resolved. They do this with the protected areas they create so why can’t they do this with indigenous territories?”

Saying ‘no’ to palm oil won’t halt biodiversity loss – IUCN

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Saying ‘no’ to palm oil won’t halt biodiversity loss – IUCN

Banning palm oil would most likely increase the production of other oil crops to meet demand for oil, displacing rather than halting the significant global biodiversity losses caused by palm oil, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned in a report published on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.

A palm oil plantation
A palm oil plantation

The IUCN report, titled: “Palm Oil and Biodiversity”, is an analysis of palm oil impacts on global biodiversity and possible solutions.

Given other oil crops require up to nine times as much land to produce than palm oil, its replacement would significantly increase the total land area used for vegetable oil production to meet global demand. Avoiding further palm oil-related deforestation will deliver the biggest gains for biodiversity by far, the report found.

“When you consider the disastrous impacts of palm oil on biodiversity from a global perspective, there are no simple solutions,” said IUCN Director General, Inger Andersen. “Half of the world’s population uses palm oil in food, and if we ban or boycott it, other, more land-hungry oils will likely take its place. Palm oil is here to stay, and we urgently need concerted action to make palm oil production more sustainable, ensuring that all parties – governments, producers and the supply chain – honour their sustainability commitments.”

The report found that palm oil is damaging global biodiversity, with 193 species assessed as threatened on the IUCN Red List affected, and orangutans, gibbons and tigers among species suffering severe harm. Palm oil impacts on biodiversity currently converge in Malaysia and Indonesia, but could spill over to tropical Africa and America as production expands to meet demand, according to the report. Because palm oil is grown in the species-rich tropics, this could have catastrophic effects on global biodiversity. Areas into which palm oil could potentially expand are home to half (54%) of the world’s threatened mammals, and almost two thirds (64%) of all threatened birds, the report found. If other oil crops replaced palm oil, the damage could shift to ecosystems such as the South American tropical forests and savannahs.

Oil palms produce 35% of the world’s vegetable oil on under 10% of the land allocated to oil crops, with most palm oil consumed in India, China and Indonesia. Three-quarters of all palm oil is used for food, as cooking oil and in processed foods, with the rest used in cosmetics, cleaning products and biofuel. The authors used satellite data to estimate the total planted area at 18.7 million hectares for industrial palm oil only, which gives at least 25 million hectares when smallholder plantations are included. This is higher than the area reported by producer countries, which adds up to 21 million hectares for all palm oil.

“Palm oil is decimating South East Asia’s rich diversity of species as it eats into swathes of tropical forest,” said report lead author and Chair of IUCN’s Oil Palm Task Force, Erik Meijaard. “But if it is replaced by much larger areas of rapeseed, soy or sunflower fields, different natural ecosystems and species may suffer. To put a stop to the destruction we must work towards deforestation-free palm oil, and make sure all attempts to limit palm oil use are informed by solid scientific understanding of the consequences.”

Solutions need to focus on improved planning of new oil palm plantations to avoid the clearing of tropical forest or peatland areas, and better management of forest patches left untouched in plantations, known as set-asides. Certified palm oil has so far proven to be only marginally better in terms of preventing deforestation than its non-certified equivalent, but the approach is relatively new and holds potential for improving sustainability.

More efforts are needed to ensure that sustainability commitments are honoured and that their reporting is transparent, but also that there remains a demand for certified palm oil. Government policies should protect forests in countries producing palm oil as well as other oils, and limit demand for non-food uses of palm oil, such as biofuel, the authors recommended. Improved consumer awareness in the top consuming countries – India, China and Indonesia – could greatly increase demand for certified palm oil.

Written by the IUCN Oil Palm Task Force (OPTF) in response to a 2016 resolution adopted by IUCN’s government and non-governmental members, the report aims to provide a constructive path to improving sustainability in the palm oil industry. This report only looks at the impacts of palm oil on biodiversity, and does not consider social or economic impacts, which the task force aims to study in 2019.

CVF summit offers fresh hope for climate accord implementation – Stakeholders

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CVF summit offers fresh hope for climate accord implementation – Stakeholders

President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and incoming Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), Dr. Hilda C. Heine, on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 announced the first ever carbon-free online summit of world leaders on November 22, 2018.

Hilda-Heine
Hilda Heine, President of Marshall Islands

The announcement, says the Climate Action Network (CAN), gives new hope that the world will attain a critical decision by all countries to step up ambition at the next climate talks in Katowice, Poland, in December.

“This decision is a critical outcome that CAN and its partners have been working towards as 2018 is a key year and dubbed as the ‘Step Up year’ or ‘trigger year’. It is the first important test of the Paris Agreement and the ratchet up mechanism constituting its core. For the Paris Agreement to reach its goal of keeping warming below 1.5C, countries must revise, update and enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) every five years. The next round is 2020. But for countries to come prepared to submit new NDCs in 2020 they need to start the process with national consultations as early as January 2019,” says the group.

The CVF Summit comes after key international moments including the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) and the release of the Special Report on 1.5C by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

At the GCAS non-state actors are expected to demonstrate what they are doing to curb emissions and keep warming in check and the release of the IPCC report is expected to tell governments that they need to do a lot more to reach the temperature goal of 1.5C, otherwise vulnerable countries and cities will suffer and face an ill fate.

“Warming beyond the limit set in Paris will threaten global security and the economy,” warns CAN. “The report will tell governments that transitioning to 100% renewable energy is the only road to salvation and to achieve optimum health, prosperity, jobs and security. The CVF Summit will come to stress this and it would be the time when at least 50 governments will demonstrate to the world that climate solutions exist, are possible to adopt and economically productive.”

Reacting to the development, climate stakeholders described the CVF Summit as the moment of leadership they have been waiting for.

California Governor, Edmund G. Brown Jr.: “President Heine will help carry the torch of climate action from this year’s Global Climate Action Summit to the United Nations Conference of the Parties in Poland this December.”

Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC: The IPCC is working hard to complete the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC, to be released in early October subject to approval. As IPCC Chair I am delighted to hear that the Climate Vulnerable Forum is organising its first carbon-free summit in November. I hope that our report will provide a valuable scientific evidence base for your discussions, as well as informing the negotiations at COP24 a couple of weeks later.”

Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam International Executive Director: “The countries least responsible for causing climate change are taking matters into their own hands. They are showing the rest of the world the way to fight climate change. This is the true spirit of the Paris Agreement, and the kind of leadership that people on the front lines of extreme weather demand.”

Jennifer Morgan, Greenpeace International Executive Director: “This Summit is a call to action for the world’s leaders to step up and prove that they’ve heard the voices of the world’s vulnerable and that they too will act with the responsibility and urgency demanded of them.

“It puts the biggest polluters to shame that the countries who will be hit hardest by climate change are also the ones leading the fight against global warming. Other countries need to wake up and act because our collective fate will be sealed by the actions taken today.”

Esther Watts, Country Director of CARE International in Ethiopia: “Climate change is a major development challenge in Ethiopia. How the country and,  its diverse peoples, communities, and households respond to the multi-faceted impacts of climate change determine Ethiopia’s prospects for growth and transformation, gender equality, and livelihood resilience and sustainability. Recognising this, the Government of Ethiopia, CARE and other development partners have been making considerable efforts to respond to climate change impacts. The CVF summit will be an important opportunity to raise awareness of climate actions taken, and to trigger further cooperation to scale them up.”

Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility: “It is the poorest and most vulnerable countries that are hit the hardest from climate change.  At this critical time, we all need to raise our climate ambition and the GEF is committed to transformational change.  We all share one planet in common, and in its new four-year investment strategy the GEF puts a strong emphasis on financing for Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States. The CVF Leaders’ Summit is an important opportunity to accelerate action towards a low carbon future.”

Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC): “The IFRC welcomes the announcement of the CVF Summit as an opportunity to bring greater attention to rising climate risks that are affecting the most vulnerable communities in the world. The impacts of climate change are here, now, and we will continue to see devastating humanitarian consequences unless urgent action is taken. For this reason we look forward to the Summit resulting in increased ambition, solidarity and urgency to build resilience and achieve all the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

Tomás Insua, Executive Director, Global Catholic Climate Movement: “The poor and future generations most suffer the consequences of climate change, even though they least contribute to its causes.  Plain and simple, this is an issue of justice. The nations that are most vulnerable to the climate crisis are calling for us to act, and our faith tells us that standing with them is a moral opportunity. Loving our neighbors is a courageous act. In response to Pope Francis’ call, we are committed to making the choices today that will step up our ambition and keep us below the 1.5 C degree threshold.”

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Leader of WWF’s global climate and energy programme: “Climate change is the greatest challenge facing our world, threatening the delicate web of life that sustains ecosystems and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Our leaders have the power to change this, to be part of history as we shift to a low-carbon world. This starts with increasing climate action reflected in individual country climate plans (or Nationally Determined Contributions, NDCs). So the Climate Vulnerable Forum Summit is a welcome initiative, coming at just the right time. In this year of stepping up climate action, world leaders need to be bold, to act now and at scale, to help ensure that they keep the promise of a 1.5°C degree world alive.”

May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director: “This is a powerful call to action that must resonate around the world. With their commitment to reach 100% renewable energy, climate vulnerable countries are leading the way to a fossil free future. Their bold actions put to shame the delay and denial we see from so many rich countries like the United States. The message from the Climate Vulnerable Forum is clear: if you’re still building fossil fuel projects, you’re endangering the very survival of these nations. No matter where we live, the climate movement stands in solidarity with all vulnerable communities who are on the frontlines of this crisis. Together, we can end the age of fossil fuels and create a just and sustainable world for all.”

Talanoa Dialogue offers unique opportunity for better future – Espinosa

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Talanoa Dialogue offers unique opportunity for better future – Espinosa

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa, has said that the upcoming political phase of the Talanoa Dialogue to be held in December at the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland, will be an unprecedented opportunity for visualising and realising a climate-safe future. Ms. Espinosa spoke at the EU for Talanoa Conference in Brussels, convened by the European Union

patricia-espinosa
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UNFCCC

The Talanoa Dialogue and everything we’re doing in this crucial year leading up to COP24 in Poland – including your work here – is about greater confidence, courage and raising ambition.

Confidence that we have determination to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and that, in doing so, we will deliver a better future for all.

This includes for those who will be affected by the changes that need to be put in place.

Courage to take on the challenge, to work hard and to withstand the difficulties we may encounter in the road towards a low-emissions and climate-resilient future.

And, finally, enhance ambition, as a response to the fact that we are far from meeting the goals of Paris.

This means taking more action to reduce emissions and have those reflected in nationally-determined contributions.

This year, the Talanoa Dialogue has brought government and non-government actors together to share stories about climate change and climate action.

It’s about visualising the future and identifying ways to making it a reality.

The political phase of the dialogue is an unprecedented opportunity.

In it, ministers and non-Party leaders will take this information and generate the necessary political momentum to move forward.

The stories shared so far have been both concerning and encouraging.

They all make a strong case for enhancing ambition.

Some have described how the impacts of extreme weather are leading to loss of lives and livelihoods.

Small Island states, for example, have described the devastation caused by extreme weather events.

Counties in Africa have referred to the impact of drought on food security while, at the same time, urban centres are overwhelmed by flooding.

At the same time, we’ve been encouraged by stories from national and sub-national governments, businesses, civil society and others, on steps they are taking to address climate chance.

A broad area has been covered.

This includes policy, policy, regulatory frameworks and incentive programmes by governments.

It includes science-based targets by industries.

And it includes positive and active campaigns and programmers by civil society.

Equally encouraging were the stories not only about cooperation between governments, but also between governments and non-government actors.

These have focused on regulation, incentive programmes, research and finance.

Despite all this progress, the scientific community also has a story to tell.

And that’s the story of how our current ambition does not set us on track to limiting temperature rise well below 2C, and even less to below 1.5 C.

In fact, these stories raise the alarm of a world warming above 3-degrees Celsius, or more.

This is what underlies everything we do – this urgency that presses us forward, keeps us grounded in the present while looking to the future.

And that brings us a final set of stories describing the world we envisage.

These are inspiring stories – ones we look to draw both lessons and hope.

Stories describing countries or businesses that run 100% on renewable energy.

Stories about communities that have halted deforestation, stories about cities where electric vehicles are the norm and many more.

These stories share a similar message: citizens across the world demand a world free of greenhouse gas emissions.

And they believe such future is absolutely possible – with available and planned technologies.

The stories also reinforce the idea that no single individual or group can achieve the goals of Paris on its own.

If we act in isolation, we’ll never get to where we need to be. But if we work together, we can accomplish anything.

This is where the Talanoa Dialogue comes in. And, so far, it has been incredibly successful.

But now let’s look to where we go from here.

The political phase of the dialogue will take place at COP 24, through a series of meetings and round tables.

This is where all the information collected, including from meetings like this, will provide the base for discussions.

Its where, during the ministerial round tables, ministers, CEOs, heads of agencies and leaders from the civil society will consider the question of “how do we get there?”

This exercise will be the first of its kind.

It has the potential of generating the necessary courage, confidence and greater ambition on climate change action.

I am optimistic about this process.

The Presidencies, Poland and Fiji, have a great willingness and a great responsibility to lead the political discussions in the right direction…

…one that brings us all together and encourages all nations to act.

I also believe it’s a good opportunity to develop a common vision for the short term…

…one that connects important milestones such as the upcoming requirements for NDCs and long term strategies in 2020, and the first global stock take in 2023.

What should that vision include?

First, a strong determination to increase ambition in reducing emissions and increasing resilience in view of the current gap to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals.

We must remember that, in the context of the Paris Agreement, ambition is a global obligation.

Finance is another key area where we need a serious investment of ambition.

We need to increase the financing and investment needed to make our climate goals under the Paris Agreement happen, in line with the current financing pledges.

Government action through regulation will also be key to guide the transformation towards a low emissions and climate resilient society.

Such regulation should reflect what many businesses and citizens are calling for.

Technology cooperation, both for dissemination and research is equally important.

The vision should shed light on where countries should be putting their short and medium term efforts on technology dissemination and research.

Businesses will need clear signals and encouragement to act.

Ideally, the vision should point to near and medium term directions, building on what some businesses are already doing.

We also need signals to increase technical cooperation.

There is much to learn from each other as there are great challenges to be addressed. We should be able to identify where cooperation will yield best benefits in the few years to come.

Finally, we need to encourage the civil society to continue to be engaged and be a motor of the transformation.

This dialogue has been and must continue to be a process about our common aspirations and aims.

Let it continue to inspire our work and our ongoing vision. Not only to fulfil the goals of the Paris Agreement, or to increase ambition – although these are all very important but to help us achieve our ultimate goal, and that is to build a world that is cleaner, greener and more prosperous for all.

Agricultural production, biodiversity protection key to 2030 Agenda attainment

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Agricultural production, biodiversity protection key to 2030 Agenda attainment

Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Cristiana Pașca Palmer, has said that that strengthened agricultural production and protecting biodiversity are key “intertwined challenges” at the heart of the 2030 Agenda.

Biodiversity
L-R: Thomas Hammond, Director, Climate and Environment Division, FAO; Cristiana Pașca Palmer, Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD); and Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica, at the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Side Event during the Global Environment Facility (GEF) 54th Council Meeting holding in Da Nang, Viet Nam

Palmer, who made the submission on Monday, June 25, 2018 at the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Side Event during the Global Environment Facility (GEF) 54th Council Meeting holding in Da Nang, Viet Nam, noted that agriculture remains the major driver of ongoing biodiversity loss.

She expressed however optimism about positive information sharing outcomes at the Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on Biodiversity Mainstreaming across Agricultural Sectors held in Rome from May 29 to 31, 2018, the first major activity of the FAO’s Biodiversity Mainstreaming Platform.

Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Minister of Environment and Energy, Costa Rica, described the challenges at governmental level between the different ministries of environment and agriculture, which often see each other as adversaries instead of as colleagues. He noted the importance of planning together and defining the investments jointly.

Palmer agreed with him about sharing the same experiences at national level and called for a paradigm shift away from the concept that “conservation takes away natural resources from the agricultural sector.”

Mark Zimsky, Biodiversity Focal Area Coordinator, the GEF, presented on lessons learned from previous CBD projects, highlighting that there aren’t yet many completed projects to draw conclusions from.

He indicated that mainstreamed programmes work best where there are: democratic transparent and stable governance systems; strong institutional capacity; availability and use of science-based biophysical and socio-economic spatial information systems; and phased in over an extended period. He added that these features are therefore reflected, where possible, in GEF 7 CBD projects.

Carlos Manuel Jimenez, Deputy Director-General of Environmental Financial Schemes, Ministry of Environment (SEMARNAT), Mexico, reflected on the impact of the CBD’s 13th Conference of the Parties, held in Cancun in 2017, outlining: the four natural resource sectors of fisheries, forestry, agriculture and biodiversity signed an agreement to integrate strategies; and the creation of the world’s first Mainstreaming Biodiversity Centre.

As integrated results, he highlighted: fulfilled the natural protected areas objective of 10 to 20% national territory under protection; biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN Mexico), analysis of public and institutional policies on biodiversity in the country; analysis of federal public spending for biodiversity; and costing of the National Biodiversity Strategy of Mexico (ENBioMex).

Kim Thuy Ngoc, Institute of Strategy on Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam, outlined her country’s efforts to address biodiversity loss, including through declaration of protected areas and a series of national conservation plans.

She expressed appreciation for FAO’s recent Multistakeholder Dialogue in Rome, noting that it will be increasingly important to demonstrate the “economic value” of biodiversity for it to be taken seriously by mainstream ministries.

Chris Brown, Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Olam International, highlighted the potential for millions of farmers to drive enhanced biodiverse outcomes if appropriate incentives enable them to see benefits in sustainable farming practices.

He also outlined actions which Olam International is undertaking to value its biodiverse resources, including: participating in Gabon’s dialogue on forests, bringing in all relevant stakeholders to assess operational best practice for production in an area that is biodiversity-rich.

In response to questions from the audience at the close of the event, speakers agreed that the business case for improving biodiversity outcomes needed to be better articulated, including reflecting the impact of externalities which are currently socialised across the community or passed on to the next generation.

Minister Rodriguez concluded discussion by hypothesising that, in future, once full costs and benefits have been appropriately assessed, then there would not be a need for separate food and agriculture and environment ministers as there will be greater recognition that the two are inextricably linked.

Apart from raising awareness about the recently launched Biodiversity Mainstreaming Platform which aims to build bridges between sectors, the event was also aimed at identifying synergies, align goals and develop integrated cross-sectoral approaches in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors.

Thomas Hammond, Director, Climate and Environment Division, FAO, who moderated the session, noted that the FAO would continue to aim to bridge the gap between the natural resources and agriculture sectors, having launched the Biodiversity Mainstreaming Platform.

Emirates Airline, US firm to build $40m vertical farm

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Emirates Airline, US firm to build $40m vertical farm

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) flagship carrier, Emirates Airline, has launched a joint project with U.S. Crop One Holdings, to build the world’s largest vertical farming facility.

vertical farming
An impression of a vertical farming facility

The facility would be near Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport, Emirates said in a statement on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.

“Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC), the flight catering division of Emirates, and Crop One, a leading global vertical farm operator, will co-invest $40 million in the large project,’’ the statement said.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emirates, said the massive investment “aligns with the UAE’s drive for more agricultural self-sufficiency.’’

“The introduction of ground-breaking technology at the facility also enhances Dubai’s position as a global innovation hub,’’ he added.

When complete, the vertical farm facility will cover an area of 12,077 square metres with an output equivalent to 3.64 million square metres of farmland.

“Our proven business model has demonstrated profitable commercial production longer than any other major vertical farmer,’’ Sonia Lo, Chief Executive Officer of Crop One Holdings, said.

According to the statement, at full production, the facility will harvest 2,700 kilogramme of high-quality, herbicide and pesticide-free leafy greens daily, using 99 per cent less water than outdoor fields.

The construction of the facility is scheduled to start in November and will take around one year to complete.

The first products are expected to be delivered to EKFC’s customers, including 105 airlines and 25 airport lounges, in December 2019.

Ebola outbreak under control in Congo, says WHO

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Ebola outbreak under control in Congo, says WHO

The spread of Ebola seems to have been stopped in Congo, less than three months after the outbreak of the deadly disease was declared, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.

ebola-patient
An Ebola virus patient being attended to

“The UN agency is cautiously confident that the outbreak has been contained,’’ a spokesman told a news conference in Geneva.

The last infection was confirmed on June 6, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 38.

The outbreak has claimed 28 lives in the Central African country.

The spokesman said that Congo’s health authorities would remain vigilant since a single new case in a densely populated city could trigger a new chain of infections.

A report says after the outbreak became known, the WHO and other UN agencies raced to contain the virus, which leads to fever, diarrhoea, vomiting and bleeding.

Almost 3,300 people, who came into contact with patients, were immunised.

During the 2014 to 2015 epidemic, which left over 11,000 dead in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, the WHO had been criticised for its slow response.

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