The Federal Government says it has made a provision for some N500 billion to resuscitate the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to make mortgage facilities easily available to Nigerians.
Alhaji Mustapha Baba-Shehuri, the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing
Alhaji Mustapha Baba-Shehuri, the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, announced this in Lafia, Nasarawa State on Monday, April 10, 2017 when he called on the state’s Deputy Governor, Silas Agara.
The minister visited the site of a National Housing Project in Lafia.
Baba-Shehuri said: “The resuscitation of the bank with N500 billion will provide the institution with adequate funds to provide mortgage facilities to interested Nigerians.
“The Federal Government, in its quest to provide shelter to Nigerians, has recently directed the FMBN to waive the payment of 10 percent equity on mortgages below N5 million.
“This will greatly enhance the transition of low income earners from tenants to home owners.”
Baba-Shehuri explained that the project would provide houses and jobs for low income earners.
The minister said the houses would be built based on Nigerian housing design with 100 per cent local content.
He said: “The housing project came up with a 100 per cent Nigerian housing design and local content.
“This is done because government wants to create employment for Nigerian youths.”
The minister commended the state government for providing land for the National Housing Project, saying that it was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s promise of providing infrastructure.
Baba-Shehuri said the ministry would leave no stone unturned in tackling the challenges of housing shortage in the country, which was about 16 million to 17 million.
He disclosed that the government had commenced plan to construct mass housing units in every state for public and private workers over the next three years.
Responding, the deputy governor thanked the minister for the visit and commended the Buhari led administration for initiating the project.
Agara said: “We assure you as a state that we will partner with your ministry to ensure that the project is successfully completed.
“As you are aware, we have fulfilled our part by providing a good location in Akruba in the outskirts of Lafia metropolis for the project.”
The minister visited the ongoing project in Akruba in Lafia Local Government Area comprising 76 houses of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
The “Jungle Book”-like tale of a young girl said to have been found living with monkeys in an Indian forest was shocking, disturbing and fascinating. It might also have been untrue.
The Indian girl sits on a bed in a hospital
The story of the girl circulated among news outlets around the world in recent days, including The Washington Post, after reports by the Associated Press and the New Indian Express. The girl, according to those reports, was rescued earlier this year by police who found her surrounded by a pack of protective monkeys in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. One police officer speculated that she might have been raised by primates from infancy. She has since been living at a hospital in the city of Bahraich, where the chief medical officer told the AP in a recorded interview that she arrived crawling, eating and screeching like an animal.
But other officials cast doubt on some of those details on Saturday, April 8. JP Singh, the district chief forestry officer in the Katarniya Ghat area, told the Guardian that the girl was located on a roadside, not in the forest. Sarbajeet Yadav, a police constable who participated in the rescue, told the Hindustan Times that “there were no monkeys around.” What’s more, many cameras in the area – used for both security and animal-tracking purposes – would have detected the girl had she been there, forest department officials said.
Officials involved in helping the girl stressed from the start that they were not certain how long she had been living outdoors and on her own, and they said they were scouring missing children reports in an attempt to identify her.
But Singh, the forestry officer, told the Guardian that he suspected the girl’s inability to communicate was the result of a disability, not a childhood among apes, and that she had been recently abandoned by relatives who did not want to care for her. Her age is still unknown.
“I think the family members of this girl had been aware that she is not able to speak, and they may have abandoned her near the forest road,” he said. “It is clear from first-time view, if you see the girl, that she is only 8 or 9 years old, but her facial expressions show that she is disabled, not only mentally but also physically.”
The hospital’s chief medical officer, DK Singh, echoed that, and said the girl might also have been cast off because of another perceived handicap: being a girl in a society that prizes boys.
“Some families value girls less than boys,” Ranjana Kumari, an advocate for young girls, told the Guardian. “They would rather get rid of the girl than spend money on her. It is a lot more responsibility because of the social environment we live in.”
As The Post reported Friday, stories of feral children have long been told in both legend and well-documented reportage. It seems this one might exist somewhere in between – less like “The Jungle Book” and more like a tragedy of neglect and desertion.
Fijian Prime Minister and incoming President of COP 23, Frank Bainimarama, on Monday, April 10, 2017 launched the logo for this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, to be held in Bonn in November. Also present at the launch was German State Secretary for the Environment, Jochen Flasbarth.
Fijian Prime Minister and incoming President of COP 23, Frank Bainimarama, with officials and participants during the launch of the logo
COP23 implies the 23rd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The logo that was unveiled, it was gathered, captures the vulnerability of small island developing states to the impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise and increasing storm intensity.
It features an island partially submerged and a huge wave bearing down on it and aims to raise further awareness for the uncertain future that many low-lying islands face, especially since COP23 will not be held in Fiji.
The annual conference will be presided over by Fiji, hosted by the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn and is being made possible with generous financial support from the Government of Germany.
The design of the logo had been the subject of a national competition in Fiji, with prizes for the winner and runners-up. The winning design was by Mrs. Ronna Sekiguchi who runs the Green House Studios design company. There were over 80 entries with the runners up being two scholars from Adi Chakobau School and Nadli Muslim Primary.
In a speech at the award ceremony during which the logo was unveiled, Mr. Bainimarama praised the many design entries received.
“This is a very stark and effective message to take to the world. There is need for us all to come together to build partnerships for climate action between governments, civil society and the private sector. And work together to improve the climate resilience of vulnerable nations such as Fiji,” he said.
Mr. Bainimarama added that Fiji looked forward to the task it had been entrusted through taking on the COP23 presidency.
One priority for the incoming presidency is preserving the multilateral consensus contained in the Paris Agreement for decisive cuts in carbon emissions. Another is to keep up the momentum for its implementation with a wave of climate action that every global citizen can join. The process to arrive at the COP23 logo clearly fits this goal, he added.
New evidence has reportedly emerged during the corruption probe into Shell’s acquisition of the OPL 245 oil field off the coast of Nigeria, indicating that top executives were prepared to press ahead with the deal despite knowing that most of the money could end up as political bribes.
Shell
The BBC reported it has seen documents that show top Shell executives were aware that more than a billion of the $1.3 billion (£1 billion) paid to the Nigerian government would be passed on to former petroleum minister, Dan Etete, who was convicted for money laundering in a separate case.
Shell however said in a statement that it did not believe that any current or former employees had acted illegally.
Global Witness noted that, in a statement to the New York Times, Shell’s Vice President for Global Media Relations, agreed that, “over time, it became clear to us that Etete was involved in Malabu and that the only way to resolve the impasse through a negotiated settlement was to engage with Etete and Malabu, whether we liked it or not”. He added Shell knew that the Nigerian government “would compensate Malabu to settle its claim on the block”.
Observers attributed the development to intensive campaigns and research by Global Witness including the unearthing of some of Shell’s private emails on the deal.
In a reaction, Nnimmo Bassey, director of the ecological think tank, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), notes: “Over time, before time, or after time, is not the issue here. Getting the truth about deals, extent of oil pollution and sundry human rights issues in Nigeria has always been a hide-and-seek game.
“The company only admits wrongdoing when boxed into a corner. The admittance by Shell of knowingly participating in the huge OPL 245 oil scandal opens a new chapter in the understanding of exploitation without responsibility in the Nigerian oil sector.”
HOMEF, he adds, recalls that over the years as questions were raised on the Malibu oil case, Shell stuck to the claim that its payments on the deal were only to the Nigerian government.
“With the revelation that such claims were false, the searchlight now turns squarely on the Nigerian government. The world waits to see what sanctions the Nigerian government will impose on Shell and all accomplices in this scandal,” says Bassey.
“This development validates our conviction that the petroleum sector in Nigeria is extremely opaque and that the Nigerian people and the environment are perpetual victims while corporations and officers holding positions of public trust flourish in graft and wickedness,” adds up Comrade Che Ibegwura, a veteran Niger Delta activist and community organiser.
Boosting energy efficiency is a key part of climate action, but it also brings significant co-benefits. That was a clear message from the discussions at the UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee’s thematic dialogue on industrial energy efficiency, held during its 14th meeting in Bonn, Germany.
The thematic dialogue on energy efficiency took place during the recent TEC meeting in Bonn, Germany. Photo credit: Gary McGovern/Unsplash
At the dialogue, experts from around the world discussed how to boost and scale up industrial energy efficiency in developing countries.
Benoit Lebot, from the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC), noted that large “reduction potential is given by energy efficiency.” According to a recent IEA study, energy efficiency and renewable technologies have equivalent greenhouse gas reduction potential.
“The beauty of energy efficiency is that it comes with multiple benefits. A first benefit is to lower the invoice, the bills, and energy efficiency to a great extent it is cost-effective. You invest 1 and you get your 1 back in 2-3 years. And if the investment lasts for 15 years you make money,” Lebot explained.
But the list of energy efficiency benefits is long. Eric Masanet, from the International Energy Agency (IEA), said that improved energy efficiency can deliver multiple benefits across the industry value chain, leading to enhanced competitiveness, more cost-efficient production, and reduced operation and maintenance costs. It can also lower the costs of environmental compliance and improve the working environment for employees.
Similarly, Mikael Henzler from Adelphi Consult highlighted that energy efficiency in industries is essential to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said the achievement of at least eight of the 17 SDGs can be supported by increasing energy efficiency (in industries) and material substitution. Also during the thematic dialogue, participants considered practical solutions implemented in countries such as China, Japan, South Africa, and the regions of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The event showcased successful projects that are taking place in different countries, as examples that can be replicated and scaled up:
In Japan, the steel-making sector has become one of the most energy efficiency industries in the country. The industry achieved this by implementing energy saving measures and improving productivity. The industry also transformed itself to become an attractive supplier for manufacturing sectors in Japan by producing ‘eco products’ which allowed their customers to improve their environmental performance. For example, it began to produce high performance steel which allowed automobile companies to reduce their fuel consumption. It also began to manufacture high grade electric steel which supported power utilities to improve energy efficiency in transmission lines.
In South Africa, the national government implemented a project which motivated large, medium and small enterprises to increase industrial energy efficiency through tax incentives. In the country this industry consumed a significant amount of energy but lacked capacity to undertake energy efficiency measures. Through the project, the government trained 3,200 engineers and managers as lead auditors of energy efficiency, developing local capacity for undertaking this task.
Specifically, the TEC considered work on: adaptation technologies; climate technology financing; emerging and cross-cutting issues; innovation; mitigation technologies; south-south cooperation on climate technologies; and technology needs assessments.
Also, the TEC identified how to strategically guide its work to ensure that it responds to country needs and delivers impactful policy recommendations to COP 23.
Disaster has hit the Argentina national football team, following the sacking of Edgardo Bauza, after eight matches as coach. He is said to be the shortest-serving Argentina coach since 1974.
Edgardo Bauza, former coach of Argentina
Bauza, 59, was appointed in August last year and guided his side to three wins, two draws and three defeats, placing the team outside the automatic qualifying place for the tournament in Russia.
Finishing fifth would mean a play-off against a team from Oceania. They have four games left in qualifying with their next match against third-placed Uruguay on 31 August.
They last failed to qualify for a World Cup in 1970.
President of the Argentina Football Association, Claudio Tapia, told newsmen that Bauza has been informed that he ceases to be the national team coach.
“The national team is playing badly and everyone knows it.”
Reports have it that Jorge Sampaoli of Sevilla and Diego Simeon of Athletico Madrid are early favorites to take over the Argentina job, ahead of a friendly match against rivals in Brazil in June.
A puzzling surge in western Uganda patients diagnosed with a painful, disfiguring skin condition known as elephantiasis was caused not by the parasitic worms typically associated with the affliction, but by long-term exposure to irritating soil minerals absorbed while walking barefoot, according to a new study published on Monday, April 10, 2017 in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Podoconiosis is caused by repeatedly walking barefoot in volcanic soils, says the study
The investigation by a team of experts from the Uganda Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was prompted by what appeared to be a relatively recent and intense outbreak of elephantiasis in 2014 and 2015 in the Kamwenge District of Western Uganda, an area not previously known to harbour the inflammatory disease.
While the people affected had painful swelling and ulcerating sores associated with the condition, they lacked evidence of the microscopic filarial worms that cause the most common form of elephantiasis, a condition known as lymphatic filariasis. After reviewing the medical history of 52 of the victims, scientists concluded they were suffering from a form of elephantiasis podoconiosis – which also meant this was no sudden outbreak.
“People can be suffering from podoconiosis, a non-infectious disease, for decades before it becomes obvious that they are developing elephantiasis,” said Christine Kihembo, MD, a senior field epidemiologist with the Ugandan Ministry of Health and the lead author of the study. “Many of the people affected in Western Uganda probably had been suffering silently without help for more than 30 years.”
Podoconiosis is caused by repeatedly walking barefoot in volcanic soils, which contain tiny, sharp mineral crystals that can penetrate the soles of the feet. For some people, once these crystals are under the skin, they provoke repeated cycles of inflammation. Over time, the inflammation produces a build-up of scar tissue that eventually blocks lymphatic vessels and produces dramatic and disabling swelling and open sores in the lower legs.
According to the WHO, this type of elephantiasis is typically associated with farming and years of working barefoot in freshly turned soil. But Kihembo said that until about 50 years ago, the area of Uganda where the patients she studied live was completely covered with forest and grasslands.
According to the report, in the 1960s, a large migration of people swept into the area in search of farmland “and subsequently, the soils were laid bare.” But early signs of the disease went undetected because neither the settlers nor healthcare workers in the region had any experience with podoconiosis, which is known to occur in some parts of Eastern Uganda, but is more commonly described in Ethiopia. The WHO estimates at least one million people in Ethiopia are estimated to be affected by podoconiosis, but it affects other parts of Africa along with volcanic regions of Southeast Asia and Central and South America as well.
Investigations by the researchers revealed patients who for many years had suffered routine bouts of itching, foot pain and swelling that were dismissed as minor problems.
The scientists ultimately concluded that, “contrary to the perception that an outbreak of elephantiasis had occurred in the area, we have uncovered a chronic neglected tropical disease with a relatively stable annual incidence over the last 30 years.”
According to the study, the mean age of those diagnosed with elephantiasis in the region is 48 years old. However, the scientists believe the disease process itself likely began when the victims were much younger.
Evidence shows that the easiest way to prevent podoconiosis is for people to wear shoes and regularly wash their feet. Indeed, many of the patients in the study reported frequently digging in the soil to grow crops and never wearing shoes or washing their feet after being barefoot in the soil. There is now an effort underway in the region to conduct a public health education campaign to focus on the importance of better foot hygiene.
Kihembo noted there have been some misperceptions in the community about the cause of the disease. For example, she said that when word got out that people were suffering from a condition called elephantiasis, a rumor spread that it was caused by dung from elephants that live in surrounding forests and occasionally stroll through local farms. And even when people understand the real cause, the solution is not as simple as it may sound, Kihembo said.
“It can be a challenge to get people to focus on foot hygiene in a poor, rural community where there are many hardships, and going barefoot is not generally viewed as one of them,” she said.
Kihembo said flagging early signs of the disease is crucial because proper foot care can prevent it from progressing any further. Eventually, podoconiosis reaches a “point of no return” where the swelling cannot be reversed, she said.
“People end up being isolated and stigmatised by the disease and they can develop secondary infections due to the ulcers on the skin, all of which cause a further decline in their health and their ability to be productive members of the community,” Kihembo said.
The podoconiosis investigation was undertaken as part of the Uganda Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP), a collaborative effort between the Uganda Ministry of Health and Makerere University School of Public Health, with support from CDC. Since the programme’s inauguration in January 2015, the Uganda fellows have successfully investigated more than 60 disease outbreaks and conducted dozens of other applied epidemiologic investigations on emerging public health threats across the country.
“This is a perfect illustration of why there is often no substitute for getting out into the field and interviewing patients to determine why they are getting sick and what can be done to help them,” said ASTMH President Patricia F. Walke. “These findings can help inform the decisions of health authorities in planning education campaigns to stop further suffering from this terrible, but entirely preventable, form of elephantiasis.”
Founded in 1903, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene is the largest international scientific organisation of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health.
Achieving global biodiversity targets will be a strong contribution to realising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said Dr. Cristiana Paşca Palmer, newly appointed Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, in a meeting held on Friday, April 7, 2017.
Cristiana Paşca Palmer, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
In her first meeting with the Secretary-General, Paşca Palmer, the former Romanian minister of Environment, Waters and Forests, said her top priority is to raise the profile and political visibility of the CBD while working cooperatively with other entities across the UN system in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those for which biodiversity plays a key role, such as goals 14 and 15.
Paşca Palmer said, “We discussed the ever-evolving issues surrounding biodiversity and and its growing complex challenges around the globe, including the strong inter-linkages between ecosystems resilience, peace, security, and more broadly, the resilience of the human systems. In this vein, the link between biodiversity and food security was flagged as a key issue. We agreed that the July 2017 session of the High-Level Political Forum, the United Nations central platform for following-up the implementation of the universal Sustainable Development Goals, represents an excellent opportunity to highlight the benefits of mainstreaming biodiversity into key sectors such as agriculture and fisheries.
“It was uplifting to know that the Secretary-General shares my concern and genuinely cares about the state of biodiversity and how it affects every single living being on Earth. I left New York inspired and hopeful about the work that lies ahead and how we can make a difference under the new UN leadership.”
The United Nations Biodiversity Conference held in Mexico in 2016 focused on mainstreaming biodiversity into agriculture, fisheries, forestry and tourism. The mainstreaming theme will continue in December 2018, in Egypt, at the next UN Biodiversity Conference, which will focus on expanding the mainstreaming biodiversity agenda into other key sectors such as, energy and mining, infrastructure, manufacturing and processing, and health.
In light of this, Guterres and Paşca Palmer also discussed the contribution of this theme to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and exchanged views on the potential road map towards the conference in Egypt, as well as the subsequent meeting of the parties, to be hosted by China in 2020.
Guterres highlighted the opportunities presented by the upcoming 12th session of the United Nations Forum on Forests in May 2017 as well as The Ocean Conference in early June 2017 to promote biodiversity and its links to sustainable development.
The on-going shake-up within Ghana’s natural resources sector is now peaking, with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) much more emboldened to demand accountability of entities operating within that area. Accordingly, Newmont Ghana has been taken to task on its assertion that it is “committed to transparent processes in engaging and partnering local communities to improve lives and mitigate impacts associated with its operations in Ghana.”
Local community members advocating for the protection of rights of communities affected by mining
Led by the Kasa Initiative, the country’s CSOs in natural resources and environment, have challenged Newmont Ghana to live up to its claim by making public, reports of actual monitoring, “in line with provisions of international protocols that the company has subscribed to such as ‘The Free Prior Informed Consent’,”
It, among other things, calls for the consultation of a local community before the start of any development, and is underpinned by the principle that a community has the right to give or withhold its consent to proposed projects that may affect the lands they customarily own, occupy or use.
Newmont Ghana is one of the mining firms with prime concessions in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo and Eastern regions. Its assertion of commitment to transparency was contained in a Ghana News Agency (GNA) publication dated February 13, 2017. The publication focused on the response by Newmont Ghana’s Senior Director of Sustainability and External Relations, Paul Sowley, to media reportage on the recent launch of two Reports by WACAM with support from the Ford Foundation.
The research based reports are: “Assessing the social and economic effects of mining on women affected by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited’s operations” and “Exposure to toxicants in environmental contaminants within Newmont Ghana Gold Limited – Ahafo Mine: Human health risk assessment approach”.
The GNA publication quotes Mr. Sowley as saying, “We are currently studying the accuracy of the reports… Our review will include following up with the Reports’ authors to better understand their data collection, analysis and assessment methods, which seem to lack the scientific rigour to support their conclusion.”
In a press release dated March 28, 2017, Kasa queried Newmont Ghana’s response and considered it as an attack. The press release described it as a “quick and unprofessional… because they had not taken adequate time and pain to study the findings made in the report before attacking the results and methodology.”
The press release was co-signed by Kasa’s Coordinator, Kwame Mensah, and WACAM’s Associate Executive Director, Mrs. Hannah Owusu-Koranteng. It stated: “If Newmont Ghana is in doubt of the rigour of the methodology and analysis, we are proposing an independent research on the same issues with protocols jointly determined by the parties.”
It further challenged Newmont Ghana “to make your ground water monitoring data available to the public, so as to keep the public informed of your own monitoring information. These are some of the actions that will make your company as transparent as you claim to the media.”
Kasa also considered Newmont Ghana’s stance as denial, which according to the press release, “is one of the foremost strategy used by mining companies to rebuff adverse findings resulting from their actions.” It noted that that since Newmont Ghana is currently studying the report, “… it is strange that without studying the report, they criticise the report,” an action the press release has described as, “obviously another strategy used by mining companies to refuse to take responsibility for their actions.”
The press release again stated: “an honest and transparent approach would have been for Newmont Ghana to study the report and verify the findings before concluding that the report lacks scientific rigour.”
It said the Reports revealed that “43% of the parameters measured in the study area were found to be below the detection limit of 10ug/L respectively for Arsenic, Mercury, Manganese, Lead and Cadmium, and were all found to be below the World Health Organisation (WHO) permissible guideline values.
However, 57% of the parameters in the research area were found to be above WHO guideline values for Arsenic, Manganese and Cadmium, confirming Newmont Ghana’s own prediction that its operations will have impact on groundwater resources. The press release cited the company’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) prepared at the time of the launched of Phase 1 of the programme in February 2005, as stating that “quality of groundwater in the project area could be adversely affected by the waste rock disposal facilities, tailing storage facility, ore stockpiles, process water pond, mine pits, septic systems, and landfill”.
The press release also mentioned that Newmont Ghana’s operations have resulted in the loss of a total of 6,907 farm fields in the Ahafo Mine area, which has affected 823 households.
The press release acknowledged the company’s efforts in implementing “its social and economic obligations under the Environmental Impact Statement, which was one of the bases for the approval of your mines operations.”
But declared that: “Ghana Government indirectly bears the cost of Newmont Ghana’s corporate social responsibility project, because the cost of the corporate social responsibility projects are counted as part of the company’s operational cost which is tax deductible and this reduces the amount of tax the company pays to government of Ghana.”
The press release highlighted that: “Newmont Ghana per its agreement with government of Ghana is not paying Property tax to the Asutifi North District Assembly.” It said the payment of this tax could have been used by the Assembly to finance some of the infrastructural development projects or provide social amenities in the district.
It asserted that, “in effect, Newmont Ghana is taking credit for these social obligations which in reality, should be attributed to the government of Ghana. It is also important for the public to appreciate the fact that social amenities provided by Newmont Ghana are meant to replace the destruction their operations had caused to existing community infrastructure and systems such as communities’ water sources, schools, livelihoods and resettlement.”
It added, “They are not charities being doled out by Newmont Ghana to communities.”
Access to climate finance by institutions and governments received a boost last week when two international organisations decided to collaborate in that regard.
Mr Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi (SG UCLG Africa) and Mr Stéphane Pouffary (President of ENERGIES 2050) during the workshop. Photo credit: United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa)
This came about on Friday, April 7, 2017 in Rabat, Morocco when Pan-African organisation, United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), and ENERGIES 2050, an NGO that intervenes on the International scene to implement a low carbon development model, signed a protocol during a workshop on the access of local and regional authorities in Africa to climate finance.
The protocol, it was gathered, is the first of a series that will realise the establishment of the Task Force to support the cities and territories in Africa in accessing climate finance.
The goal of the workshop was to initiate a process of implementation of an ecosystem bringing together all relevant players, so that African local authorities are able to submit applications that are eligible to climate finance, and in particular to the Green Climate Fund.
The workshop also served as a starting point for the establishment of a Task Force with the aim to design and implement a roadmap for the proposed ecosystem, of which a first presentation will be made on the Preparatory meeting for COP23 in May 2017 in Bonn, Germany.
Only States are responsible for the negotiations and the resulting commitments in the fight against climate change under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, Cities, and more generally local stakeholders, play a central role in the implementation of these commitments and more generally in the implementation of measures to combat climate change.
Cities now house more than half of the world population and consume 60% to 80% of the energy produced globally. Three-quarters of the greenhouse gas emissions, that are the cause of current climatic disturbances, are directly associated with urban spaces, and it is a known fact that by 2050, 75% of the world’s population will live in cities.
During COP22, African cities requested the establishment of a dedicated window for sub-national governments within the Green Climate Fund. They expressed the hope that a capacity-building programme would be set up to make local governments eligible for green climate funds and other climate finance instruments. Finally, African cities proposed that UCLG Africa be recognised as an implementing agency for the Green Climate Fund.
The gathering brought together together Moroccan institutions (Interior Ministry, General Directorate for Local Governments), the Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, and the Communal Equipment Fund (FEC) and international institutions (ISESCO), two International associations (ENERGIES 2050, Dossiers et Débat pour le Développement Durable) and international experts.
