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Climate change is making Americans sick, say physicians

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Climate change is making Americans sick, say physicians

More than half of the America’s physicians – including family doctors, pediatricians, obstetricians, allergists, geriatricians and internists – are launching a campaign to help patients, the public and policy makers understand the damage climate change is doing to people’s health and what needs to be done to prepare and protect them.

Fire
A burning wildfire. Cardio-respiratory illness is associated with wildfires and air pollution. Photo credit: Keith Pakenham/AFP/Getty Images

Following the launch of a new report, 11 of the nation’s leading medical societies are forming the Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health and releasing a new report that highlights crucial health harms from climate change. Among them: cardio-respiratory illness associated with wildfires and air pollution; heat injury from extreme heat events; spread of infectious disease, including dangerous conditions such as West Nile virus and Lyme disease; and health and mental health problems caused by floods and extreme weather.

The new report, Medical Alert! Climate Change is Harming Our Health, combines research on the health impacts of climate change, physician stories, and research-based evidence showing that reducing greenhouse gases improves heath and saves lives. The report will be delivered to members of Congress before being distributed more broadly to state leaders, businesses and medical groups.

“Doctors in every part of our country see that climate change is making Americans sicker,” says Mona Sarfaty, MD, director of the new consortium and a professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. “Physicians are on the frontlines and see the impacts in exam rooms. What’s worse is that the harms are felt most by children, the elderly, Americans with low-income or chronic illnesses, and people in communities of colour.”

The report documents that most Americans don’t realise that worsening health, such as increases in asthma attacks and allergies, is linked to climate change. A 2014 poll showed that only one in four Americans can name even one way in which climate change is harming their health.

The Medical Alert! report outlines three types of harms from climate change to include:

  • Direct harms, such as injuries and deaths due to increasingly violent weather, asthma and other lung diseases that are exacerbated by with extremely hot weather, wildfires and longer allergy seasons;
  • Spread of disease through insects that carry infections like Lyme disease or Zika virus, and through contaminated food and water; and,
  • The effects on mental health resulting from the damage climate change can do to society, such as increasing depression and anxiety.

The report draws on a number of peer-reviewed reports, including The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment, issued by the U.S. Global Change Research Program in 2016.

Doctors are joining climate scientists to encourage energy efficiency and accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy, like solar and wind, citing both the long-term health benefits and immediate health effects of cleaner air and water. Americans also can help, for example, by driving less, and walking and biking more, the according to the Consortium report.

“Doctors work to prevent smoking and help patients quit, because smoking harms health and increases the risk of cancer or lung disease. We see efforts to combat climate change in the same way: they will improve health today and reduce health risks down the road,” said Nitin Damle, MD, MS, MACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP) and founder of South County Internal Medicine Inc. in Wakefield, Rhode Island.

A January 2017 Abt Associates study found that, in the Northeastern states that are taking actions to reduce heat-trapping pollution through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), there were immediate public health benefits. Researchers found this initiative has prevented 300-830 early deaths among adults, 39,000-47,000 lost work days, 35-390 non-fatal heart attacks, 8,200-9,900 asthma flare-ups and 180-220 hospital admissions.  It has also saved money.

“Here’s the message from America’s doctors on climate change: it’s not only happening in the Arctic Circle, it’s happening here. It’s not only a problem for us in 2100, it’s a problem now. And it’s not only hurting polar bears, it’s hurting us,” said Sarfaty.

The Consortium report contains a map showing how climate change affects health in different regions of the country.

The Consortium members are the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, Immunology (AAAAI); American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP); American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); American College of Physicians (ACP); American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM); American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG); American Geriatrics Society; American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA); Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA); National Medical Association (NMA); and the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM). The program office of the Consortium is at the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication. A full list of affiliates and supporters are at https://medsocietiesforclimatehealth.org/about/affiliates/.

The Consortium of doctors is supporting making the switch to clean renewable energy and announced that it will send letters about the health benefits of accelerating the transition to clean energy to the Chairs of the National Governor’ Association, the US Conference of Mayors, CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies, the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and members of the Trump administration.

Additionally, they will advise that doctors, nurses and medical professionals learn about the health risks of climate change and advise all Americans to take steps to avoid these harms.

FUNAI lauds VC over commitment to vision

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FUNAI lauds VC over commitment to vision

Staffers of the Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (FUNAI) in Ebonyi State have given a pass mark to the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, for his irrevocable commitment to the vision of the institution.

FUNAI-VC
Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (FUNAI) in Ebonyi State, speaking during the event

This was made known during an interactive session recently held in the university to mark the one year anniversary of the Vice Chancellor, who assumed duty as the 2nd substantive Vice Chancellor of the Ivory Tower on February 27th, 2016.

The results of a survey involving staffers of the university to determine the degree of performance of the Vice Chancellor in the last one year show that the Professor of Agricultural Economists had performed excellently well in the areas of infrastructural and academic development, linkages and advancement,  training and retraining of staff as well as staff welfare among others

The Vice Chancellor, who was visibly overwhelmed by the results of the survey which was a bottom-up approach meant to get firsthand information from staff of the university about his administration, promised to build on the foundation of his first year in office to take the university to greater heights, stressing that a lot still needs to be done if the university would achieve a world-class status.

Prof. Nwajiuba further promised to leave worthy and lasting legacies in the university, noting that he was in the university to work and make friends and charged staff to imbibe the culture of benefits with responsibility, transparency and commitment to duty.

“I have come to work and make friends. When I leave here let it be said that a child of God once passed through this place,” he stated.

Meanwhile the occasion was also used to pray for the quick recovery of President Mohammadu Buhari and immediate turnaround in the economy and security of the nation.

Appreciating the efforts of the Vice Chancellor in the last one year in trying to re-position the university, a former Minister of Health and now a Professor in the Department of Anatomy of the university, Onyebuchi Chukwu, stated that the Vice Chancellor has done well in comparison to what was on ground before he assumed duty and advised him to remain focused in order to achieve his vision for the university.

The event was the first of its kind in the university as both staff and students freely aired their views about the performance of the Vice Chancellor, with many applauding and others advising him on the ways to go in making the university a centre of functional knowledge.

Superhighway: NLC, TUC give government 21-day ultimatum to release EIA

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Superhighway: NLC, TUC give government 21-day ultimatum to release EIA

Cross River State chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Calabar on Wednesday, March 15, 2017 gave a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to approve the Environmental Impart Assessment (EIA) report on the proposed Superhighway and the Bakassi Deep Seaport projects.

Ben-Ayade
Governor Ben Ayade’s Superhighway project has encountered stiff opposition

The union members, carrying placards with different inscriptions such as: “NLC/TUC says give us Superhighway”, “We can’t depend on federal account, give us Super-highway”, chanted songs of solidarity.

Reading a statement, Chairman of Cross River NLC, John Ushie, said the Superhighway, when constructed, would shorten travel time from Calabar to Northern Nigeria from seven hours to only two hours.

“The road will open up investment in the tourism sector of the state as well shorten travel time to the Obudu Ranch Resort, which at present takes as much eight hours from Calabar due to the bad federal highway,” he stressed.

He added that the massive construction activities that will arise from these projects would generate huge employment opportunities.

The union leaders said the projects would give growth to the economy of the state during and after construction and that the Superhighway would promote eco-tourism as, according to them, easy access to the fauna and flora sanctuaries will be among other benefits to the state.

They urged the Federal Ministry of Environment to stop  politicising the EIA report for the Superhighway, adding that national parks are not immune to road networks as example abound all over the world.

The unionists led a peaceful protest to the state House of Assembly, Federal Secretariat and the Governor’s Office, where they delivered a letter to the governor of the state, Ben Ayade, and the Minister of Environment, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly.

Speaking on behalf of the the governor after receiving the letter, Secretary to the State Government, Tina Agbo, said: “Our governor who we know is labour-friendly; he is development-friendly. I will relate this message to him that he has done so well.

“From when he started, he wanted this signature project to take off. He started bulldozing the roads but negative people, enemies of progress, came after the young man.”

By Tina Todo, Calabar

Campaigners want Lagos to make new environment law public

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Campaigners want Lagos to make new environment law public

Civil society and grassroots stakeholders in Lagos have demanded that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode make public the new environment law which, they said, he signed on Wednesday, March 1, 2017.

Ambode
Akinwunmi Ambode, Governor of Lagos State. Photo credit: ecomium.org

The groups insisted that the inaccessibility of the document from the relevant ministries of the Lagos State Government two weeks after it was signed has fuelled suspicion that its provisions are anti-people as they had alerted immediately the Lagos House of Assembly passed it.

The law, titled: Consolidated Laws on the Management, Protection and Sustainable Development on the Environment in Lagos State and Connected Purposes,” was signed by Governor Ambode after what seemed like a contentious public hearing organised by the Lagos House Committee on the Environment on Thursday, February 9 and its subsequent passage by the House on Monday, February 20.

Civil society groups had faulted the Public Hearing on the premise that the 190-page document, which espoused the provisions of the law, was only made available to the invitees a day before the legislative exercise; a situation observers say made it near impossible for in-depth critique and recommendations.

Only a few CSOs were invited and allowed to present memorandum, according to the campaigners .

In a statement issued in Lagos and made available to EnviroNews on Wednesday, March 15 2017, several groups faulted sections of the law which they describe as “corporate buy-over of Lagos” in the guise of providing services.

Groups that signed the statement include: Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), Peace and Development Project (PEDEP), Joint Action Front (JAF), Friends of the Environment (FOTE), Climate-aid, and Committee for Defense of Human Rights (CDHR).

Others are: Africa Women Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Network (AWWASHNET), Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Church, Centre for Dignity, and Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE).

Deputy Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, Akinbode Oluwafemi, was quoted in the statement as saying: “We are shocked that, more than two weeks after the governor signed a law as far-reaching as the new environment law, no one has set eyes on the document or can say what it contains outside what we saw as a draft by the House of Assembly. We have suddenly realised that the greatest threat to our people is when a supposed-democratic government now exists only for big business. We are miffed.”

Oluwafemi explained that the haste with which the Lagos lawmakers organised the public hearing and got the law passed, and the equal speed with which the governor assented to the document is questionable in the face of a near total lack of public input.

Executive Director of PEDEP, Francis Abayomi, expressed reservations for the law in the following words: “The secrecy surrounding Governor Ambode’s assent to a law as controversial and antithetical to the citizens of Lagos is one that is very disturbing. We are particularly worried that the governor will sign a law that practically wills our right to a free gift of nature which water represents; to private interests whose sole concern is profits. Personally, I am shell-shocked.”

Veronica Nwanya, chairperson of AWWASHNET, added: “Access to water is a human right that cannot be taken away from the people. This law, not only violates that right. If allowed unchallenged, it will add to the burden that lack of sustained investment in the water sector has unleashed, and worsen the poverty the people suffer. Women and children and even generations yet born will suffer. It is unacceptable.”

Oluwafemi noted: “The bill, passed by the House on February 20, was not made public. However, the draft at the Public Hearing gave too much power to the Lagos Commissioner for Environment, criminalises sinking of boreholes, and imposes fines and sets prison terms for any Lagos citizen that sells or transports water, among others.”

The CSOs have demanded that these provisions be jettisoned along with the irrevocable standing order on payments to contractors and concessions in Section 7 of the law. More importantly, they demanded that the governor should end the regime of speculations on the law by making it public without further delay.

Groups seek to improve water education in schools, communities

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Groups seek to improve water education in schools, communities

The Lagos-based Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE), in conjunction with the Estonian Waterworks Association (EVEL), has embarked on an initiative aimed at promoting better understanding of water as a key social, economic and environmental resource.

PAVE-EVEL
Participants at the PAVE – EVEL Stakeholders Meeting Presentation of the “Nigeria Water Education for Schools and Communities Programme” in Lagos

Tagged the “Nigeria Water Education for Schools and Communities Programme”, the scheme also aims to facilitate a new water-use ethic in Nigeria. The promoters likewise intend to build and instal water and sanitation infrastructures in selected needy schools and communities.

Introducing the project to a group of civil society operatives on Tuesday, March 14 2017 in Lagos, president of PAVE, Anthony Johnson Akpan, disclosed that the programme would be a strategic entry point to:

  • Develop awareness about Water Sector reform and policy issues in Nigeria;
  • Develop awareness of  water related environmental issues;
  • Develop knowledge and skills necessary to analyse the issues and understanding why people view and use water in particular ways;
  • Examine attitudes, values, and behaviours regarding consumption of water in cities;
  • Identify the underlying causes of current water oriented problems in Nigerian cities;
  • Support informed decision-making by the community that could affect the quality of their lives with respect to water;
  • Participate actively in the sustainable management of their water environment; and,
  • Evaluate and propose actions that will achieve effective water related solutions in support of water resources management.

According to him, the project is being guided by the following objectives:

  • Research: To stay abreast of emerging national and state water education trends and standards, and stay in touch with the educational needs of citizens.
  • Publications: To produce and publish creative and informative materials to meet the needs identified through research.
  • Instruction and Training: To provide leadership and instruction to ensure that materials and services are fully utilised, and to foster grass-roots participants in their capacities to educate others.
  • Networking and Partnerships: To form partnerships with organisations to enhance awareness, distribution, and use of materials and services.
  • Evaluation: To improve the programme through an aggressive, ongoing, and multifaceted evaluation programme.
  • Recognition: To seek ways to acknowledge and recognise people and organisations for their contributions to water education.
  • Installation of Infrastructure: The programme will also be complemented with the building and installation of water and sanitation infrastructures in selected needy schools and communities.

The scope of the pilot project entails a state in each of the six geo-political zones in the country, while the time frame is four years, with the possibility of a scale-up to other states in the federation.

While PAVE was established to promoteg sustainable development through research, documentation, policy dialogues, workshops, advocacy and consultancy services, EVEL is a nationwide voluntary association of companies providing the service of public water supply and sewerage and other business operators. The Estonian body comprises 47 water companies and 30 companies related to the field of water management.

NCF, GEF/SGP promote sustainable livelihoods in Cross River communities

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NCF, GEF/SGP promote sustainable livelihoods in Cross River communities

The Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) has disclosed that, with the support of the United Nations Developmet Programme – Global Environment Facility/Small Grants Programme (UNDP-GEF/SGP), it is implementing a project on Integrated Rural Economic and Sustainable Forest Management in Boje (Ebok, Kabakken and Ebranta) communities in Boki Local Government Area (LGA) in Cross River State on resilience and mitigation of the impact of climate change for farmers through the establishment of a 30,000-tree nursery for agro-forestry.

Adeniyi Karunwi
Adeniyi Karunwi, Director General of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF)

Under the scheme, some 60 community members were trained on improved methods of harvesting Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) – bush mango, cassava, snail, poultry and Afang (Gnetuma fricanum), while 90 were trained on eco-tourism.  Site support groups were likewise trained on field techniques to promote eco-tourism as, according to the NCF, the site is an Important Bird Area (IBA) and a Barn Swallow Roosting site. Improved cassava stems and cocoyam seedlings were reportedly given to target groups in each community and cassava processing mill was provided as well.

According to Adeniyi Karunwi, the NCF Director General, the project also intends to increase agricultural productivity without losing more forest lands through Rural Participatory Approach (RPA) by training members of the three communities on improved agricultural practices and alternatives to hunting animals in the wild by training them and providing sustainable livelihood enterprises such as poultry and snail farms for food security.

A participatory governance platform was established with men and women as leaders, he says, adding that the project promotes gender equality having more women participating in the training exercise.

Karunwi explains: “As 75% of the participants are women. The project supports the empowerment of women in terms of taking leadership role, decision-making and financial independence, as women are seen as the major stakeholders in the use of NTFPs and cultivation of cassava and cocoyam. Afang, which is locally and traditionally collected on forest floors, has been domesticated. After the training on sustainable harvesting and cultivation of Afang which is widely used in the preparation of diverse soups in Cross-River State, four households have started cultivating Afang in gardens around their homes for domestic and commercial purposes.

“Cooperative societies would be established in each community to coordinate and provide viable market links for these farm products. 90 individuals from the three communities were trained on Eco-tourism, as Boje, being an IBA site and Barn Swallow Roost, attracts tourists.”

Biotech agencies, NIREC report and unpatriotic activism

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Biotech agencies, NIREC report and unpatriotic activism

Lagos-based research scientist, Dr. Hannah Nnadi, has expressed concern that some activists may “have taken it upon themselves to smear the integrity of government agencies and individuals working for the good of the country”. She believes that “the attitude of these so-called activists to frustrate government agencies must be resisted as their actions are very unpatriotic and misleading.” In this piece made available to EnviroNews, she makes reference to statements on NIREC credited to Nnimmo Bassey, director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), and a staunch anti-GMO campaigner

Professor Lucy Ogbadu
Professor Lucy Ogbadu, Director General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA). Photo credit: economic confidential.com

Recently, a group representing the National Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) issued a press release with the intention of misleading the public and pursuing an alien agenda. In the said release, the group, led by anti-GMO activists, listed the names of the Director General/CEO of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba, and Prof. Lucy Ogbadu, the Director General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), as members of NIREC.

Both agencies reacted to the release and issued statements distancing themselves and their DGs from the purported report. Nnimmo Bassey, one of the architects of the report, in an article published by EnviroNews, acknowledged that both agencies and their directors general were not part of the report.

In that publication, Bassey, after shamefully acknowledging that those personalities were not members of NIREC, went further to cast aspersions on the integrity of the agencies with the intention of discrediting them before the public. Bassey has become desperate and personal in his pursed agenda. His actions show a vendetta against these personalities and dragging the public along.

It is therefore important to state the following:

  • The NBMA and NABDA are both agencies of government created by law.
  • Both agencies were established and given specific mandates by the federal government.
  • Nnimmo Bassey was an active player in the processes that cumulated in the establishment of the NBMA, so to turn around and say that the Agency is a brain child of NABDA questions his credibility and integrity. Moreover, the National Biosafety Bill passed through two legislative houses from 2009 to 2015. He cannot be more knowledgeable on matters of biological sciences as an architect than the experts on the subject matter.
  • There is a difference between activism for personal aggrandisement and activism for national development, Nnimmo of the former.
  • Government will not be drawn into the mud by self seeking and see-nothing-good-in-Nigeria activists.
  • Paid activists have infiltrated and cornered the objective for setting up NIREC to their own selfish interests. NIREC should be on the watch out so that it will not be dragged to the mud.
  • It is a shame that Bassey cannot, till now, differentiate between the National Biosafety Management Agency abbreviated as NBMA and the National Biotechnology Development Agency abbreviated as NABDA.
  • NBMA is a government agency that strictly regulates the use of modern biotechnology in Nigeria. NABDA is another government agency charged with the responsibility of promoting the use of modern biotechnology. Because one regulates and the other promotes does not mean, they cannot collaborate or work together.
  • There is a limit to which individuals seeking their daily bread should go, so running down a government agency that you contributed actively to establish questions your rationale and unnecessary and destructive criticisms.

African leaders urged to close continent’s energy deficit

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African leaders urged to close continent’s energy deficit

Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, have called on governments to close Africa’s energy deficit.

AfDB-APP
Chair of the Africa Progress Panel and former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan (second from left), and President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina (second from right), have called on African governments and their partners to do everything possible to close the continent’s huge energy gap

They made the call on Monday, March 13, 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, at the launch of the Africa Progress Panel Report on “Lights, Power, Action: Electrifying Africa,” which calls for the adoption of every available on-grid and off-grid solution to light up and power Africa.

“The electricity deficit in Africa is immense,” said Dr Adesina. “Today, 645 million people do not have access to electricity.

“Yet the continent has abundant supply of solar, hydropower, wind and geothermal potential, as well as significant amounts of natural gas and in some countries coal deposits. Africa has energy potential, yes, but we need to unlock that potential. And we must do so quickly, because Africans are tired of being in the dark.”

Adesina stated that he drew inspiration from the Panel’s previous report in developing the Bank’s High 5 development priorities, which places energy as the top priority, and which has, through the Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa, committed to investing $12 billion on energy in the next five years and leveraging $45-50 billion from the private sector and other partners. The goal is to connect 130 million households via the grid, 75 million people via off-grid and provide some 130 million households with access to clean cooking energy.

The AfDB President commended the Africa Progress Panel for another very insightful report which, he said, will help Africa think through how to achieve the off-grid electricity revolution, as part of the comprehensive New Deal on Energy for Africa.

Lights, Power, Action notes that more than 620 million Africans without access to electricity cannot wait for grid expansion. While grid-connected megaprojects such as large dams and power pools are essential to scale up national and regional energy generation and transmission, they are slow and expensive. Therefore, governments must also increase investment in off-grid and mini-grid solutions, which are cheaper and quicker to install, the report says.

“What we are advocating is for African governments to harness every available option, in as cost-effective and technologically efficient a manner as possible, so that everyone is included and no one is left behind,” said Kofi Annan, who is chair of the Africa Progress Panel.

Of the 315 million people who will gain access to electricity in Africa’s rural areas by 2040, it is estimated that only 30 per cent will be connected to national grids. Most will be powered by off-grid household or mini-grid systems.

“Lights, Power, Action” is an in-depth follow up to the influential 2015 Africa Progress Report, “Power, People, Planet: Seizing Africa’s Energy and Climate Opportunities”. It urges governments to put in place the incentives needed to encourage greater investment in off-grid and mini-grid systems, protect consumers, and facilitate demand among disadvantaged groups.

Above all, governments need to foster an environment in which companies can enter energy generation, transmission and distribution markets, climb the value chain, and build the investment partnerships that can drive growth and create jobs.

“Traditional approaches to extending the grid are no longer viable as the main option for African countries,” Annan said. “They will take too long and will not meet the needs of our growing economies and societies. Instead, governments and their partners need to seize the opportunity to re-imagine their energy futures.”

GMOs: Biosafety agency commences analysis of products

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GMOs: Biosafety agency commences analysis of products

Scientists at the GMO (genetically-modified organism) Detection Laboratory of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) have commenced the analysis of selected products displayed in stores and suspected to contain genetically-modified ingredients.

GM bananas
GM banana. Photo credit: radioaustralia.net.au

According to a statement issued by the NBMA and made available to EnviroNews on Tuesday, March 14 2017, the exercise commenced this week.

The statement disclosed that the analysis followed a three-month GMO survey conducted by the agency which, among other findings, showed the presence of products in stores across the country containing GM ingredients.

Some of the products, the agency adds, have labels showing ingredients contained therein while others do not, “hence the need to carry out an in depth analysis to ascertain the true type of genetic materials and their makeup, and to ensure that it is safe for Nigerians to consume.”

Josephine Amedu, Head of GMO Analysis Laboratory, NBMA, was quoted in the statement as saying: “We do have some foods on our shelves that are said to be GM. Our work here is to ensure that it is actually GM and find out the genetic component that describes the GM material.

“We also have to be sure that the sequence that have been inserted is not one that will be detrimental to the health of Nigerians, which is why we want to be sure that everything that is genetically modified within the borders of Nigeria are safe for public consumption.”

Miss Amedu urged Nigerians to have faith in the ability of scientists working in the NBMA to protect and safeguard their health by being prudent in the discharge of their duties.

The GMO analysis laboratory, described as a state-of-the-art facility, was acquired by the agency in 2016 as part of its resolve to “diligently carryout meticulous and rigorous testing of products for the safety of Nigerians.”

Paris Agreement, SDGs can generate better jobs – UN

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Paris Agreement, SDGs can generate better jobs – UN

The ILO and UNFCCC team up to boost action on just transition and decent work in the context of climate change. The agreement between the two organisations is expected to bring a substantial contribution to the implementation of the Paris Agreement

Guy-Ryder
Director-General of the ILO, Guy Ryder

An agreement to promote decent work and a “just transition” of the workforce towards sustainable economies and societies for all has been signed by the United Nation’s labour and climate change organisations – the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The move follows the adoption and entry-into-force of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate agreement that aims to deliver a climate stable future for every man, woman and child.

“Our members, namely governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations, are key to efforts that will allow a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent jobs in the context of global action on climate change. This Memorandum of Understanding will therefore help give practical effect to the Just Transition Guidelines of the ILO as a framework to support action on climate change,” said Director-General of the ILO, Guy Ryder.

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, said: “We are delighted to forge an ever deeper relationship with the ILO. Implementing the Paris Agreement and realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has the potential to generate more and new kinds of better quality jobs across the globe. We intend to maximise the opportunities from our mutually-shared agendas.”

The partnership promotes the integration of decent work and a just transition in the implementation of national measures on climate change.

Among other areas of collaboration, the ILO and UNFCCC will conduct studies at global and national levels to measure the impact of climate change and the transition on employment in different sectors.

These assessments will inform and guide countries on the responses that are needed in areas such as employment, social protection, occupational safety and health, industrial restructuring, skills needs identification and skills development, in their national contexts.

Other activities mentioned in the MoU include the review of national and regional experiences, the strengthening of social dialogue between governments and the social partners at all levels, and capacity building programmes on climate change and decent work for developing countries.

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