If the new Policy on Wetland Conservation and Management being developed by the Lagos State Government eventually sees the light of the day, advocacy will be a major strategy towards ensuring its effective application.
The National Arts Theatre in Iganmu, Lagos is bothered by a wetland
Being a low-lying coastal city, Lagos displays wide-ranging water bodies like oceans, lagoon, rivers, swamps and creeks, all endowed with wetland ecological assets.
Wetlands are areas that have acquired special characteristics from being wet on a regular or semi-regular basis. They are also referred to as areas where some plants and animals have become adapted to temporary or permanent flooding saline or freshwater.
However, wetland and its resources in Lagos are being adversely affected by the state’s rapid urbanisation, such that wetlands are being encroached upon by the day through reclamation, leading to flooding, loss of biodiversity as well as depletion of wildlife.
The scenario has apparently led to the development of the policy, which aims at ensuring a sustainable management of wetlands and their resources towards enhancing the ecological and socio-economic attributes.
According to a source close to the government, the policy is geared towards restoration of degraded wetlands, ensure sustainable development through conservation and preservation of the existing pristine wetlands as well as their biological diversity.
“The overall policy statement shall be to promote conservation, protection and restoration of wetlands and their eco-system services in Lagos State,” said the source.
However, the state intends to promote public awareness and understanding of wetland resources and encourage active participation of the public, government authorities, communities and institutions.
In this regard, the authorities are considering measures and strategies such as:
An integrated public awareness campaign programme involving the State, Local Government Areas (LGAs), Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), Community Development Associations (CDAs), Schools, as well as other stakeholders;
Awareness campaign and information dissemination on the importance of wetlands and its biodiversity through leaflets, posters, radio, television and other media;
Guidelines on sustainable use of wetlands and conservation of their biodiversity made available to the public;
Education of local communities through project demonstrations to enhance their capacities for better management of wetland resources in a sustainable manner; and,
Associations such CBOs (community-based organisations) and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) with interest in wetlands management and biodiversity conservation encouraged to partner with the state in the area of monitoring and management of wetlands.
It was gathered that, for the effective implementation of the policy, the Lagos wetland management will be funded by governments at the federal, state and local levels, international development agencies, NGOs, as well as corporate and private sector players.
UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has asked men to be prepared to lose more positions to women so as to ensure gender parity.
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General
Guterres told women’s rights activists and civil society representatives at a town hall discussion at UN headquarters in New York that “the clear objective of our time is parity rooted in women’s empowerment”.
He added: “Gender parity at all levels – political, cultural, economic and social – is a ‘central objective’ and must be based on women’s empowerment.
“Parity is important in all areas of political and social life. This is a battle, a struggle. Generally no one likes to lose positions they have long held, but the reality of gender parity is that many more women will be in positions that today are occupied by men. But that’s a good thing.”
Guterres noted that, in his experience, gender parity means better decision-making and better management.
The Secretary-General sought suggestions and opinions of the civil society representatives on how the UN could move forward on its commitments on gender equality.
He opened the discussion by sharing life lessons on the issue, telling the gathering that during his time as Prime Minster of Portugal, one of his most difficult battles had been putting family values on the national agenda.
Guterres said: “There was kind of a national conspiracy to make sure that no one talked about it – from the police to the judiciary and public in general, it was as if the problem did not exist. But it was a very serious problem.”
Guterres said much had to be done in those areas, including through legislation and broad based campaigns to put it on the agenda.
According to him, the central question is empowerment at all levels. Later, as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Guterres said he saw that women and children were the most vulnerable among those that fell under his agency’s mandate.
“Indeed, women were doubly vulnerable,” he said, adding that, over his tenure, he learned that international legal protections are important.
He said: “We live in a male-dominated world and a male-dominated culture, so the issue goes beyond protection: the central question is empowerment.
“The question of empowerment has many dimensions, one being to ensure that men and women are able, in parity, to assume their responsibilities at all levels; political, economic, social and cultural.
“And so, parity for us in the UN is a central objective, at the level of senior management, as well as the entire staff. So this is a very central question.”
Guterres invited the enthusiastic audience to share their perspectives on ways to push the issue forward, in cooperation, not only as an objective regarding the rights of women but “an objective in relation to the quality of our societies and the international community as a whole”.
The meeting, attended by UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed; and other senior UN staff, ended the first week of the 61st Commission on the Status of Women.
Known as the largest inter-governmental forum on women’s rights and gender equality, the theme this year was: “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Changing World of Work.”
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said that houses built under the Federal Housing Scheme will be allocated to all Nigerians, irrespective of their states of origin.
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN)
Fashola made the remarks while speaking with newsmen shortly after a tour of federal projects on Sunday, March 19, 2017 in Maiduguri, Borno.
He said all qualified Nigerian residents in a particular state would be given equal opportunity to own a house, regardless of their origin or tribe.
“The ultimate beneficiaries of the houses will be the residents of the states in which the houses are built.
“I prefer to use the word residents to indicate people who live or work in the states where the houses are built rather than those who are indigenous to the state,’’ Fashola said.
He noted that the houses built in Bauchi, for example, were for the residents of Bauchi.
“That is, the workers in Bauchi, both from public and private sector, who qualified based on whatever premises used to decide allocation of the houses.”
The minister explained that the objective of the scheme was to deliver affordable houses to workers based on the National Housing Policy.
“There is a National Housing Policy in place aimed at providing affordable housing but there has been no programme in place to deliver the houses.
“That is what this programme is all about,” he said.
Fashola stressed that the programme would ensure acceptability by stakeholders.
“The programme is built on a foundation that requires consulting stakeholders by conducting survey so the stakeholders can take ownership of it.
“We are consulting and we hope that we will be able to carry along the stakeholders so that they can take ownership of the scheme,” he said.
He added that it was after this stage that the ministry could talk about affordability, pointing out that the housing scheme was also part of government multi-facet approach to economic development.
“The programme is part of government efforts to create value chain economic activities, aimed at empowering Nigerians all over the country.
“Workers will be happy on site getting paid from contractors to take care of their families and patronising food and others,” he said.
The minister also said the ministry was training artisans like carpenters and bricklayers, among others, to be relevant technically.
Each year, the University of Southern California brings delegations from Africa to meet with business leaders, government officials and others in the U.S. But this year, the African summit has no Africans. All were denied visas.
Donald Trump, US president
Visa issues are not uncommon for people traveling from African nations. During her prior three summits, Mary Flowers saw a high percentage of her attendees at the African Global Economic and Development Summit, unable to attain visas.
“Usually we get 40 percent that get rejected but the others come,” said Flowers, chair of the African Global Economic and Development Summit. “This year it was 100 percent. Every delegation. And it was sad to see, because these people were so disheartened.”
Flowers estimated that she lost about 100 attendees, including speakers and government officials. The countries affected included Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa.
‘A discrimination issue’
“I have to say that most of us feel it’s a discrimination issue with the African nations,” said Flowers. “We experience it over and over and over, and the people being rejected are legitimate business people with ties to the continent.”
A request for comment from the State Department was not immediately returned.
Flowers said those who were denied visas were called for embassy interviews just days before they were supposed to travel, despite having applied weeks or even months ahead of time.
One of those denied a visa was Prince Kojo Hilton, a Ghanian artist whose work includes special effects and graphic art. He paid his $500 fee to attend the event and was asked to lead a session on filmmaking. But he held off buying his plane ticket until his appointment at the embassy on March 13, four days before he was supposed to travel.
“I was really disappointed when I went to the embassy,” Hilton said in an interview with VOA.
Travel ban
It remains unclear why all of the Africans heading to the event were denied visas this year.
Diane E. Watson, who formerly represented a Los Angeles-area district in Congress, said she had called the State Department to ask for information about the denial of visas for would-be delegates to the USC summit. But the State Department isn’t allowed to discuss individual visa cases.
With the heightened attention on foreign nationals coming to the U.S., there have been stories of more visas being denied to people from countries other than those named in the Trump administration’s executive orders. But visas are routinely denied by U.S. embassies without explanation.
If there has been an increase in the number of visas rejected under the new administration, it’s hard to verify. The publicly available State Department data dates only to late 2016.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on Saturday, March 18, 2017 advised Nigerians to visit the dentist every six months in order to check gum diseases and tooth decay.
L-R: President, Nigerian Dental Association, Dr. Bode Ijarogbe; Oral Care Category Lead, Unilever Nigeria, Ibironke Ugbaja; Marketing Director, Foods, Ghana Nigeria, Unilever. Nsima Ogedi-Alakwe; Marketing Director, Home Care, Ghana Nigeria, Unilever, Bunmi Adeniba; VP, Nigerian Dental Association, Dr Funmi Asiwaju; and Marketing Lead, Refreshments, Ghana Nigeria, Bolanle Kehinde-Lawal, during the Pepsodent Oral Health Walk in Lagos on Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Dr. Abdulkadir Katagum, the Dental Health Coordinator for the FCT chapter of the NMA, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
He spoke ahead of the World Oral Health Day observed every March 20.
Katagum, who expressed displeasure over visitation to dental clinics, only when patients have pains in the teeth, said such practice was unhealthy.
He said: “You do not have to wait till you are experiencing pains on your gum before visiting the dentist. Pains occur when much damage had been done to your teeth.”
According to Katagum, the ideal practice for assured healthy mouth is to visit the dentist every six months. Such visits, he said, would provide the opportunity to have the tooth examined for early signs of decay and gum diseases.
Katagum said: “If such diseases are detected early it can easily be treated and at low cost. Visiting the dentist every six months gives you the opportunity to do professional scaling and polishing of your teeth and helps to detect early signs of tooth decay and gum diseases.
“Tooth decay starts from the hard structure of the tooth passing the enamel to the dentine to the dental pulp which is the life of the teeth. If not treated on time, it can lead to tooth loss or severe pains. Oral health determines your general well-being because whatever enters your body passes through the mouth. If the mouth is unhealthy it means that every other part of your body is sick.”
Katagum noted that the World Dental Day, which was inaugurated in March 2013 by the World Dental Federation, is to raise awareness on oral health and prevention of oral diseases.
This according, to him, would enable government, health associations and the general public to work together to achieve healthier mouths and happier lives. He said this year’s theme: “Live mouth smart” was geared toward raising awareness to achieve healthy mouth and a healthier nation.
He said: “The day offers every country opportunity to develop activities and initiatives aimed at increasing awareness on oral health as well as the impact of oral diseases on general health, well-being and the economy.”
South African rhino poaching numbers for the last year show a decline for the second consecutive year due to concerted conservation efforts. However, there is still a long road ahead as Africa continues to lose an average of three rhinos a day to the ongoing poaching crisis, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has said.
Rhinos
In 2016 alone, 1,054 rhinos were reported killed in South Africa. The organisation specialising in wildlife conservation and endangered species regards this as a slight decline from 1,175 in 2015 and 1,215 in 2014, pointing out that the 2016 figures represent a loss in rhinos of approximately 6% in South Africa, “which is close to the birth rate, meaning the population remains perilously close to the tipping point”.
“Criminals kill rhinos for their horns, which are mistakenly believed to cure a variety of ailments from fevers to blood disorders to hangovers,” observes the WWF.
According to the international non-governmental organisation, other major rhino range states in Africa have reported declines, with 61 rhinos reported killed in Namibia, down from 91 in 2015. South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe are home to nearly 95 percent of all remaining African rhinos, it adds.
“South Africa’s Kruger National Park, home to the world’s largest white rhino population, successfully achieved a decline in the number of poached rhinos last year, despite an increase in the number of reported illegal entries into the 4.8 million acre park.
“These latest figures highlight the impacts of poaching sweeping across South Africa as criminal syndicates shift their focus in response to law enforcement actions. Key populations in the South African province KwaZulu-Natal bore the brunt of the poaching, with 161 rhinos killed in 2016 – an increase of 38% from the previous year,” the group stresses.
Stressing the need to curb the trend, WWF describes wildlife crime as the most immediate threat to wild rhinos, elephants, and tigers, adding that demand for rhino horns – along with elephant ivory and tiger products – runs rampant in parts of the world, particularly in Asia.
“WWF works to stop rhino poaching and emphasises the need for not just law enforcement response, but also involvement of local communities around protected areas.
“Together, we need to commit to long-term demand reduction efforts to protect rhinos,” the body concludes.
As part of its resolve to ensure that the citizens of Ogun State live in a safe and healthy environment, the state government has said that it will impose strict sanctions on industries without Environmental Impact Study (EIS) approval from the state Ministry of Environment.
Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Bolaji Oyeleye
Commissioner for Environment, Bolaji Oyeleye, represented by the team leader, Ogun State Environmental Sanitation Task Force, Kunle Adeotan, stated this recently during the routine monitoring of industries along the Sagamu-Ogijo Road. He warned that any industry without EIS approval contravened extant environmental laws and would be penalised.
Mr. Oyeleye said that government would continue to monitor industries across the state and enforce the environmental laws where necessary, adding that the state government was committed to ensuring that the environment was not jeopardised for future generations.
He said: “Every industry must obtain an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval if the project is of mandatory study as stipulated in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) ACT (Cap E12, LFN, 2004). Those projects listed on the mandatory study have to undergo EIA which is handled by the Federal Ministry of Environment. Any project outside the mandatory study is captured in EIS, which is the state version.”
Responding, a resident within the neighbourhood, Yemi Olaleye, implored government to ensure continued monitoring of activities of industries in the state, adding that such step would help protect the environment.
Justice Festus Ntong of Akwa-Ibom State High Court sitting in Ikot Ekpene has declined an application to stop the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) or any other federal anti-corruption agency from investigating allegations of corruption involving the finances of the Government of Akwa Ibom State.
Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State
The Akwa Ibom State Attorney General (AG), Mr. Uwemedimo Thomas Nwoko, had filed a suit before Justice Ntong, seeking the court to restrain ICPC or any other federal anti-corruption agency from investigating the government of the state for alleged corrupt practices without prior authorisation by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly.
The Akwa Ibom State AG had argued in the suit that a federal agency would be acting beyond its powers if it investigated a matter involving an official or agency of the Akwa Ibom State Government.
He therefore joined the Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and the Akwa Ibom State Government as respondents in the matter because, in his opinion, they were not exercising their power and rights to prevent a federal agency from encroaching on their jurisdiction. Others joined as respondents in the suit included the Inspector General of Police, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and some banks.
Upon a preliminary objection filed by ICPC disputing the competence of the court to entertain any claim against the Federal Government or any of its agencies, the trial court ruled that the State High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain such a claim and therefore struck out the case.
It may be recalled that in a similar case brought before the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt by all the 23 Local Government Councils of Rivers State in suit number FHC/PH/CS/432/2010, Hon Justice Tijani Abubakar by a ruling dated 31 May, 2012 dismissed the plaintiff’s claim and held that the issue of the constitutional authority of ICPC to investigate any person or authority in Nigeria for alleged corrupt practices had been decided with finality by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the case of Attorney General of Ondo State vs Attorney General of the Federation (2002).
Self-styled Special One, José Mourinho, has lambasted Manchester United’s relentless schedule as the team will have to play three games in the space of seven days.
José Mourinho
With injuries ravaging his club, the Manchester United manager could not but say, “We have lots of enemies (fixture schedule). Normally the enemies should be Rostov but we have a lot of enemies. It’s difficult to play Monday with 10 men. It’s difficult to play now at 12 O’clock on Sunday (Middlesbrough).”
He made the observation after an hamstring injury hit Paul Pogba, a blow to the head of Daley Blind and fatigue taking the better of Marcos Rogo in their second-leg match of the round of 16 of Europa League at Old Trafford on Thursday, March 16, 2017.
Juan Mata’s second-half goal gave Manchester United a 1-0 victory over Rostov and a 2-1 win on aggregate in the Europa League quarter-final decider.
Mourinho says: “We were afraid of extra time. It was a difficult game. A lot of people might say we should have scored more goals. But a lot of things are going against us. The boys are amazing. We will probably lose the game on Sunday. Fatigue has a price,” he concluded.
Mourinho has won each of his past eight European home games (Chelsea 3, Man Utd 5), with his teams scoring 21 goals and conceding just two.
In fact, Mourinho has not lost a home game in European competition since the 3-1 semi-final second-leg loss to Athletico Madrid in April 2014 (won 10, drew 2).
The Red Devils are now unbeaten in their past European matches at home including qualifier, won 13, drew 3, losing in March 2013 to Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, the quarter-finals draws held on Friday, March 17 2017 saw Manchester United facing Anderlecht from Belgium, while French side Lyon play Besiktas, Dutch giants Ajax meet German team Schalke, and Celta Vigo face Belgium’s Gent.
The first leg matches are set to take place on Thursday, April 13 and the return games a week later.
Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, in an article she authored and published in the “Ministers Reference Book: Commonwealth 2017”, says that the next two years must see major progress towards the low-carbon, sustainable development model which offers the only realistic path to security and well-being for all people.
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UNFCCC
The Paris Climate Change Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals, universally agreed under the United Nations, stand as the international community’s momentous commitment to turn humanity back from the cliff edge of extreme climate change and environmental collapse.
The challenge is like none that we have seen before because it encompasses every nation, every person and demands that all work together towards the common goal.
If this reads partly like an extract from the founding principles of the Commonwealth, it is meant to do so and reflects the strong lead that the Commonwealth has continued to take in pressing for the full implementation of both agreements.
Tipping Points – Right Action Now or Wait Until Too Late?
This existential, planetary-wide threat breaks down all old barriers and assumptions.
There is no safe hiding place for any country, developed or developing. The rich and secure for a while may dodge the direct impacts better than the poor and vulnerable but their ultimate fate will be the same, if we do not succeed.
The time to step up and accelerate common action on climate and sustainable development has come for two fundamental reasons.
First, and most decisively, the signals from planet Earth are telling us that the trajectory towards uncontrolled global warming is still rising.
In recent months, greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have surpassed record thresholds. The last three years in a row saw global temperatures rise to repeated record highs.
Extreme weather is hitting all parts of the world.
Seven countries in southern Africa have serious drought. In Madagascar, one million people need food support after several years of failed rains. In 2016, there were 15 weather and climate disaster events in the United States with losses exceeding $1 billion each. Middle East summer temperatures tick ever higher. A site in Kuwait hit 129.2 degrees F or 54 degrees C in July.
Second, the multiple and immediate challenges which countries now face cannot be allowed to dilute the unprecedented depth and breadth of global political will and the momentum to act by governments, cities, business and civil society that was captured in the UN climate and sustainability agreements.
In fact, it is only the very solutions to climate change and sustainable development that will ultimately reduce the rising problems which nations face today.
The benefits of this transformational change in the way humans produce and consume power and resources are widely recognised: new and stable lives and livelihoods, disappearing pollution and improving health, falling costs and quality investment returns to governments and citizens, lower levels of national insecurity.
2017 Offers Increasing Profile of Commonwealth Climate Leadership
The Commonwealth’s major role as a cooperative forum of countries from all cultures and at all stages of development is brought into sharp perspective as Fiji prepares to take on the next Presidency of the annual UN climate change conference in November, in Bonn, Germany.
It is a significant reflection, for example, of the Commonwealth’s reach and role that around two thirds of the Small Island Developing States in the UN are also members of the Commonwealth.
Fijian Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama has set out his priorities for the Presidency, calling for steeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and to ramp up the finance developing countries need to green their economies and build resilience to the inevitable impacts of climate change.
Small island developing states are, of course, among the most vulnerable to extreme weather and rising sea levels. Fiji only recently suffered more major flooding from severe rains.
Fiji’s climate change conference presidency is an opportunity for the Commonwealth community both to highlight the urgency of climate action for the most vulnerable countries and to underline the common action that both developed and developing countries need to take together.
It is important, therefore, to emphasise how these two objectives are linked firmly under the stated principle that action on climate change encompasses every nation and demands that all work together towards the common goal.
For example, small islands have some of the most vulnerable coastlines and require urgent global climate action to stay as close as possible to the 1.5 degree Celsius limit of warming set out in the Paris Agreement as a preferred defense line against extreme climate change.
But climate science predicts that 1.5 degrees and above also threatens potentially severe damage to coastlines elsewhere, including in megacities of the world’s biggest and most populated economies, from New York to Shanghai, from Rotterdam to Bangkok.
Storm and flood can turn an affluent neighborhood into a mud-soaked nightmare overnight just as easily as devastate a poor village and can bankrupt developed and developing country cities alike.
Similarly, a much faster and decisive shift of global finance flows into low-carbon solutions and resilient infrastructure is an immediate and urgent need for both the richest and poorest countries.
In this area, too, the combined expertise and experience of the Commonwealth members has much to contribute in concrete initiatives such as the Multilateral Debt Swap for Climate Action proposal, which would address both debt and climate change, and the pioneering Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub.
Strong Momentum Sustained So Far – Three Big Next Steps on Climate Action
It is encouraging that strong momentum has continued so far in the year after Paris.
There are three broad and interlinked avenues of effort which will get this unprecedented global job done most efficiently and quickly.
This includes national climate action by all countries across public and private sectors, intensive international cooperation and a comprehensive shift in public and private investment towards clean, renewable energy and resilient infrastructures.
Almost all countries submitted intended national climate plans in support of the Paris Agreement and almost 120 have now turned those intentions into firm plans under the Agreement – known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
In addition, the first very long-term, emission reductions plans have started to appear, so far from Canada, France, Germany, Mexico and the US, in response to the Agreement’s recognition that clarity and direction over decades is required.
These NDCs are the foundation of the Paris Agreement, the policy and investment plans for low-carbon, resilient development that go hand-in-hand with the core objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals.
It is most important that these blueprints are translated into cross-government policies and investment strategies that readily attract the resources and funding necessary to enable countries to reach the goals they have set for themselves.
It is in this way that NDCs can also provide a myriad of business opportunities – opportunities that revolve around every economic sector and every walk of life.
Meanwhile, global finance flows for climate action continue to rise and should reasonably soon reach one trillion dollars per year. More is needed and soon.
For example, China has recently said it will invest the equivalent of about $360 billion into renewable power by 2020, creating over 13 million jobs. This starts to approach the scale and speed of effort required.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance has reported that global clean energy investment fell 18% in dollar terms in 2016. One of the reasons is good: the cost of solar power continued to fall. It is also true that fossil fuel prices are at par or are higher than renewables in many markets.
But the reversal in trend is not. Emissions must peak soon and be rapidly decreasing by 2030 to have a chance of meeting the Paris temperature goals. Government policy retains a commanding influence over energy prices and it is essential that renewables are allowed a level playing field.
Removing all fossil fuel subsidies and requiring pollution costs to be fully factored into government, business and investment accounting are non-negotiable demands, if atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are to fall fast enough.
Good news, therefore, that last December’s climate change conference in Marrakech, Morocco, highlighted the growing alignment of government, private sector and civic climate action.
For example, a club of subnational governments, the Under2 Coalition, who have committed to reduce their emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050, announced their membership has grown to 165. It represents a third of the global economy and a population of around one billion people across North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The Climate Vulnerable Forum of over 40 nations issued a Marrakech Vision committing themselves to ambitious aims, including 100% renewable energy between 2030 and 2050.
The international climate change negotiations under the UN also have a most important objective to deliver the rule book of the Paris Agreement, which is essentially the operating manual to deliver a transparent global accounting of emissions reductions, provision of climate finance, technology development and transfer, and adaptation needs.
Governments have indicated a fast track date of 2018 for completion of this rule book.
The details of the task are complex but the principle is simple: transparency builds trust that countries are delivering on their pledges which, in turn, generate the confidence for all countries to increase their own action on climate change to the best of their abilities.
Across each of these three avenues of effort – national plans, finance and international negotiations – I look forward this year to the continued support, expertise and commitment of the Commonwealth to help sustain high momentum and achieve long-term success.
The world wrote down the directions to a future of peace and well-being for all peoples in the words of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. The destination is decades away, but only by speeding up now will nations reach it together.
