The Federal Ministry of Environment on Thursday, June 29, 2017 gave conditional approval to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report prepared by the Cross River State Government in respect of the proposed Superhighway project.
Governor Ben Ayade’s Superhighway project has encountered stiff opposition
At a brief ceremony, officials of the Federal Ministry of Environment handed the conditionally-approved EIA report to the Deputy Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ivara Esu, who represented Governor Ben Ayade.
Federal officials were said to have given assurances that government would not renege on its promise to support the state in ensuring the succesful completion of the project.
According to CrossRiverWatch.com, a state promoted portal, Governor Ayade insinuated an “immediate return to site to commence work”.
The governor reportedly told CrossRiverWatch that he was greatful to his detractors who, according to him, actually propelled the government to work harder in order to achieve the feat.
“I want to use this opportunity to congratulate Cross Riverians and indeed all the detractors of the Superhighway for their opposition to the project, which actually propelled us to work harder to achieve this.
“For those who have been worried about where the money will come from, I have insisted repeatedly that that has been taken care of. I want to assure Cross Riverians that equipment is returning to site and work will commence immediately as earlier planned.
“We give all thanks to God and to all Cross Riverians who abided with us in prayer and assure everyone that we will continue to work hard to achieve our set goals regardless of the obstacles.” the governor was quoted by CrossRiverWatch as saying.
But, in a reaction, Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, said that Cross River State cannot immediately commence work as there are no fewer than 20 conditions to be met before a final approval is given to the EIA report.
His words: “We have handed a conditional approval (over 20 conditions) to be fulfilled by the Cross River State Government. No final certificate yet until those conditions are met.
“We shall carry out a review within the next two or three weeks. Be rest assured that we will not compromise in any way please.”
The Additional Financing to the Third Fadama Development Project (Fadama III-AF) has been honoured with the Africa VPU Team Award by the World Bank.
Vice President for Africa of the World Bank, Makhtar Diop
The award was announced by the Vice President for Africa of the World Bank, Makhtar Diop.
It will be recalled that Fadama-II got the Award in 2007 and Fadama-III secured the same in 2014.
The Africa Region Award of Excellence is an annual event instituted by the African Region of the World Bank to recognise excellence in project management and evidence of pro-poor impact of development projects.
Fadama III-AF was selected as a demonstration of an important example of how client-driven agricultural and rural development projects can have significant development impacts on the national economy.
The Additional Financing for the Third National Fadama Development Project (Fadama III) is one of the World Bank’s flagship operations with total finance of $200 million.
Fadama III Additional Financing is a follow-up on to Fadama III project and it is being implemented in six core and 21 cluster states.
The states were selected based on comparative advantage and high potential to increase production and productivity of cassava, rice, and sorghum and horticulture value chains and link them to better organised markets.
The AF is well aligned closely with the new Agricultural Promotion Policy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is facilitating linkages between federation of producers and existing processors.
The project was approved by the World Bank’s Board of Directors in June 2013 and implementation began in October 21 of the same year.
The objective of the project is to increase the incomes for users of rural lands and water resources within the Fadama areas in a sustainable manner throughout the recipient’s territory.
Taking a value chain orientation, the AF is attracting private investment in processing and milling, and other commercial aspects of agriculture around nucleus farms, with associated small-holder linkages such as out-grower schemes.
The programme has proved to be a reliable tool for responding to fragility and crises situation.
It recently extended its reach to the victims of insecurity in conflict-affected areas of Northern regions of Nigeria with a $50 million Additional Financing in June 2016.
The project is said to have generated good results on the ground. It has also supported farmers to increase rice yield from 2.84mt/ha to 6.40mt/ha.
Sorghum yield went from 1.14mt/ha to 3.65mt/ha, tomato yield from 12.56mt/ha to 28.60mt/ha and Cassava yield from 11.92mt/ha to 15.76mt/ha.
With a disbursement of 67.22 per cent, at mid-term, the project is cruising sustainably towards achieving its development objective at completion.
The Fadama project stands out as a success within a country portfolio that faces numerous implementation challenges.
The Sustainable Development Goals Centre for Africa (SDGC/A) has picked Nigerian youth campaigner and digital media expert, Olumide Idowu, to manage social media and communications functions during the upcoming forum on “Mobilising African Intellectuals Towards Quality Tertiary Education” scheduled to hold July, 2017 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Olumide Idowu
The primary objective of the conference, according to the organisers, is to create a coalition of African intellectuals who will brainstorm and hold principal discussions on practical actions, as well as explore solutions and build consensual approaches on the major themes relevant to SDG implementation in tertiary education and research throughout Africa.
Key priority action areas for consideration at the workshop include:
The Enabling Environment in Education – Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Research – Scope and Reputation
Building Reputable University Systems in Africa
Knowledge for Development – Transforming Societies
Additionally, participants will share experiences, as well as agree on common actions to ignite the big push needed at continental level to transform the academic ecosystem.
Idowu has over 10 years’ working experience on social media, environment, climate change, monitoring & evaluation and sustainable development issues.
A youth climate change policy expert and trainer, he has represented Nigeria and Africa at over 10 high-level global governance meetings on sustainable development.
He is co-founder of Climate Wednesday, a not-for-profit outfit that seeks to identify key climate-based issues affecting developments in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.
Besides leading the youth advocacy efforts on environment, climate change and sustainable development in Africa, Idowu serves as Senior Communication Officer for African Youth Initiative on Climate Change, and volunteer to Save the Children Nigeria on advocacy and campaign.
The Director General/CEO, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba, on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 in Abuja re-emphasised the need to regulate the practice of modern biotechnology in the country.
Director General/CEO, National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba, with members of the Real-Life Civil Society
Dr. Ebegba made the submission while receiving members of the Real-Life Civil Society, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), at the NBMA Office. According to him, government in its wisdom established the NBMA to guard against the misuse of modern biotechnology and its products.
“The practice of modern biotechnology ordinarily is not intended to pose any harm or danger to the public or the environment and to ensure that this potent tool is not misused, the NBMA was established,” he said.
He reiterated the determination of the Agency to implement the NBMA Act 2015 according to international best practices, and assured that the Agency had the requisite manpower to implement its mandate without fear or favour.
Comrade Akin Akinsola, Coordinator, Real-Life Civil Society, said that the group was at the NBMA to familiarise with the operations of the Agency vis-à-vis negative publications in the media about NBMA.
“Having learnt and seen for ourselves what you do and the facilities you have, we call on all Nigerians to trust the Agency and give it a chance,” he said.
The Norwegian government is said to be considering whether to finance industrial logging in the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where 20 million hectares of virgin forest could be handed over to the timber industry. It is believed that Norway will commit some €16 million to the project.
The Paris Agreement and the financial incentives and initiatives it has spurred can help put indigenous and community rights at the heart of forest policies in Congo Basin countries
The Congo Basin in Central Africa is home to the planet’s second largest rainforest, whose virgin forests houses a diversity of species, including chimpanzees, gorillas and forest elephants. Besides storing gigantic amounts of carbon, they are also home to millions of people.
However, as part of its climate protection policy, the Norwegian government plans to bankroll the project through its climate and forest protection programme, the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). The project was developed by the French state development agency, AFD.
But the proposal has met with stiff opposition, as a host of campaigners say it is environment-unfriendly.
“Logging is one of the main causes of the global destruction of forests. The tropical timber industry destroys the livelihoods of people and animals – and fuels climate change,” says Reinhard Behrend of the Rainforest Rescue.
He adds: “Just as questionable as the project is Norway’s source of funding. Through its exploitation of oil and gas deposits in the North Atlantic and Artic Sea, Norway has become one of the richest countries in the world. The burning of fossil fuels is the leading cause of climate change.
“Whilst Norway amasses billions of euros each year from its oil and gas industry, countries in the Tropics are suffering especially from the climate change caused primarily by industrialised nations.”
The tropical timber industry is to receive 20 million hectares of rainforest – more than double the area of Portugal – as logging concessions, warns the British environmental organisation, Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK), which calculates that not only do the trees store massive amounts of carbon, but so does the soil.
“Vast areas of the planned concessions stand on thick layers of peat. These contain on average almost 2,200 tonnes of carbon per hectare. Around 10.4 Giga tons of CO2 could be released through logging. This corresponds to over 200 years of Norway’s own annual CO2 emissions currently estimated as 53.4 mega tons CO2 equivalent,” the group adds.
Simon Counsell, Director of the RFUK, explains: “The government of Norway risks putting globally significant stores of carbon at risk through misguided support for so-called sustainable forest management in DRC. Instead of expanding large-scale timber-felling, Norway should work with the Congolese government to shut down the half of the country’s logging areas which the law requires to be closed and returned to the state.”
The Togolese Republic on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 deposited its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, president of Togo
The West African nation by the Gulf of Guinea thus becomes the 151st country to endorse the global treaty, after Qatar, which ratified the climate accord on Friday, June 23, 2017.
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Togo’s ratification of the pact will enter into force in a month’s time on Friday, July 28, 2017.
The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention (UNFCCC) and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.
The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for enhanced transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework.
China has launched five pilot zones to promote “green finance” and help pay for a war on pollution that is expected to cost at least ¥3 trillion ($440 billion) a year, according to notices published by the central bank on Monday, June 26, 2017.
Guangzhou, in Guangdong province, China
The five zones will be set up in the provinces of Guangdong, Guizhou, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, as well as the far western region of Xinjiang, and financial institutions will be given a variety of incentives to provide credit and special funds for environmentally friendly industries.
Banks will be encouraged to explore new financing mechanisms, including emissions trading and water use permits. The pilot programmes will also speed up the development of green insurance.
The pilot zones will focus on different aspects of green financing, with Guangzhou, capital of industrialised Guangdong on China’s southeast coast, encouraged to develop credit mechanisms to support energy conservation and the reduction of emissions.
Rural Guizhou will focus on financing the treatment of agricultural waste, while Xinjiang – a key part of China’s Belt and Road initiative to develop regional ties – will strengthen cooperation with overseas financial institutions.
China is in the fourth year of a “war on pollution” aimed at reversing some of the damage done to its air, water and soil as a result of more than three decades of untrammeled economic growth.
But provinces are struggling to find the money required to clean up and switch to cleaner forms of energy, and the government has been looking to develop new financing mechanisms, including public-private partnerships and green bonds.
China is estimated to need as much as ¥3-4 trillion of green investment every year over the next five years to meet its environmental commitments, and the government is only expected to provide about 10-15 percent.
Athletics sprinter, Usain Bolt, overcame a slow start to win the 100m, at the Estrava Golden Spike meet on Tuesday, in a time of 10.6sec, in his second 100m outing of the season in Ostrava.
Usain Bolt
The Jamaican was slow out of the blocks before jumping ahead to edge Yunier Perez of Cuba, who ran a personal best of 10.09sec.
Bolt will make his final bow at the World Championship in London in August. The 30-year-old has won eight Olympic gold and 13 World Championship medals.
In football, Chile booked a place in the final of the FIFA Confederation Cup in Russia by beating Portugal 3-0 on penalties after regulation and extra time ended 0-0.
Thanks to Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who was the hero as he stopped three successive penalty kicks.
World champion Germany is expected tol slug it out with Mexico on Thursday night in the second semi-final.
To reach this stage, Germany beat Australia 3-2 in the first game, drew 1-1 with Chile before defeating Cameroon 2-1.
Mexico on the other hand, drew its first game 2-2 against Portugal, went ahead to beat New Zealand 2-1 before ending the group stage with a 2-1 win against host Russia.
The FIFA Confederation Cup ends on Sunday with a third place play-off preceeding the final match scheduled to be played at the St Petersburg Stadium in Moscow.
In a related development, Plateau United retained top spot on the summit of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) log with a narrow 1-0 victory over Nasarawa United, at the Lantang Stadium, Jos on Week 27.
MFM of Lagos also dismissed Sunshine Stars of Akure, while ABS Football Club played a 1-1 draw with Kano Pillars in Ilorin.
Wikki Tourists of Bauchi beat Lobi Stars 1-0, Katsina United also edged Niger Tornadoes 1-0.
Remo Stars and Akwa United ended it 2-2, while Enyimba whitewashed El – Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri 4-0.
Champions Enugu Rangers International defeated Ifeanyi Ubah FC 1-0 in an Oriental match played in Enugu, as Gombe United humbled Abia Warriors 2-1.
The world needs high-speed climate action for an immediate bending-down of the global greenhouse-gas emissions curve, leading experts have cautioned.
Christiana Figueres
Aggressive reduction of fossil-fuel usage is the key to averting devastating heat extremes and unmanageable sea level rise, authors argue in a comment published in scientific journal Nature this week.
In the run-up to the G20 summit of the planet’s leading economies, the article sets six milestones for a clean industrial revolution. This call for strong short-term measures complements the longer-term ‘carbon law’ approach introduced earlier this year by some of the current co-authors, including the Potsdam Institute’s Director, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, in the journal Science. Thus a full narrative of deep decarbonisation emerges.
“We stand at the doorway of being able to bend the GHG emissions curve downwards by 2020, as science demands, in protection of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular the eradication of extreme poverty,” Christiana Figueres says, lead-author of the Nature comment and former head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“This monumental challenge coincides with an unprecedented openness to self-challenge on the part of sub-national governments inside the US, governments at all levels outside the US, and of the private sector in general. The opportunity given to us over the next three years is unique in history,” adds.
Figueres is the convener of Mission 2020, a broad-based campaign calling for urgent action now to make sure that carbon emissions begin an inexorable fall by 2020.
The authors and co-signatories to the Nature article comprise over 60 scientists, business and policy leaders, economists, analysts and influencers, including Gail Whiteman from Lancaster University; Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation; Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer of Unilever plc; Anthony Hobley, Chief Executive of Carbon Tracker; Christian Rynning-Tønnesen, CEO of Statkraft; and Jonathan Bamber, President of the European Geosciences Union.
The great sustainability transformation
The authors are confident that both technological progress and political momentum have reached a point now that allows to kick-start the “great sustainability transformation”. 2020 is crucial, because in that year the US will be legally able to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Even more compelling are the physics-based considerations, however: Recent research has demonstrated that keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius becomes almost infeasible if we delay climate action beyond 2020. And breaching the 2°C-line would be dangerous, since a number of Earth system tipping elements, such as the great ice sheets, may get destabilised in that hot-house.
“We have been blessed by a remarkably resilient planet over the past 100 years, able to absorb most of our climate abuse,” says Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, co-author of the Nature comment and lead-author of the Science article. “Now we have reached the end of this era, and need to bend the global curve of emissions immediately, to avoid unmanageable outcomes for our modern world.”
Six milestones for 2020
Indeed, a social tipping point for the better is in sight, the experts show. Power generation from wind and solar is booming already. In Europe, for instance, more than three quarters of new energy capacities installed rely on those renewable sources. China is quickly establishing a national emissions trading scheme. Financial investors such as BlackRock in the US are growing wary of carbon risks.
The six milestones for 2020 as defined in the article reach from energy (pushing renewables to 30% of total energy supply and retiring all coal-fired power plants) to transport (electric vehicles making up 15% of new car sales globally, up from roughly 1% today) and finance (mobilise $1 trillion a year for climate action).
“The climate math is brutally clear: While the world can’t be healed within the next few years, it may be fatally wounded by negligence until 2020,” concludes Hans Joachim Schellnhuber from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, co-author of both the Nature comment and the Science article.
Action by 2020 is necessary, but clearly not sufficient – it needs to set the course for halving CO2 emissions every other decade. In analogy to the legendary Moore’s Law, which states that computer processors double in power about every two years, the “carbon law” can become a self-fulfilling prophecy mobilising innovations and market forces, says Schellnhuber, adding:
“This will be unstoppable – yet only if we propel the world into action now.”
Over 250 US mayors have committed to procure 100% renewable energy for their cities by 2035, thereby providing a significant boost to climate action.
Mayors share a joke at the US Conference of Mayors (USCM) meeting in Florida
Interest in renewable energies is said to be running high in cities, and enacting clean energy policies at the local level is essential to achieve the central goal of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which is to avoid the worst impacts of climate change by holding the global average temperature to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to experts, this can only happen if the bulk of existing fossil fuels is left in the ground and the world rapidly transitions to low carbon.
“By approving this historic measure, we are showing the world that cities and mayors can and will lead the transition away from fossil fuels to 100% clean, renewable energy,” said Columbia (South Carolina) Mayor, Steve Benjamin.
The city leaders made the commitment in a resolution at the 85th US Conference of Mayors (USCM), meeting in Fontainbleau, Florida, where they launched the “Ready for 100” campaign to support the utilisation of more clean power. The meeting held from Friday, June 23 to Monday, June 26.
According to an analysis by the environmental group Sierra Club, if the 100% energy targets were achieved by 2025, the total electric sector carbon pollution reductions would “fill anywhere from 87% to 110% of the remaining reductions the United States would need to achieve in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.”
The conference of more than 250 US mayors also resolved to support vehicle electrification, energy efficiency grants and city-driven plans to reverse climate change. The resolutions are statements of intent for city planning and work with federal and state governments.
In addition to cleaner air and water, the shift can also fuel jobs growth. San Diego Mayor, Kevin Faulconer, said his city is shifting to clean energy “not only because it supports clean air and water, but because it supports our 21st century economy.”
The resolution shows how governments at different levels are redoubling efforts on climate change.
