The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it trained about 733 people in Nigeria on increased use of technology in agriculture in the country.
AfDB building in Abuja
The bank revealed this in its 2017 Annual Development Effectiveness Review on Thursday, May 3, 2018 in Abuja.
The AfDB said that the training was part of the Feed Africa project (2016 to 2025) under the high five priority projects of the bank.
According to the review, the bank interventions in agriculture over the last year have benefited 5.6 million people.
“Our feed Africa Strategy (2016 to 2025) is designed to eliminate extreme poverty, end hunger and malnutrition; make Africa a net food exporter.
“Also, it will move Africa to the top of certain agriculture based, export-oriented global value chains in areas in which it enjoys a comparative advantage.
It added that the bank met its target in assisting 597,900 people to increase their use of technology.
“In Nigeria, we trained 733 people and provided irrigation pumps and agro processing equipment.
“We built or rehabilitated 520km of feeder roads , provided farmers with access to 2300 tones of inputs and delivered increased access to finance,’’ the bank said
The report further noted that the bank supported improved water management practices on 37,600 hectares.
“In Gambia, we improved land and water management practices for over 68,400 people significantly reducing soil erosion, controlling salinity and increasing rice yields above our target,’’ the AfDB said
The bank added there was increase in yields of a wide range of crops through the assistance to agricultural research networks, training around 17,000 research and extension staff.
This, the bank said benefited an estimated 698,000 farmers.
The death toll in the deadly storm that hit India’s northern states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday night has risen to around 80, with around 143 people injured, according to official sources.
Indian children swim in a pond during a dust storm in New Delhi on May 2, 2018. Photo credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP
The highest number of deaths was reported from Uttar Pradesh’s Agra city where around 36 people died in the disaster.
Nine people were killed in other parts of Uttar Pradesh, including in Bijnaur, Saharanpur and Bareilly.
The Rajasthan government confirmed 35 deaths in the state, mainly in the districts of Bharatpur, Alwar and Dhaulpur, Jhunjhunu.
Leading English daily The Times of India quoted sources from the meteorological department as saying that as much as 48.2 mm rainfall was reported in Agra district between 8.45 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, with storm winds of around 145 km per hour.
The injured have been admitted to government hospitals.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed state officials to monitor relief work and provide medical aid to the affected.
Adityanath also announced a compensation of up to four lakhs Indian rupees (about $4,000) to the families of the deceased and 50,000 rupees (about $750) for each of the injured.
The Yobe State Government says it has placed a price tag of N1,000 on every tree planted in the state in its effort to promote afforestation, combat desertification and reclaim soil fertility.
Tree planting
Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, the state Deputy Governor and Chairman, Environmental Protection Committee, announced this on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at the launching of special environmental protection programme at Gulani in Gulani Local Government Area.
The deputy governor also performed similar function at Gujba Local Government Area of the state.
Aliyu, who was represented by the Commissioner for Environment, Alhaji Jibrin Kortomi, said increased pressure on land for farming, indiscriminate felling of trees and illegal mining had impacted negatively on the environment.
“The sum of N1,000 is earmarked as price per tree stand, planted and nurtured for one year.
“Desert encroachment, land degradation and siltation of rivers had retarded agricultural activities with negative effect and promoting poverty in the communities.
“We have embarked on massive planting and nurturing of trees to protect the environment against wind storms, improve soil fertility and provide shelter for human and animals,” he said.
Aliyu directed local governments, traditional leaders and the communities to step up action on tree planting and other measures that would save the environment.
Alhaji Bunu Zanna, member representing Gulani constituency in the state House of Assembly, who spoke on behalf of his people, assured that trees would be planted massively to safeguard the environment.
“We will plant many economic trees to facilitate environmental and economic recovery as we emerge out of the Boko Haram insurgency,” he said.
Two developing countries will present their achievements and unique challenges in their actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, providing an update to previously presented actions.
A view of the atrium in the World Conference Centre Bonn (WCCB) in Germany, venue of the Bonn climate talks
In a fifth round of the so-called “facilitative sharing of views” (FSV) session, Chile and Singapore will present updates on the status of their greenhouse gas emissions, as well as on their updated actions to reduce emissions.
The facilitative sharing of views involves an inter-active exchange of information and views between those countries presenting updates and all other countries. Written questions to the presenting countries were submitted in advance. These will be addressed and taken up by the presenting countries during the FSV.
The FSV is one of the key processes for developing countries to demonstrate their achievements in climate actions, as well as to share good practice, challenges and capacity building needs.
Presentations during the FSV session often demonstrate that developing countries are committed to enhancing their climate actions in the context of implementing their climate action plans, called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), with an aim to achieving low carbon growth.
Past rounds of the facilitative sharing of views have provided a wealth of information on mitigation actions in the developing countries and clearly demonstrated developing countries’ efforts and commitments to action. Successful examples of international cooperation to overcome barriers and challenges were provided by many.
They also showed that their measuring, reporting and verification system provides an excellent basis for solid data collection that could help inform policy decisions at the national level.
Countries also benefitted from the feedback received during previous FSV sessions, as it helped them to be better prepared for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The positive experience gained from this process will lay a solid foundation for the new transparency framework under the Paris Agreement.
The Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti, says 296 Waste Collection Operators (WCOs) have been re-certified and licensed to commence waste operations.
Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti (left), during the briefing
Durosinmi-Etti announced this at the 2018 Ministerial Press Briefing to commemorate the third year in office of Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 in Ikeja.
He said that said the evacuation of residential waste was in progress and refuse littering across the state would soon be a thing of the past.
According to him, the ministry has been relating with the PSP operators and there is no form of fractionalisation among them.
“The ministry has a process in place. Every PSP is registered; every truck is certified and registered in the ministry.
“The ministry has an obligation to deal with any PSP that is willing to work with it, in fulfilment of its mandate to keep Lagos clean.
“We should not play politics with the health of Lagosians, in keeping Lagos clean.
“No job is being taken from anybody, we went as far as creating access to capital, through the Employment Trust Fund for PSPs who are willing to work with us.
“My idea is not to work with cartels in dealing with the health and environment of Lagosians. The idea is to go through certification, have an open door policy; it is both a function of offer and acceptance and coming willingly to work,’’ he said.
The commissioner said that the problem of rapid urbanisation was a challenge, as it created more waste for the state.
He said that in keeping with His Excellency’s vision of changing the face of Lagos through reforms of the solid waste management sector, the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) officially took off in June 2017.
Durosinmi-Etti said that a major update of the CLI was that to aid the delivery of a safe and sustainable environment, community sweepers would henceforth be supervised by the ministry of the Environment.
He said that mechanised street sweeping would be managed by three private companies – Avatar, Wastecare and Corporate Solutions.
According to him, the ministry has entered a new dimension with the engagement so far of 13,958 community sanitation workers for the sweeping of inner streets in the 377 political wards of Lagos State.
“Likewise, the WCOs, otherwise known as the PSP operators, have been charged with the responsibility of managing residential and general waste collection.
“Visionscape Sanitation Solutions now has the mandate of implementing waste management infrastructure development across the state, in addition to intervening in public waste collection to cover any lapses that may occur.
“I wish to appreciate the patience and understanding of Lagosians thus far and restate government’s commitment to the realisation of a sustainable environment as the bedrock of prosperity and social and economic well-being.
“Let me assure Lagosians that the Cleaner Lagos Initiative remains the panacea for delivering efficient and effective solid waste management in Lagos with its attendant benefits, such as job creation, and a cleaner and healthy environment.
“I am therefore confident that with its positive outlook, the Cleaner Lagos Initiative will continue to yield good results and ultimately the current waste challenge being experienced will soon be a thing of the past,’’ he said.
Durosinmi-Etti said that it was important for Lagosians to cooperate with the government to ensure that CLI not only succeeded, but that it was sustained.
He said that Lagos was on the march towards joining some other parts of the world where waste was no longer a burden but wealth.
According to him, this is the direction of a new initiative in solid waste management to create wealth from waste, to utilise waste for many income generating potentials, and ultimately reduce waste.
“The environment is key to life. Therefore, the achievement of a functional and sustainable environment is everybody’s business.
“When we put the environment first, development endures, because we cannot lay claim to economic prosperity in the face of environmental insecurity.
“We must all strive to take good care of the environment, as God never created the environment to be distressed or degraded, it is human impacts that have put it in the current worrisome state,’’ he said.
The demand to tackle conflict of interest within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has over the years been raised by several actors including governments and civil society.
The fossil fuel industry – the big polluters – is said to have an enormous economic interest in delaying climate action. Photo credit: earthtimes.org
However, to date, progress has been slow, notably, due to peaceful relationships formed between politics and the fossil fuel sector lobbyists.
It is for this reason that a global coalition of civil society groups is calling for a strong conflict of interest policy for the UNFCCC to decisively deal with the challenge.
The coalition, supported by the European Parliament, has released a report highlighting revolving doors between the fossil fuel industry and high level politicians, ministers, regulators, and advisors.
According to the study, titled “Revolving doors and the fossil fuel industry”, carried out in 13 European countries, finds that failure to deal with conflict of interest by the EU is due to cosy relationships built up with the fossil fuel sector over the years, and calls for the adoption of a strong conflict of interest policy that would avoid the disproportionate influence of the fossil fuel industry on the international climate change negotiations.
“There is a revolving door between politics and the fossil fuel lobby all across Europe,” said Max Andersson, Member of the European Parliament, at the Bonn Climate Talks. “It’s not just a handful of case – it is systematic. The fossil fuel industry has an enormous economic interest in delaying climate action and the revolving door between politics and the fossils fuel lobby is a serious cause for alarm.”
According to Andersson, to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep global warming to as close as 1.5 degrees as possible, there is need to clamp down on conflict of interest to stop coal, gas and oil from leaving “their dirty fingerprints over our climate policy.”
He says European governments should support the call for a common sense conflict of interest policy so that the next COP can deliver an outcome that will put the world on the road towards a climate in balance.
And, adding his voice to the debate, Augustine Njamshi of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) believes fossil fuel lobbyists have both a direct and indirect influence on climate policy.
Njamshi says the lack of ambition from developed parties in terms of emission cuts as well as provision of finance for developing parties is a result of bad influence from big polluters.
“For instance, in my opinion, delayed climate action, in particular, climate finance for African countries is indirectly linked to big polluter influence,” said Njamshi. “They have a lot to lose if money is made available for countries to carry out their climate actions because their businesses depend on the current state of affairs.”
Meanwhile, Pascoe Sabido of Corporate Europe Observatory argued for strong advocacy to win the battle against big polluters having a field day at the UNFCCC negotiations.
“Strong advocacy and policy on conflict of interest should be adopted or else, the interests of fossil fuel sector will continue to have huge influence on climate policy,” said Sabido.
The conclusion of the report is that the revolving door phenomenon is systematic and widespread, as the study revealed at least 88 cases of revolving doors between ministers, advisors, regulators and politicians.
A further disturbing finding is that there is lack of adequate legislation to ensure that climate-policy making is not unduly influenced by vested interests and, where legislation exists, it is not properly applied.
The CSO coalition has therefore called for urgent action by interested parties to the UNFCCC to save climate policy from what they have called dirty fingerprints of big polluters.
The fossil fuel industry has been active in lobbying for delays in global climate action as they stand to make enormous amounts of money when the process is stalled.
Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA)
If the targets of the Paris Agreement on climate change to reduce emissions are to be met, the fossil fuel industry will be losing money.
A study on “Revolving doors and the fossil fuels industry” presented by the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament at the Bonn Climate Talks in Bonn this week, is calling for the adoption of a strong conflict of interest policy that would avoid the disproportionate influence of the fossil fuel actors on the international climate change negotiations.
The report gathers studies of revolving doors between the fossil fuel industry and high level politicians, Ministers, regulators and advisors, and questions whether the EU and European governments’ lack appetite to deal with this issue is a result of the cosy relationships built up with the fossil fuel sector over the years.
According to Max Andersson, Swedish Greens Member of the European Parliament, the revolving door between politics and the fossil lobby is a serious cause for alarm.
“If we are to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep global warming down to as close to 1.5 degrees as possible, we need to clamp down on conflicts of interest to stop coal, gas and oil from leaving their dirty fingerprints over our climate policy,” he said.
The demand to tackle conflicts of interest within the UNFCCC has been raised by governments representing over 70% of the world’s population and civil society organisations from across the globe and is supported by the European Parliament.
However, progress has been slow, notably, because the European Commission had been siding with Canada and the USA to block discussions on conflict of interest from appearing on the UNFCCC agenda.
The Africa Group of Negotiators has stated that there needs to be restrictions on business participations in the negotiations because engagement by vested interest “threatens the integrity and legitimacy of the UNFCCC process” and the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Augustine Njamnshi, Chair of Political and Technical Affairs at the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), says there is no basis to delay climate action.
“It is in our interest to ensure that those who come here; those who come to the discussion table are there for real business to solve this climate crisis because the more we delay, the more we endanger the continent of Africa and other developing countries,” he said.
The report by the Greens/FFA Group concludes that there is a need to adopt conflicts of interest policies at the UN, EU and national levels to safeguard public interest policy-making from the disproportionate influence of vested interest, which is particularly urgent when it comes to climate negotiations.
“European governments need to support the call for a common sense conflict of interest policy so that the next COP can deliver outcome that will put the world on the road towards a climate in balance,” said Max.
Organisers of the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) taking place this September in San Francisco on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 provided new evidence of how cities, states, regions, businesses and investors are taking climate ambition to the next level. In this way, they are helping to build momentum for a successful outcome for the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland (COP24) at the end of the year.
Mahindra Group Chairman, Anand Mahindra
Specifically, 11 new commitments from Mahindra, among India’s largest business houses, push the number of major global companies with science-based targets to over 400.
The summit in San Francisco will be hosted by the Governor of California, Jerry Brown; the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action, Michael Bloomberg; the Chairman of the Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra; and the Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, Patricia Espinosa.
Speaking to delegates and journalists on the margins of the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer of the Mahindra Group, announced that business had taken an important step forwards today. In total, 13 of its companies have now committed to cut their emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goals by signing-up to a science-based target.
Welcoming this development, Summit Co-Chair and top UN Climate Change official, Patricia Espinosa, said, “At COP24 in Katowice, the world has much to accomplish to ensure that the Paris Agreement delivers the desired result, which is to keep climate change within manageable limits. Thankfully, the revolutionary progress underway in the ‘real world’ economy, which will descend on California in September, will be instrumental to helping make Poland a success.”
To date, over 700 leading businesses around the world have made strategic climate commitments through the We Mean Business coalition’s Take Action campaign. Collectively, these companies represent 2.62 gigatons of emissions, which is equivalent to the total annual emissions of India.
The announcement by the Mahindra Group responds to one of the five “Summit Challenges” being presented to sub-national governments, business and civil society worldwide in advance of the Global Climate Action Summit.
Its commitment falls under the second of the five challenges – Inclusive Economic Growth – and means that so far 400 companies have positively reacted to this particular “call to action,” which aims to sign on 500 companies by the conclusion of GCAS in September.
Anand Mahindra, Mahindra Group Chairman, said, “There is remarkable congruity between the goals of the Paris Agreement, the Indian Government, and businesses like the Mahindra Group. India, like the Agreement, is driven by a strong belief at the highest political level that pursuing environmental stability is the only way forward. As a result, India has set extremely ambitious targets in the area of renewable resources and is actually ahead of schedule in meeting some of these. In my business, we are driven by the belief that sustainability is a business opportunity as well as a way to make work meaningful for our young millennials. So, from all angles, I am delighted to accelerate the momentum created by the Paris Agreement.”
In addition to adding critical momentum to the COP24 negotiations in Poland this December – when governments of the world will meet to signal their readiness to enhance ambition – the GCAS will build momentum for a strong outcome at the Climate Summit convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2019 and to elevate climate action plans – Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs – by 2020.
Nick Nuttall, Global Climate Action Summit Communications Director, said, “2018 is the year when the world must step up climate action to bend down emissions by 2020 – and set the stage for the fast and full implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement and its crucial temperature goal. The Summit will bring businesses, states, cities, regions, territories and people from around the world together and in common cause to take climate ambition to the next level.”
The 2018 Global Climate Action Summit, hosted in San Francisco from September 12 to 14, will bring together state and local governments, business, and citizens from around the world to showcase climate action taking place, thereby demonstrating how the tide has turned in the race against climate change and inspiring deeper national commitments in support of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
To keep warming well below 2 degrees C, and ideally 1.5 degrees C – temperatures that could lead to catastrophic consequences – worldwide emissions must start trending down by 2020.
The Summit will showcase climate action around the world, along with bold new commitments, to give world leaders the confidence they can go even further by 2020.
The Summit’s five headline challenge areas are: Healthy Energy Systems; Inclusive Economic Growth; Sustainable Communities; Land Stewardship and Transformative Climate Investments.
A series of reports are set to be launched over the coming months and at the Summit underlining the contribution of states and regions, cities, businesses, investors and civil society, also known as “non-party stakeholders” to national and international efforts to address climate change.
Many partners are said to be supporting the Summit and the mobilisation in advance including Climate Group; the Global Covenant of Mayors; the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group; BSR; We Mean Business; CDP, formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project; the World Wide Fund for Nature; Mission 2020.
“The report by WHO is a warning about the serious and run-away pollution and public health emergency that confronts India today,” remarks Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), while responding to the latest urban air quality database 2016 released by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The database says that of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, the top 14 are in India.
Delhi, India. The WHO report says major sources of air pollution include inefficient modes of transport, household fuel and waste burning, coal-fired power plants, and industrial activities
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director-research and advocacy, CSE, said: “This is a grim reminder that air pollution has become a national public health crisis. Urgent intervention is needed for implementing the National Clean Air Action Plan with a strong compliance strategy to meet the clean air standards in all cities. It requires hard action.”
CSE says real-time air quality monitoring, especially that of PM2.5, will have to be expanded significantly to assess air quality in all cities with sizeable population. Out of the 5,000 odd cities and towns in India, monitoring is being done in only 307 cities – moreover, most of this is manual monitoring that reports data with considerable time lag.
Says Roychowdhury: “State governments will also have to wake up to ensure action plans are implemented with utmost stringency and aggression. India needs massive energy transition across industries and households, mobility transition to public transport, walking and cycling, and effective waste management to control this run-away pollution.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 said seven million people die every year from exposure to polluted air.
The WHO says that, in one year, 46,750 persons died as a result of outdoor pollution in Nigeria
According to a WHO report, ambient or outdoor air pollution alone caused some 4.2 million deaths in 2016, while household air pollution from cooking with polluting fuels and technologies caused an estimated 3.8 million deaths in the same period.
Those figures are on a par with the number of deaths recorded in an earlier study published two years ago.
WHO said air pollution levels remain dangerously high in many parts of the world.
New data showed that nine out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants.
According to the report, more than 90 per cent of air pollution-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, mainly in Asia and Africa, followed by low- and middle-income countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region, Europe and the Americas.
“Air pollution threatens us all, but the poorest and most marginalised people bear the brunt of the burden,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“It is unacceptable that over three billion people – most of them women and children – are still breathing deadly smoke every day from using polluting stoves and fuels in their homes.
“If we don’t take urgent action on air pollution, we will never come close to achieving sustainable development,” he said.
The WHO recognises that air pollution is a critical risk factor for non-communicable diseases, causing
an estimated one-quarter (24 per cent) of all adult deaths from heart disease, 25 per cent from strokes, 43 per cent from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 29 per cent from lung cancer.
