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Arctic warming triggers decline in sea ice, snow

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Arctic warming triggers decline in sea ice, snow

A report sponsored by American scientific agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shows that unprecedented warming air temperature in 2016 over the Arctic contributed to a record-breaking delay in the fall sea ice freeze-up, leading to extensive melting of Greenland ice sheet and land-based snow cover.

Arctic warming

Now in its 11th year, the Arctic Report Card, released recently at the annual American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco, is a peer-reviewed report that brings together the work of 61 scientists from 11 nations who report on air, ocean, land and ecosystem changes. It is a key tool used around the world to track changes in the Arctic and how those changes may affect communities, businesses and people.

“Rarely have we seen the Arctic show a clearer, stronger or more pronounced signal of persistent warming and its cascading effects on the environment than this year,” said Jeremy Mathis, director of NOAA’s Arctic Research Programme. “While the science is becoming clearer, we need to improve and extend sustained observations of the Arctic that can inform sound decisions on environmental health and food security as well as emerging opportunities for commerce.”

Major findings in this year’s report include:

  • Warmer air temperature: Average annual air temperature over land areas was the highest in the observational record, representing a 6.3 degree Fahrenheit (3.5 degree Celsius) increase since 1900. Arctic temperatures continue to increase at double the rate of the global temperature increase.
  • Record low snow cover: Spring snow cover set a record low in the North American Arctic, where the May snow cover extent fell below 1.5 million square miles (4 million square kilometers) for the first time since satellite observations began in 1967.
  • Smaller Greenland ice sheet: The Greenland ice sheet continued to lose mass in 2016, as it has since 2002 when satellite-based measurement began. The start of melting on the Greenland ice sheet was the second earliest in the 37-year record of observations, close to the record set in 2012.
  • Record low sea ice: The Arctic sea ice minimum extent from mid-October 2016 to late November 2016 was the lowest since the satellite record began in 1979 and 28 percent less than the average for 1981-2010 in October. Arctic ice is thinning, with multi-year ice now comprising 22 percent of the ice cover as compared to 78 percent for the more fragile first-year ice. By comparison, multi-year ice made up 45 percent of ice cover in 1985.
  • Above-average Arctic Ocean temperature: Sea surface temperature in August 2016 was 9 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius) above the average for 1982-2010 in the Barents and Chukchi seas and off the east and west coasts of Greenland.
  • Arctic Ocean productivity: Springtime melting and retreating sea ice allowed for more sunlight to reach the upper layers of the ocean, stimulating widespread blooms of algae and other tiny marine plants which form the base of the marine food chain, another sign of the rapid changes occurring in a warming Arctic.

This year’s report also includes scientific essays on carbon dioxide in the Arctic Ocean, on land and in the atmosphere, and changes among small mammals.

  • Ocean acidification: More than other oceanic areas, the Arctic Ocean is more vulnerable to ocean acidification, a process driven by the ocean’s uptake of increased human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Ocean acidification is expected to intensify in the Arctic, adding new stress to marine fisheries, particularly those that need calcium carbonate to build shells. This change affects Arctic communities that depend on fish for food security, livelihoods and culture.
  • Carbon cycle changing: Overall, the warming tundra is now releasing more carbon into the atmosphere than it is taking up. Twice as much organic carbon is locked in the northern permafrost as is currently in the Earth’s atmosphere. If the permafrost melts and releases that carbon, it could have profound effects on weather and climate in the Arctic and the rest of the Earth.
  • Small mammals: Recent shifts in the population of small mammals, such as shrews, may be the signs of broader consequences of environmental change.

Lagos intensifies clampdown on auxiliary nurses

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Lagos intensifies clampdown on auxiliary nurses

The Lagos State Government wants the collaboration of residents of the state in its effort to stop auxiliary nurses and other unqualified medical practitioners from operating in the state.

The Lagos government wants auxiliary nurses and other unqualified medical practitioners to stop operating in the state

Director, Family Health and Nutrition, Lagos Ministry of Health, Dr. Folashade Oludara, who made the call at a recent forum in Lagos enjoined residents to report any private institutions still making use of auxiliary nurses, whose activities she blamed for the continued high child and maternal mortality in the state.

Oludara, during a meeting of the Lagos Accountability Mechanism for Maternal and Newborn Health (LASAM), sounded it loud and clear that hospitals caught patronising the services of auxiliary nurses, including  employing or training them, would be shut as well as made to pay fine of up to N100,000.

“The practices of auxiliary nurses and quacks are already banned as a policy. And we discourage private establishments training them. I can tell you that there is no policy that legalises their practice. So anywhere you see them let the state know. Any hospital auxiliary nurses are seen are closed. In fact, if they see the hospitals, in addition, they are made to pay fine of N100,000,” said Oludara who is also the Chairperson of LASAM.

According to her, the state has been going from one local council to another to sensitise the people about the dangers of auxiliary nurses and seeking their assistance in apprehending the illegal health practitioners.

“What we have been able to do is continue to sensitise the communities. I am happy that Mamaye has decided to take over one of our sensitization programs. We are sensitising the traditional birth attendants and the Community Development Area members. These are key community members.

“We are still telling them that they should fish out all auxiliary nurses. They should give us information about where to find them in private hospitals. We started with Ikorodu. We also go through the various private hospitals and if you have any, just report.”

By Innocent Onoh

Financial disclosure is key to climate change

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Financial disclosure is key to climate change

In this treatise, Mark Carney (Canadian economist who currently serves as Governor of the Bank of England and Chairman of the G20’s Financial Stability Board) and Michael Bloomberg (American business magnate, politician, and philanthropist, whose wealth is estimated at $43.3 billion) explore wow to make a profit from defeating climate change

Mark Carney: defeating climate change can be profitable

From rising sea levels to more severe storms and more intense droughts, climate change will present serious risks to, and create major opportunities for, nearly every industry. Citizens, consumers, businesses, governments, and international organisations are all taking action. And entrepreneurs are developing disruptive technologies that will create and destroy value.

The challenge is that investors currently don’t have the information they need to respond to these developments. This must change if financial markets are going to do what they do best: allocate capital to manage risks and seize new opportunities. Without the necessary information, market adjustments to climate change will be incomplete, late and potentially destabilising.

Michael Bloomberg

Public policy, consumer demand and technological innovation are driving a shift towards a low-carbon economy. Which companies and industries are most, and least, dependent on fossil fuels? And who stands ready to provide resilient and sustainable infrastructure? Which financial institutions are best positioned to gain and which to lose? In every case, which firms have the governance, resources and the strategy to manage, and profit from, these major shifts?

We believe that financial disclosure is essential to a market-based solution to climate change. A properly functioning market will price in the risks associated with climate change and reward firms that mitigate them. As its impact becomes more commonplace and public policy responses more active, climate change has become a material risk that isn’t properly disclosed.

In response to a G20 request to consider the financial stability risks, the Financial Stability Board created a taskforce on climate-related financial disclosures. Its purpose is to develop voluntary, consistent disclosures to help investors, lenders and insurance underwriters manage material climate risks. As befits a solution by the market for the market, the taskforce is led by members of the private sector from across the G20, including major companies, large investors, global banks and insurers.

After a year of intensive work and widespread consultation its recommendations are now publicly available. They concentrate on the practical, material disclosures most relevant to investors and creditors and which can be compiled by all companies that raise capital as well as financial institutions.

We are pleased that all taskforce members, companies with market capitalisation of $1.5 trillion and financial institutions responsible for assets of $20 trillion, have announced their support for the disclosure recommendations. We encourage others to participate in the consultation, to become early adopters thereafter, and to encourage the companies in which they invest to also make the disclosures.

A year ago in Paris, 195 countries committed to limit the rise in global average temperatures to less than 2C. With better disclosure, a market in the transition to that world can be built. That market will expose the likely future cost of doing business, of paying for emissions, and of changing processes to avoid both those charges and tighter regulation. And it will help smooth price adjustments as opinions change, rather than concentrating them in a short, dangerous space of time.

Of course, given the uncertainties around climate, not everyone will agree on the timing or scale of adjustments required to achieve this goal. But the right information will allow optimists and pessimists, sceptics and evangelists, to back their convictions with their capital.

Early disclosure rules allowed 20th-century financial markets to grow our economies by pricing risks more accurately. The spread of such standards internationally has helped lift more than a billion people out of poverty. Climate-related disclosures could be as transformative for 21st-century markets.

Delivering health for all with taps and toilets in Nigeria’s clinics

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Delivering health for all with taps and toilets in Nigeria’s clinics

On Universal Health Coverage Day, we need to talk about why water, sanitation and hygiene must be included in the health conversation, writes Michael Ojo, Country Director, WaterAid Nigeria

Dr. Michael Ojo, WaterAid Nigeria’s Country Director
Dr. Michael Ojo, WaterAid Nigeria’s Country Director

In so many ways, Nigeria is a study in contrasts. An ambitious middle-income country and Africa’s largest economy, it also struggles to provide some of the most basic of services to its residents.

An estimated one third of Nigerians do not have access to clean water, and two thirds do not have safe private toilets. And one in three healthcare facilities does not have access to water, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) landscape survey.

If we are to achieve better health for everyone, everywhere, we need universal health coverage  - the ability for all to have good health, and to get the healthcare they require, without incurring financial hardship.

This also means looking at what underpins good health: their environment, the air they breathe, the food they eat, and whether they have clean, safe water to drink, a decent private toilet to relieve themselves in, and a way to keep themselves and their surroundings clean and hygienic. At the moment, we are failing on this mission.

Imagine it for a moment: a health centre with gallons of water in jerry cans lined up outside, purchased because the taps are dry. Lab technicians left to wash out samples of faeces or urine in a hospital sink using bottled water. And very ill patients or pregnant women with no choice but to use a single, fetid, overflowing squat toilet.

This is the reality for healthcare staff in many health centres around Abuja, where WaterAid documented some of the realities of their working days trying to treat patients with dignity.

Compounding the risk for patients and healthcare professionals is Nigeria’s fast-growing struggle with antimicrobial resistance. Of the 10 million deaths from antimicrobial resistant infections predicted by 2050, an estimated 4.1 million would likely be in sub-Saharan Africa, where clean water, good sanitation and rigorous hygiene practices, which are critical to preventing infections in the first place, are often lacking.

People don’t want to go to dirty clinics, so they are more likely to try to treat themselves with antibiotics without a prescription, resulting in misuse or overuse. Doctors and nurses may prescribe antibiotics as a preventative measure, standing in for the good hygiene they are unable to provide. And we have known for decades that adequate water supplies, good sanitation and rigorous hygiene practice can help prevent infection in the first place, reducing the overall need for antibiotics.

WaterAid is lobbying governments, donors and international organisations to change the situation not only in Nigeria but across the developing world. We are urging healthcare professionals to do the same, to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to clean water, decent toilets and proper hygiene  – whether they are at home, at school or in a hospital.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals commit us to ensuring everyone has access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. We want to see healthcare facilities prioritised  – no new hospitals or clinics should be built without these essential facilities.

Protecting people from disease and providing dignified, clean and safe care, is central to achieving universal health coverage in Nigeria and beyond.

On Universal Health Coverage Day, WaterAid is asking healthcare professionals to sign our global petition and to lobby their governments for safe, reliable access to water, sanitation and hygiene in all health facilities around the world.

U.S. builds first offshore wind farm

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U.S. builds first offshore wind farm

America’s first offshore wind farm has commenced commercial operations and is now sending electricity to New England’s grid, it was announced on Monday, December 12 2016.

An offshore wind farm
An offshore wind farm

The Block Island Wind Farm is located off the cost of Rhode Island and is a 30 megawatt, five turbine installation. A submarine transmission cable system is linking the energy produced by the wind farm to the grid, offshore developer Deepwater Wind said on Monday.

“Rhode Island is proud to be home to the nation’s first offshore wind farm – and I’m proud to be the only governor in America who can say we have steel in the water and blades spinning over the ocean,” Gina M. Raimondo, governor of Rhode Island, said in a news release on Monday.

“As the Ocean State, we’re motivated by our shared belief that we need to produce and consume cleaner, more sustainable energy and leave our kids a healthier planet – but also by this tremendous economic opportunity,” she added.

Over 300 local workers were involved in the development, construction and commission of the Block Island Wind Farm, Deepwater said.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, “offshore wind resources are abundant, stronger, and blow more consistently than land-based wind resources.”

While offshore wind is new to America, it is well established in Europe. According to WindEurope, the first six months of 2016 saw 114 commercial offshore wind turbines fully grid connected.

Back in the U.S., there was optimism regarding the offshore turbines now producing energy.

“This is a historic milestone for reducing our nation’s dependence on fossil fuels, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that it’s happening here in the Ocean State,” U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said.

“Congratulations to all of the many partners whose years of diligent planning and outreach have put Rhode Island at the forefront of clean energy innovation and positioned our offshore wind industry for growth.”

FAO creates new climate department

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FAO creates new climate department

Members approve new Department of Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water, plus work plan that better syncs with the SDGs

Deliberations during the FAO Council
Deliberations during the FAO Council

The 155th session of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Council that held recently in Rome, Italy has endorsed the creation of a new department focused on climate change and approving a fine-tuned strategic framework that fully aligns the organisation’s work with the 2030 Global Agenda.

Starting next year, the new Department of Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water will lead FAO’s efforts to support countries in adapting food systems to climate change and fulfilling their commitments made under the Paris Climate Treaty. It will also oversee all FAO work related to the sustainable management of land and water resources which underpin global food production.

Speaking at the council closing session, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva thanked its members for endorsing the adjustments to FAO’s working structure, “And for recognising the urgency to enable FAO to better focus on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the Paris Agreement.”

The FAO Reviewed Strategic Framework represents a light recalibration to the organisation’s work plans to reflect recent global developments – particularly the new 2030 Sustainable Development Goals that are now driving the international development agenda. It incorporates SDG metrics, indicators and targets indicators directly into FAO’s own progress monitoring framework.

The Council also approved the creation of a new office of the Chief Statistician to ensure a standardised approach to data reporting across FAO and agreed with the proposal to appoint an additional Deputy Director-General position, charged with overseeing the organisation’s  work related to technical cooperation, resource mobilisation, partnerships and South-South cooperation.

The newly approved strengthened management structure will bolster FAO’s ability to deliver technical and other assistance to countries as well as improve the quality of data used to monitor and evaluate progress.

The Council is the executive arm of FAO’s top-level governing body, the Conference of Members. Made of up 49 member nations elected for staggered three year terms, the Council convenes between sessions of the main conference to provide advice and oversight related to programmatic and budgetary matters.

Campaigners, at CBD/COP13, call for greater regulation on synthetic biology

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Campaigners, at CBD/COP13, call for greater regulation on synthetic biology

Mariann Bassey Orovwuje of the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and member of the Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) delegation at the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP13) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Cancun, Mexico, presented a statement on behalf of the Civil Society Working Group on Synthetic Biology during a plenary session, asking for more regulation on synthetic biology.

Mariann Bassey Orovwuje at the CBD/COP13 in Cancun, Mexico
Mariann Bassey Orovwuje at the CBD/COP13 in Cancun, Mexico

Mariann warned: “Gene drives have quickly emerged as an extremely high risk synthetic biology application since the last COP and should therefore be placed under a moratorium.”

This was part of a request from 168 organisations worldwide, including the FoEI, who signed a “Common call for a global moratorium on gene drives”. The signatories want the moratorium to be effective on any further technical development and experimental application of gene drives and on their environmental release.

 

Gene drives can detrimentally alter ecosystems and boost agrochemical sales

Gene drives are a form of experimental genetic engineering technology which is raising a lot of concern within civil society. It consists of passing on a specific bioengineered trait to all or most of the offspring of a species so the trait becomes dominant in wild populations of the target species over a few generations. This technology can be used to eradicate invasive animal species for conservative purposes, weed species for agricultural purposes or insects like the mosquitoes that transmit malaria for health security purposes.

The problem is that, given the current state of scientific knowledge, it is not possible to predict the ecological impacts of the environmental release of gene drives. Eradicating a single species or modify its behavior can alter ecosystems. Suppressing a weed species can lead, for example, to the loss of habitat for animal species and the establishment of invasive ones.

Gene drives are developed using a gene editing system called CRISPR-Cas9. In agriculture, its development can boost agrochemical sales because there have been proposals to render weed species susceptible to proprietary agrochemicals (just like Monsanto rendered its GMOs resistant to Roundup).

 

Synthetic Biology needs an operational definition

Mariann Bassey called on the Parties to “adopt an operational definition of synthetic biology”, as the absence of a definition has already begun to obstruct work on this topic under the CBD and its Protocols (the Protocol of Nagoya and the Protocol of Cartagena) and has been used as an argument against examining the risk assessment of synthetic biology.

According to the Civil Society Working Group on Synthetic Biology – in which are also participating EcoNexus, Ecoropa, ETC Group, Heinrich Böll Foundation, The Sustainability Council and Third World Network – synthetic biology is “the next generation of biotechnologies that attempt to engineer, redesign, re-edit and synthesise biological systems, including at the genetic level”. The definition that the CBD and the Protocols should adopt “should include techniques for genome editing and genome synthesis”, stated the Group in its document “Synthetic Biology and the CBD”.

 

Digital sequencing can lead to digital biopiracy if not regulated

The Nigerian activist pointed out the need to address the “urgent issue” of digital sequences and biopiracy at the CBD level and the Nagoya Protocol level. “Rapid advances in sequencing and synthesising DNA mean that digital biopiracy is now possible, circumventing the rules on access and benefit sharing (ABS)” set up by the Nagoya Protocol, warned the Civil Society Working Group on Synthetic Biology in its document titled: “Synthetic Biology and the CBD”.

By ABS, the Nagoya Protocol means the sharing of the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and states that it must be done in a fair and equitable way.

The risk with genetic resources (DNA sequencing, for example), is that they can be transferred digitally and synthesised into living matter without physical exchange of biological material, “which poses major challenges to the many ABS systems that assume and utilise material transfer agreements,” wrote the Group. “It is important for the CBD to take a leading role in determining how to ensure that digital sequence information and gene editing are not used to amplify biopiracy and undermine ABS regimes.”

 

A need to address the Socio-Economic and Ecological impacts of Synthetic Biology

“The Convention requires an ongoing process to address the impacts of synthetic biology on sustainable use of biodiversity – especially the socioeconomic and indirect impacts”, said Mariann Bassey during the plenary. For example, some natural products are being produced with synthetic biology techniques by the synthetic biology industry instead of by farmers, and more synthetic biology products are in development – there is a huge risk that farmers lose their livelihoods.

Mariann Bassey also called on the Parties to address the issue of synthetic biology under the focus of biosafety, at the level of the Cartagena Protocol, where she said they should establish a process for the development of guidance on the basis of the outline on “Risk Assessment under the Cartagena Protocol” developed by the AHTEG. It is urgent given that synthetic biology is likely to lead to the development of organisms that will differ fundamentally from naturally occurring ones.

American voters support action on climate change

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American voters support action on climate change

Against the backdrop of the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and a new Republican Congress, a recent  national survey conducted shortly after the election by the Centre for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, finds that, across party lines, 69% of registered voters say the U.S. should participate in the international agreement to limit global warming, compared to only 13% who say the U.S. should not.

US president-elect, Donald Trump. The report includes insights about what kinds of climate change and energy policies American voters support and oppose
US president-elect, Donald Trump. The report includes insights about what kinds of climate change and energy policies American voters support and oppose

Likewise, 70% of registered voters support setting strict carbon dioxide emission limits on existing coal-fired power plants to reduce global warming and improve public health, even if the cost of electricity to consumers and companies increased – a core component of the EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency) Clean Power Plan. Democrats (85%), Independents (62%) and Republicans (52%) all support setting strict limits on these emissions.

Other key findings include:

  • As strategies, 78% of registered voters support taxing global warming pollution, regulating it, or using both approaches. Only 10% oppose these approaches.
  • If Congress passes a fossil fuel tax, the most popular uses of the revenue are developing clean energy (81% of registered voters support), improving America’s infrastructure (79%), assisting workers in the coal industry, who may lose their jobs as a result of the tax (73%), and paying down the national debt (67%).
  • Half of registered voters (51%) think government policies intended to transition away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy will improve economic growth and provide new jobs. An additional 21% think it will have no impact on the economy or jobs. Only 27% think it will reduce economic growth and cost jobs.
  • Across party lines, a large majority of registered voters (83%) support generating more renewable energy on public land in the U.S. Comparatively less support more drilling or mining of fossil fuels on public land (47%).
  • Registered voters support a major investment in the nation’s infrastructure (69%) including majorities of Democrats (75%), Independents (58%), and Republicans (67%).
  • If Congress were to invest in the nation’s infrastructure, registered voters’ highest priorities are modernising and improving the nation’s roads, bridges, and highways, followed by water supply systems, and the electricity grid.

During the campaign, Donald Trump promised a major investment in the nation’s infrastructure. Across party lines, registered voters strongly support this proposal. Interestingly, they are also willing to support a carbon tax to fund these investments.

The report includes several more insights about what kinds of climate change and energy policies American voters support and oppose, broken down by political party and ideology.

Publication highlights indigenous peoples’ biodiversity positions

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Publication highlights indigenous peoples’ biodiversity positions

Representatives from indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) have come together to launch the publication titled “Local Biodiversity Outlooks, Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ Contributions to the Implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, a complement to Global Biodiversity Outlooks.”

Publication
Florina Lopez, coordinator of the Indigenous Women’s Biodiversity Network from Latin American and the Caribbean

The publication is based on case studies from indigenous peoples living in countries as geographically diverse as Australia, Panama and Russia. It shares success stories and challenges faced by IPLCs in relation to biodiversity, conservation and sustainable use and development.

Florina Lopez, coordinator of the Indigenous Women’s Biodiversity Network from Latin American and the Caribbean, said: “This publication is an important window through which indigenous women can illustrate their own knowledge, experiences and initiatives that contribute to the objectives of the convention.”

Another contributor, Kamal Kumar Rai, from the Kirant tribe of Nepal, said: “For years when we went to get leaves, timber or grasses from the forest, we would always see the red panda. They were so peaceful, it made us happy to see them. They became a sign of good luck to us. Red pandas are endangered in the world, but in my community, the number of red pandas is increasing, and that’s because we protect their habitat.

“The role of indigenous peoples and local communities in protecting endangered and threatened species is something more people should know about; it is important that people respect our contribution to protecting this species. Sharing these examples is why this publication is so essential.”

Chrissy Grant, member of the Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation in Australia, said: “A publication like this is useful because it helps expose the issues communities are facing in managing, conserving and protecting local biodiversity. If more people know about these issues, then they understand more about what we do and why. It’s also important for us to make decision-makers aware of the extent of the issues that communities are facing so these are taken into account in local, national and international policies and laws.”

The publication was a collaboration between the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) and the Forest Peoples Programme, with support by the Secretariat of the Convention.

Ramiro Batzin, IIFB global coordinator and executive director of SOTZ’IL, said: “The publication is a vehicle for safekeeping the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities for future generations.”

Joji Carino, coordinator of the IIFB working group on indicators and senior policy advisor at Forest Peoples Programme, said: “Indigenous peoples have first-hand knowledge about the state of biodiversity on the ground: as users and managers or as actors against threats from land use conversion. Local Biodiversity Outlooks collects reports from the biodiversity frontlines and is a necessary complement to national and global data and reporting.”

Maurizio Farhan Ferrari, environmental governance coordinator at Forest Peoples Programme, said: “There are many case studies within Local Biodiversity Outlooks illustrating the vital contributions of indigenous peoples and local communities to local and global biodiversity. This is just a small sample of the many and diverse ways in which indigenous people and local communities sustainably use and protect their lands and resources; recognizing and supporting their actions is one of the most effective ways to safeguard the future of the world’s biodiversity.”

Its key findings include:

  • Collective actions of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are advancing the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and all 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
  • IPLCs’ lands hold much of the world’s biodiversity; supporting their actions can be one of the most effective ways to secure biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
  • Biological and cultural diversity together increase resilience to social, environmental and climate changes.
  • Policy commitments on traditional knowledge and customary sustainable use must be translated into programmes and projects in partnerships with IPLCs.
  • Recognising customary land tenure and traditional occupations, and protecting human rights secure social well-being, and ecosystem and climate benefits.
  • Community-based mapping and monitoring complements wider data and reporting systems and promotes accountability for social, biodiversity, development and climate commitments.

Guterres sworn in as UN scribe amid Mohammed uncertainty

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Guterres sworn in as UN scribe amid Mohammed uncertainty

Antonio Guterres was on Monday, December 12 2016 sworn in as the ninth and next UN Secretary-General, but there are uncertainties concerning his deputy.

Antonio Guterres addresses the UN after the oath-taking ceremony
Antonio Guterres addresses the UN after the oath-taking ceremony

There have of recent been unconfirmed media reports that Amina Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, has been appointed as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In fact, social and traditional media outfits had reported widely that Mrs Mohammed is set to be appointed UN Deputy Secretary-General.

A tweet by Pamela Falk, CBS news reporter for the United Nations, obtained by NAN, said that the world body would soon release a statement confirming the appointment of the Nigerian Minister of Environment.

She is expected to be deputy to Antonio Guterres, who will assume office as UN Secretary-General on Jan. 1, 2017.

Mohammed was appointed Minister of Environment by President Muhammadu Buhari in Nov. 2015.

Environment Minister, Amina Mohammed, briefing the press in Abuja recently
Environment Minister, Amina Mohammed, briefing the press in Abuja recently

But, in a tweet on Sunday in Abuja, Malam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, assured that Nigerians would be fully informed on any development concerning the matter.

He said: “There is a lot of exuberance on the net concerning a UN job for Mrs Amina Mohammed. She remains our Minister of Environment.

“If there is anything on this that is released officially, we will let Nigerians know. I am pleased to know that she enjoys so much goodwill.”

Mohammed was recently appointed by President Buhari to serve in the African Union (AU) Reform Steering Committee as Nigeria’s Representative.

Mohammed, who hails from Gombe State in North-East, had formerly served as adviser to the outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Guterres on Monday pledged to carry out a far-reaching reform of the global organisation to make it effective and efficient in its response to global challenges. Guterres, in his remarks after taking the oath of office, said he would reposition development at the centre of the UN’s work and ensure that the UN can change to effectively meet the myriad challenges facing the international community.

“The United Nations needs to be nimble, efficient and effective. It must focus more on delivery and less on process; more on people and less on bureaucracy.

“The United Nations was born from war. Today, we must be here for peace,” Guterres said after taking the oath of office at a ceremony before the 193-member UN General Assembly.

The incoming UN secretary-general noted that addressing root causes, cutting across all three pillars of the UN – peace and security, sustainable development and human rights – must be a priority for the organisation.

Guterres, a former Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and former UN High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015, would replace Ban Ki-moon from Jan. 1, 2017.

Ban will step down on Dec. 31, 2016 after leading the global organisation for the past 10 years. The incoming scribe was formally appointed by the General Assembly on Oct. 13, 2016 in what was the culmination of a historic process, which member States set in motion late last year.

The selection of a new UN Secretary-General, traditionally decided behind closed-doors by a few powerful countries, for the first time in history, involved public discussions with each candidate vying for the leadership position.

Monday’s ceremony opened with the General Assembly paying tribute to the outgoing secretary-general for his contribution to the work of the UN since Jan. 1, 2006.

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