Kenya’s Court of Appeal in Nairobi on Friday, February 17 2017 upheld the country’s 2014 Tobacco Control Regulations, affirming a lower court’s findings and rejecting legal challenges to the regulations from British American Tobacco (BAT) Kenya.
Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. He congratulated the Government of Kenya for its resolve in standing up to Big Tobacco
Activists have described the court’s decision as a resounding victory for public health and one that allows the government to move forward with implementing a law that they feel will help protect Kenyans from the consequences of tobacco use.
As a party to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Kenya is legally obligated to implement evidence-based measures to reduce tobacco use.
Included in Kenya’s Tobacco Control Regulations are requirements for picture-based health warnings and strengthened protections against secondhand smoke. The regulations also require tobacco companies to pay an annual fee into a designated tobacco control fund to assist the government in paying for the harmful health effects of tobacco use for Kenyans.
Friday’s ruling, said Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, sends a strong message that BAT’s legal claims were without merit and that tobacco industry interference in laws to improve public health will not be tolerated.
According to him, the ruling also has implications for other African countries where tobacco companies are interfering in efforts to pass and implement proven tobacco control policies.
In Uganda, for example, BAT has also filed a legal challenge against a tobacco control law aimed at preventing and reducing tobacco use.
His words: “Kenya’s Court of Appeal ruling is yet another blow for BAT, a company currently under investigation in Kenya for the alleged bribery of government officials. A 2015 investigative report broadcast by the BBC disclosed extensive evidence, supported by previously secret documents, that BAT paid illegal bribes to influence members of parliament, gain advantage over competitors and undermine tobacco control policies in multiple African countries.
“We congratulate the Government of Kenya for its resolve in standing up to Big Tobacco. Today’s decision sends an unequivocal message that African governments can and should move ahead with efforts to reduce tobacco use even in the face of legal challenges from tobacco companies. Around the world, the largest multinational tobacco companies are increasingly losing legal battles to block and delay tobacco control measures.”
According to scientists, tobacco use is the world’s leading cause of preventable death.
“Without urgent action, tobacco use will claim one billion lives this century,” warned Myers.
Cameroon has committed to restoring over 12 million hectares of deforested and degraded land by 2030 as part of the Bonn Challenge initiative. The pledge is said to be the biggest made so far in the species-rich Congo Basin, home to the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest.
Minister of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development of Cameroon, Pierre Hele
The Bonn Challenge, launched in 2011 at an event hosted by Germany and IUCN, is a global effort to restore 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. With Cameroon’s commitment, the Challenge has reached over 148 million hectares pledged in total.
“Cameroon is delighted to join this ambitious movement,” says Cameroon’s Minister of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development, Pierre Hele. “By restoring our unproductive landscapes, we will help local communities develop sustainably, increase their resilience to climate change and contribute to climate change mitigation.”
Deforestation and land degradation are among the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions globally, and the Bonn Challenge pledge brings Cameroon closer to its national goal of cutting carbon emissions by 32% by 2035 – part of the country’s Paris Agreement commitment as announced by President Paul Biya at the COP21 in Paris.
“Forty-six per cent of Cameroon is covered in forests that are highly regarded for their biodiversity,”says Cameroon’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Philip Ngole Ngwese. “In recent years, we have seen an upward trend in deforestation and degradation. Restoring these valuable ecosystems will help us protect our natural heritage and contribute to our carbon reduction targets.”
Cameroon’s pledge comes in the wake of the Kigali Declaration, an initiative which reaffirmed the commitment of 13 African countries to the Bonn Challenge. The declaration was formalised at a high-level ministerial meeting organised by IUCN, the Government of Rwanda and the Secretariat of the East African Community in July 2016, and further endorsed by the Commission of Central African Forests (COMIFAC), including Cameroon, in November 2016.
“Cameroon’s pledge to the Bonn Challenge will help create sustainable livelihoods for forest-dependent communities, protect Cameroon’s unique wildlife, cut carbon emissions, and advance the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,” says IUCN Director General, Inger Andersen. “The momentum we have seen for forest restoration in Africa has surpassed all our expectations and we look forward to working with Cameroon and other countries in the region to make their pledges a reality.”
Restoring forests drives progress towards a number of SDGs, including ‘life on land’, ‘climate action’ and ‘zero hunger’ among other goals. For example, restoring 150 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 could help feed 200 million people. Healthy ecosystems also make food systems more resilient to climate change, extreme weather, flooding and other disasters.
The pledge will also contribute to the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), which aims to bring 100 million hectares of deforested and degraded land under restoration by 2030 as a contribution to the Bonn Challenge, the African Resilient Landscapes Initiative, and other related targets. With this commitment, Cameroon joins 18 other African countries that have pledged to the Bonn Challenge and AFR100.
“We applaud the Government of Cameroon for this exciting commitment. Indeed, political will for restoration has never been stronger. Restoration is widely understood as a key strategy to meet climate change, desertification, biodiversity and sustainable development goals in Africa and to secure vital food, water, and energy resources,” says Mamadou Diakhite, Team Leader for Sustainable Land and Water Management, AFR100 Secretariat.
Achieving the 350 million hectare Bonn Challenge goal could generate $170 billion per year in net benefits from watershed protection, improved crop yields and forest products, and could sequester up to 1.7 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent annually, equal to over 350 million passenger cars driven for one year.
Nigeria has set March 2017 as its target date to ratify the Minamata Convention on Mercury, just as it forges a partnership with major stakeholders in the run-in to the much-expected endorsement.
L-R: Dr. Chuma Ezedinma, UNIDO Regional Office, Abuja; Mr. Oluyomi Banjo, UNIDO Environment Expert; and Dr. Idris Adamu Goji, Deputy Director, Pollution Control and Environmental Health Department, Federal Ministry of Environment, during the awareness-raising workshop for the media and NGOs on the Minamata Convention on Mercury at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos. Photo credit: Innocent Anoruo
Dr. Chuma Ezedinma, who is of United Nations Development Organisation (UNIDO) Regional Office in Abuja, made the disclosure on Tuesday, February 14 2017 in Lagos during a day-long forum designed to kickstart the ratification process and raise awareness on the Convention. It was themed: “Workshop the Minamate Convention on Mercury: Minamata Convention Initial Assessment (MIA) Project.”
The objective of the MIA project is to assist Nigeria in completing pre-qualification activities under the Convention in order to enable strategic decision-making and to prioritise areas for future interventions on mercury related issues.
“Nigeria is expected to ratify the Convention before September, and we are looking at sometime in March, when some things would have been put in place,” Dr Ezedinma said.
Nigeria is one of the 128 signatories to the global treaty (the nation became a signatory on October 10, 2013), but she is yet to ratify it. Ratification by Nigeria automatically makes her a Party to the Convention with the duty to domesticate its content.
A minimum of 50 nations are required to ratify the Minamata Convention to make it legally binding. So far, 38 nations have ratified, implying that the First Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the Minamata Convention on Mercury scheduled to take place in September 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland, is dependent on the emergence of 12 more ratifications on or before September.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury, a global treaty aimed at protecting human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury, was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday, January 19 2013.
The Lagos awareness-raising forum, aimed at cementing partnership with civil society and the media, held at the instance of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Federal Ministry of Environment (FMENV).
Welcoming the participants to the workshop, Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, expressed delight that professionals from different media and NGOs were able to honour the event, despite their busy schedules.
“This is a clear demonstration of your commitment to the sustainable development of our country and protection of human health and the environment from undue exposure to and contamination by mercury and its compounds,” she said.
The minister, who was represented by Dr. Idris Adamu Goji, Deputy Director, Pollution Control and Environmental Health Department in the ministry, expressed gratitude to the international agencies whose financial and technical support to Nigeria to implement the MIA Project made the gathering possible.
She also appreciated presence of the media and NGOs. “This is a clear demonstration of your commitment to the sustainable development of our country and protection of human health and the environment from undue exposure to and contamination by mercury and its compounds,” she said.
Mercury, she noted, is naturally occurring and highly toxic to human health and the environment.
Her words: “Human activities in recent times have increased the level of mercury in the environment, and human exposure to this increased concentration cause kidney, heart and respiratory problems, tremors, skin rashes, vision and hearing problems, headaches, weakness, memory problems, and emotional changes.
“Mercury poisoning and effects in the environment have, over the years, been recognised to be of global concern as a result of its nature and behaviour in the environment, including its ability for long-range transport in the atmosphere, persistence in the environment, and more importantly its ability to bio-accumulate in the ecosystem, leading to significant adverse effect on both human health and the environment.”
She stressed the importance of the role of the media and NGOs in the actualisation of the objective of the Convention.
Minamata Convention
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. It was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on mercury in Geneva, Switzerland on Saturday, January 19, 2013 and adopted later that year on October 10 at a Diplomatic Conference (Conference of Plenipotentiaries) in Kumamoto, Japan.
It draws attention to a global and ubiquitous metal that, while naturally occurring, has broad uses in everyday objects and is released to the atmosphere, soil and water from a variety of sources. Controlling the anthropogenic releases of mercury throughout its lifecycle has been a key factor in shaping the obligations under the Convention.
Major highlights of the Convention include a ban on new mercury mines, the phase out of existing ones, the phase out and phase down of mercury use in a number of products and processes, control measures on emissions to air and on releases to land and water, and the regulation of the informal sector of artisanal and small-scale gold mining. It also addresses interim storage of mercury and its disposal once it becomes waste, sites contaminated by mercury as well as health issues.
The Convention will enter into force once 50 countries have ratified it. As at the last count, 128 countries have signed the Convention, while 38 that include 16 African countries have ratified it. Nigeria is expected to ratify it before September 2017. With a target enforcement date of year 2020, the Convention aims to promote the use of alternatives and Best Available Techniques (BAT) and Best Environmental Practices (BEP) across a wide range of products, processes and industries where mercury is used, released or emitted.
Emission has to do with vertical pollution (into the air), while release is horizontal pollution (into the soil and waters).
Dr. Ezedinma stated that the role of the media and NGOs cannot be over-emphasised, “as the success of the Minamata Convention in Nigeria greatly rests on your shoulders. You must get educated and rightly communicate to the populace the Convention as it also deals with our health and the environment. You are the mouthpiece of the society and you are closer to the people, which is why you must also be interested in protecting them.”
Noting that UNIDO’s activities in Nigeria include: advancing economic prosperity, creating shared responsibility and safeguarding the environment, he reaffirmed UNIDO’s commitment towards working closely with the FMENV to implement its mandate.
Mercury
Mercury is a chemical element with symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum. A heavy, silvery d-block element, mercury is a metallic element that is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure. It occurs in deposits throughout the world mostly as cinnabar (mercuric sulphide). The red pigment vermilion is obtained by grinding natural cinnabar or synthetic mercuric sulphide.
It is used in thermometers, barometers, manometers, sphygmomanometers, float valves, mercury switches, mercury relays, fluorescent lamps and other devices. Concerns about mercury’s toxicity have led to mercury thermometers and sphygs being largely phased out in clinical environments in favour of alternatives such as alcohol- or galinstan-filled glass thermometers and thermistor- or infrared-based electronic instruments.
Issues
Like other international treaties, the Minamata Convention is prone to challenges. Hence, Ezedinma stressed that ratification does not necessarily mean domestication.
And as activities like artisanal gold mining are businesses who promoters would do everything to protect, including bribing journalists, journalists were told to choose between integrity and the easy way out (taking gratification to kill stories).
However, UNITAR and other relevant agencies were urged to encourage unbiased reporting by putting up fellowships for journalists.
According to Oluyomi Banjo, an environment expert with UNIDO, Nigeria has one of the best Minamata desks in the world.
He urged the media and NGOs to develop communication strategy to reach the communities in the simplest forms.
Before the forum came to a close, the participants mapped out strategies to reach the target audience.
The Zambia and Malawi have launched a K15 million project for the construction of the water and sanitation schemes for border posts of Chanida, Mwami and Mchinji.
Eastern Province Acting Permanent Secretary Patrick Mwanawasa and Malawian Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Erica Maganga during the K15 million project launch for the construction of the water and sanitation schemes for border posts of Chanida, Mwami and Mchinji at Mwami Border in Chipata. Photo credit: Julius Phiri
The project is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), Climate Resilient Infrastructure Development Facility (CRIDF) on three border areas of which two are on the Zambian side while one was on the Malawian side.
The Zambia’s Eastern Province Minister, Makebi Zulu, during the launch of water and sanitation schemes held in January at Mwami Border in Chipata District of Eastern Zambia described the availability of water and good sanitation today as human rights.
The minister said through acting Permanent Secretary, Patrick Mwanawasa, that his government would endeavour to provide the services through commercial utilities like Eastern Water and Sewerage Company (EWSC).
He said the company, together with Central Regional Water Board through CRIDF and the British Government, have worked on the commencement works of the water reticulations at the border towns.
Mr Zulu said the project involves the construction of a water supply system and an ablution block in Mwami and Mchinji as well as the rehabilitation of the existing ablution block at Chanida border.
“This project is targeting the border areas taking into consideration the travelling public and also the residents. Over 6,000 travellers and 1,500 households are expected to benefit from this project,” he said.
He said the water reticulation for the three border areas would promote good health and bring dignity to the residents and travelling public.
With the present situation in the three border areas, the minister said residents and travelling public especially truck drivers who were marooned for days at the borders would get good drinking water and sanitary services.
Mr Zulu said he was aware that lack of good sanitation obstructs the right to life and health.
He commended the chiefs for giving permission to EWSC and CRWB to put up the facilities in the border areas.
He appealed to the travelling public and the residents to protect the facilities which would contribute to good sanitation and lead to a reduction of water borne disease in the three border areas.
Speaking earlier, Malawian Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Erica Maganga, said the scope of the project on the Malawian side shall include drilling and equipping of three boreholes, laying of transmission and distribution pipeline network and construction of a water tank, an ablution block and two communal water points.
Mrs Maganga said this would serve cross-border travellers, the local community as well as the general public at the border town with sanitary and health facilities.
“Individuals that can afford individual household water connections shall also be served. It is believed that, with the installation of the water supply system here, this border town will quickly transform because other investors are likely come in with different services,” she said.
Mrs Maganga said development of such social amenities in towns and market centres was integral to socio-economic development of the concerned towns.
She paid sincere appreciation to all the people and institutions that stretched played various roles towards realisation of the project.
EWSC Managing Director, Lytone Kanowa, said he was happy that the project was taking off.
African Brothers Limited, a Chinese contractor, is engaged to carry out the project for 112 days.
Shelter Afrique, the Pan-African housing financier dealing exclusively with the promotion of affordable housing, has received approval for a $28.2 million injection from the African Development Bank (AfDB). This capital injection follows on from the $8.2 million equity investment by AfDB and the commitment made by the bank at the recently concluded extraordinary general meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya last month.
Acting Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, Femi Adewole
Speaking on the development, Gabriel Negatu, Director General at AfDB’s East Africa Regional Office, noted: “These new resources show that the African Development Bank is fully committed to the growth and development of Shelter Afrique, which plays a vital and unique role in the development of affordable housing across Africa. Affordable housing is a key issue at the heart of the High Five Priorities for our bank, namely ‘Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.’
“At the same time, the African Development Bank takes issues of governance seriously. With the strong measures taken by Shelter Afrique to improve its governance and the support of its shareholders, the company can move to the next stage of its development.”
Adding to that, Acting Managing Director of Shelter Afrique, Femi Adewole, noted: “We made a very firm commitment to our shareholders and investors to improve our internal processes at the EGM, and they in turn made an equally firm commitment to support us in our mission of delivering affordable housing. The additional financing from the AfDB shows the confidence investors and shareholders have in that mission and our efforts to improve our processes, we have also received letters of intent from some of our major shareholders like Nigeria and Kenya and I believe that, very soon, you will be hearing of more of these kinds of developments.”
Speaking on the recent negative downgrade of Shelter Afrique’s rating by GCR, Adewole remarked: “It is certainly not an ideal situation and one that we are working assiduously to reverse so we can restore market confidence. But we also see it as a turning point, a call to action if you will, and we have no doubt that in the short-medium term we would have addressed all the concerns raised and we are confident that the next outlook will be positive.”
Shelter Afrique will be making its case of improved governance and processes to shareholders again at the 36th Annual General Meeting in Zimbabwe in June, 2017.
The Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Bogor Agricultural Institute (Institut Pertanian Bogor or IPB) have extended their scientific and technical cooperation for another five years. CIFOR and IPB’s partnership, which started in 1997, contributes to science and development in Indonesia. The new agreement extends the existing bilateral agreement between both institutions through November 2021.
Director-General of CIFOR, Peter Holmgren
The ongoing collaboration between CIFOR and IPB will equip Indonesia with new knowledge on forests and science.
Existing areas of cooperation include the exchange of professors and scholars as well as conducting joint research projects. In particular, both institutions have shared knowledge and best practices related to landscapes and the link between forest management and the Sustainable Development Goals.
To recognise the renewal of this partnership, CIFOR’s Director General, Dr. Peter Holmgren, and IPB’s Rector, Dr. Herry Suhardiyanto, signed a memorandum of understanding at a formal ceremony held at IPB’s Darmaga Campus in Bogor, Indonesia, on February 17, 2017.
“This is a key partnership for CIFOR, not only in Indonesia, but also globally, as our joint research with IPB helps us understand the fundamental importance of sustainable landscapes for people and the environment – and for overall sustainable development,” expressed CIFOR’s Director General Peter Holmgren. According to IPB’s Rector, Dr. Herry Suhardiyanto, “there is a clear need to undertake collaborative research engaging Indonesian and international researchers on aspects related to the interface between science and policy.” Dr. Suhardiyanto expressed that “joint activities of CIFOR and IPB will provide excellent knowledge and effective policies to support recent national development priorities such as peatland restoration, social forestry, renewable energy and rural development.”
Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Patricia Espinosa, on Thursday, February 16 2017 in Bonn, Germany thanked a group of nearly 20 countries for their leadership in fully paying their 2017 contributions – in line with the agreed financial policy – that support the important work of the UN climate body.
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
The contributions are crucial for enabling the organisation support the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement at speed and scale while assisting to catalyse ever higher climate action by all relevant stakeholders, including regions, territories, cities, businesses, investors and citizens.
Ms. Espinosa said: “I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to these Parties for their leadership by contributing in full by January 1, 2017 and look forward to more coming forward in the coming weeks and months. If this UN entity is to rise to the challenges and opportunities identified by governments, sufficient funding delivered in a timely and predictable manner, is vital for the planning and delivery of these mandates and initiatives.”
“The impacts of climate change are accelerating around the world, and it is essential that the response of the international community also accelerates. The Paris Agreement has entered in force and additional ratifications are happening every month. With the timely contributions of countries, we can fulfill our responsibilities to Parties and increase momentum for climate action in order to meet the transformational aims and goals of the Agreement,” she added.
The assessed funding by Parties underpins the day-to-day operations of the UNFCCC as it also takes forward planning for the annual May meetings and the UN Climate Conference in Bonn (COP23) in November 2017.
Countries that have fully paid their 2017 contribution by 1st of January 2017 are listed to include: Albania, Australia, Canada, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Eritrea, Finland, Guyana, Kazakhstan, and Mauritius.
Others are: Netherlands, New Zealand, Palau, Poland, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Slovakia, and Vanuatu.
The Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI) has been listed among the United Nation’s several exemplary actions that support the UN Sustainable Goals and the G20 programme.
The metaphoric Great Green Wall will provide sustainable alternatives for millions of young people considering migrating from poverty-stricken areas in Africa’s Sahel region. Photo credit: theodysseyonline.com
This is coming even as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Bonn, Germany on Thursday, February 16 2017 to engage with G20 foreign affairs ministers on the issues of Africa and sustainability. It is the new UN chief’s first visit to Bonn since taking office this year.
The foreign affairs ministers are preparing for the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit that will take place in Hamburg, Germany, in July this year. The focus is on achieving the 2030 Agenda and on greater cooperation with Africa with the aim of maintaining peace, eliminating extreme poverty and achieving sustainable development while addressing the environmental and climate change challenges at the heart of the 2030 Agenda.
The mandate of the United Nations in Bonn (UN Bonn) “Shaping a sustainable future” is said to focus on policies and actions to address these challenges.
One of such is the GGWSSI, an African-led initiative to create a new “World Wonder” of greenery that runs 8,000 km long and 15 km wide from east to west Africa along the Sahel, with a view to improve land productivity and vitality, as well as “growing solutions” for livelihoods.
The UN describes the Great Green Wall initiative as a powerful vehicle that brings 13 countries together to create local jobs and economic opportunities to safeguard the livelihoods of the local people in the long term and sequester carbon for global environmental resilience.
These countries are: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan.
The GGWSSI is being implemented by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Another major UN Bonn action borders on advancing the Paris Agreement, which entered into force last year and has set the world on a path towards low carbon development and greater resilience to climate change.
The secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is preparing to host the next major UN climate change conference (COP23) in Bonn in November 2017, and will take place under the Presidency of Fiji.
The global forum will advance the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Part of the work of the UNFCCC secretariat is to showcase inspiring examples of climate action, including under its “Momentum for Change” initiative.
Other actions include:
Online Volunteering
Every year about 7,000 UN Volunteers (UNV) on site and about 12,000 UN Online Volunteers help impact positively around 5.7 million beneficiaries. Get involved via UN online volunteering allows organisations and volunteers to team up to address sustainable development challenges – anywhere in the world, from any device.
Global Festival of Ideas for Sustainable Development
Leading thinkers, policy-makers, business leaders and civil society activists will in March 2017 gather in Germany for the first ever Global Festival of Ideas for Sustainable Development, to chart new thinking and generate actions towards the world’s biggest development challenges at the World Conference Centre in Bonn.
Assessment on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production
Among the findings of this first IPBES thematic assessment – the result of two years of intensive work by 77 experts from around the world – was that up to $577 billion of annual global food production relies directly on pollinators, but that 16% of vertebrate pollinators are threatened with extinction. With key messages and a range of suggested policy actions to safeguard pollinators, the Assessment speaks very directly to the priorities of the G20 Working Group on Agriculture and the T20 Taskforce on Ending Hunger and Sustainable Agriculture. Among the next IPBES assessments already underway is one on land degradation and restoration – which will also align very closely with G20 and T20 policy priorities.
United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security
The mission of the Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) is to carry out cutting edge research on risks and adaptation related to environmental hazards and global change. Its experts have recently concluded the largest national household survey into climate change and migration in the Pacific, with the newly-published results providing a valuable insight into the themes of resilience and adaptation.
Groundbreaking research also analyses the interplay between environmental and societal factors in the Mekong Delta, Nepal and Bangladesh. Additionally, through the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative, UNU-EHS experts contribute to the G7 Initiative on Climate Risk Insurance.
Leading through Learning
The UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development was established to respond to the comprehensive learning, training, and knowledge management needs of UN staff and external partners in the context of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement. To this end, the Knowledge Centre supports the policy and operational work of the UN through the development of learning tools, platforms for interaction and a mature set of learning offerings for UN staff.
European Environment and Health Process
The European Environment and Health Process, driven by the World Health Organisation (WHO), sits within the context of system-wide strategic planning, implementation and reporting of the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, to ensure coherent and integrated support for implementation across countries, sectors and United Nations fora.
The platform focuses on Sustainable Development target 3.9 and on another 16 Sustainable Development Goals that have the greatest potential to protect and improve health and well-being under pressure from global environmental change, including climate change; demographic changes such as longevity, migration and urbanisation; and emerging global economic and technological developments.
The UN Bonn is made up of 18 organisations covering a broad UN mandate that includes climate change, land degradation, volunteerism, biodiversity and ecosystem services, wildlife conservation, health, human security, disaster risk reduction, tourism, as well as education and training and satellite-based information systems.
The organisations support governments and peoples to find answers and ways to achieve a sustainable future by promoting the sustainable use of natural resources and their conservation for future generations, and the global fight against poverty.
The world dumps the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute, the United Nations heard on Wednesday, February 15 2017 at the start of a two-day meeting to prepare for this June’s Ocean Conference that will aim to help safeguard the planet’s oceans and help them recover from human-induced problems.
Healthy oceans have a central role to play in solving one of the biggest problems of the 21st century – how to feed nine billion people by 2050. Photo news: FAO
“When leaders from across Governments, international organisations, civil society, the private sector, and the scientific and academic communities, gather together in New York, from 5-9 June for The Ocean Conference, we will be witness to a turning point,” the President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson, told the participants, who also included the Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and the Minister for Fisheries of Fiji, the countries co-hosting the conference.
“We will witness the point in history when humanity truly began the process of reversing the cycle of decline that accumulated human activity has brought upon the Ocean,” Mr. Thomson added.
The high-level Oceans Conference aims to get everyone involved in conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Goal 14.
The UN has called for voluntary commitments to implement Goal 14 and on Wednesday launched an online commitment registry which has its first three commitments – the Swedish Government, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and Peaceboat, a non-governmental organisation. The site will be up through the end of the Conference, which starts on World Environment Day, marked annually on 5 June, and includes 8 June, celebrated as World Oceans Day.
The voluntary commitments “underscore the urgency for action and for solutions,” said Under-Secretary-General Wu Hongbo, who heads the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs and serves as the Secretary-General of the Conference.
Addressing participants today, Mr. Wu said preparations for the Conference are “on track.”
“The health of our oceans and seas, and the future wellbeing of our planet and our society, demand no less,” he said.
In addition to pollution, The Oceans Conference and SDG 14 address overfishing, as well as acidification and increasing global water temperatures linked to climate change.
Discussing the problems ahead of today’s preparatory meeting, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, Isabella Lovin said in a video log on Twitter that the Conference could be a “chance of a lifetime” to save the oceans under enormous stress.
“We don’t need to invent or negotiate something new, we just need to have action to implement what we already agreed upon,” she said in reference to the expected ‘Call to Action’ that will result from the Conference in connection with stopping illegal fishing, stopping marine pollution and addressing the special circumstances of small island developing States.
Representing one of the many small island nations struggling with these issues, the Minister for Fisheries of Fiji, Semi Koroilavesau, urged Conference participants to make voluntary contributions, saying the oceans are of “utmost importance” to his country.
Solar developers installed a record 14.6 gigawatts in the U.S. last year; almost double the total from 2015 and enough to make photovoltaic panels the largest source of new electric capacity for the first time.
Renewable energy: A Solar Energy System at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Photo credit: UNIFIL
Solar energy information, Solar water heater, Alternative energy sources. Solar panels on rooftops and fields accounted for 39 percent of new generation last year, according to a report released on Wednesday, February 15 2017 from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association. That beat the 29 percent contribution from natural gas and 26 percent from wind.
The surge is further evidence that solar power has become an important part of the U.S. energy mix, even as President Donald Trump pushes for wider use of fossil fuels. The solar industry employs 260,000 people and accounted for 2 percent of all new U.S. jobs last year, and Republican and Democratic governors from 20 states sent the White House a letter on Monday saying that clean energy is an important economic driver.
“What these numbers tell you is that the solar industry is a force to be reckoned with,” Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Solar’s economically winning hand is generating strong growth across all market segments.”
Total installations surged 95 percent from 2015, led by large fields of solar arrays, which generally cost less than putting panels on rooftops. Utility-scale development increased 145 percent last year, the most in the industry, as costs became increasingly competitive with power produced from gas, according to the report.
Smaller-scale solar also increased, with residential rooftops up 19 percent and community solar projects exceeding 200 megawatts.
That growth will continue, with total installed capacity in the U.S. expected to reach 105 gigawatts by 2021, up from about 38 gigawatts today, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Solar is also reaching new areas, according to Justin Baca, SEIA’s vice president of markets & research. Installations grew last year in 31 of the 40 state markets that SEIA tracks, including areas that haven’t traditionally been solar strongholds such as Alabama.
“We don’t expect to see many years with nearly 100 percent growth that we had in 2016,’’ Baca said. “But we see a future where lower-level stable growth is achievable.’’
