As the Mexican tourist city of Cancun gets set to host delegates to the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/COP 13) next month, the Arab Republic of Egypt is hoping to host the 14th edition of the global biodiversity talks.

At the recently concluded 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC/COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco, Egyptian officials told everyone that cared to listen that the country was the best destination for the biennial conference.

Indeed, Egypt is hoping to be the next African nation to host the CBD/COP, second to Kenya that hosted the event in May 2000.

To date, the COP to the CBD has held 12 ordinary meetings outside Montreal and one extraordinary meeting in Montreal, the seat of the COP’s secretariat.

Compared to only one meeting hosted by the African Group (Kenya in 2000), five meetings of the COP were held in Asia and Pacific region (and COP15 will be held in China in 2020), four meetings were held in Latin America and the Caribbean (including COP13 that will be held in Mexico in December 2016), and two meetings were held in Western Europe.

“The African Group hosted very few other global environmental conventions meetings compared to other regional groups,” stated Dr. Khaled Fahmy, the Egyptian Minister of Environment and President of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), adding that, during the CBD/COP12 in South Korea last year, Egypt expressed its interest to host the CBD/COP14, which also entails the Nineth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, as well as the Third Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS).

According to him, besides the Arab League, Egypt’s request to host the CBD/COP14 was endorsed by the Sixth Special Session of AMCEN last April. He pointed out that, if actualised, this will be the first CBD/COP held in the Arab region.

He expressed hope that the country’s offer to host the COP14 in Sharm El-Sheikh will be supported by Parties to the CBD when the venue is decided at the COP13 in Mexico next month.

He insisted that meetings of the COP should be held on the basis of regional rotation, adding that Egypt has the necessary capacities to fulfil the logistical, technical and financial requirements for hosting the COP.

His words: “An initial budget of approximately $7.5 million has been approved by the Government for preparation for hosting COP14. If Egypt is selected to host Cop14, the Government is committed to allocate the additional funds required on the basis of the Host Government Agreement.

“Egypt is uniquely positioned midway between Africa and Asia, with long coasts of the Mediterranean Sea in the north and the Red sea in the east. The country is the home of a wide variety of ecosystems and terrestrial and aquatic lifeforms that contributes to its economy, supports human wellbeing and provides regulating and supporting services.

“Egypt contributed significantly to the negotiations that led to the adoption of the biodiversity convention and its two protocols on biodiversity and ABS. The country was also among the few countries selected to carry out country-level needs assessments to support the development of National Biodiversity Frameworks in the participating countries, and undertake a global programme on awareness building on issues arising from the UNEP International Technical Guidelines for Safety in Biotechnology adopted in Egypt.”

Biological diversity (or biodiversity) forms the foundation of life on earth, but scientists are worried by the fact that it is disappearing from the face of human activity. The losses are said to be due to a range of pressures driven by socio-economic drivers, including climate change.

In response to these concerns, governments negotiated the CBD to promote suatainable development thereby reducing biodiversity loss. The CBD is one of the three Rio Conventions (together with climate change and desertification conventions). It entered into force on December 29, 1993 and it has 196 Parties which constitute the Conference of the Parties (CBD/COP).

UK based Shell is facing fresh environmental claims in the London High Court from two Nigerian communities who have suffered following repeated large scale oil spills from the energy giant’s pipelines in the Niger Delta

The High Court in London, UK began to hear arguments during a four-day hearing that started on Monay, 21st November 2016 on whether the English Courts can hear two legal claims on behalf of over 40,000 Nigerians against Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) and its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC), for extensive environmental damage caused by oil pollution to two separate communities in the Niger Delta.

The first claim is being brought on behalf of 2,335 individuals from the Bille Kingdom of Nigeria who are mostly fishermen who claim their environment has been devastated by oil spills over the past five years.

The second claim is brought on behalf of the Ogale Community in Ogoniland which consists of roughly 40,000 people. The community has been subjected to repeated oil spills from Shell’s pipelines over a number of years which have still not been cleaned up.

The appalling levels of pollution the Ogale community was carefully documented by the United Nations Environment Programme in their 2011 report.

In March 2016, the Technology and Construction Court agreed that the two legal cases could proceed to the next stage through the London High Court, where the parent company, Royal Dutch Shell plc, is based.

Lawyers for the Nigerians communities argue that Royal Dutch Shell, who has its headquarters in the UK, controls and directs it’s Nigerian subsidiary and should ensure that its operations do not systematically pollute the environment.

Both Royal Dutch Shell and Shell Nigeria argue that the cases should be heard in Nigeria and not in the English Courts.

The two separate legal actions are being brought by law firm Leigh Day who represented the Bodo Community against Shell in an unprecedented environmental claim resulting in Shell agreeing to pay compensation package of £55 million to the Community and 15,600 Nigerian fishermen whose livelihoods had been destroyed by Shell’s oil pollution.  However, hundreds of Niger Delta communities remain blighted by oil pollution.

Daniel Leader, partner in the International Group Claims team at Leigh Day, said: “Oil spills from Shell’s oil pipelines have blighted the lives of the thousands of Nigerians who live in Ogale and Bille. It is scandalous that five years after the UNEP Report Shell is yet to clean up its own oil in either Ogale or Bille.

“It is clear to the Claimants that Royal Dutch Shell is ultimately responsible for failing to ensure that its’ Nigerian subsidiary operates without causing environmental devastation.  It is time for Shell to clean up their act in Nigeria. At the moment these communities have no choice – they have to take them to court to get them to act.”

Background

Ogale Community and the UNEP Report

Ogale is located in the Nchia administrative region of Eleme LGA, Rivers State in Nigeria and has an estimated population of over 40,000. The people of Ogale have traditionally been either crop farmers or fishermen who rely on Ogale’s tributaries and waterways as fishing areas.

However, Ogale has been subjected to repeated oil spillages across much of the community since at least 1989. At one spill site at Okuluebu, it is estimated that there were 87,500 barrels of oil remaining at the site when the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) conducted investigations in 2010.

The Ogale Pipelines and Infrastructure are said to be several decades old and in a poor state of repair making the area vulnerable to oil spills which have caused, and continue to cause, long-term contamination of the land, swamps, groundwater and waterways in the Community.

In 2011, UNEP published an Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland which included extensive testing of the Ogale Community. The UNEP Report found that oil spills in Ogoniland happen “with alarming regularity” and that “it is a fair assumption that most members of the current Ogoniland community have lived with chronic oil pollution throughout their lives”.

UNEP’s testing of Ogale reported serious contamination of agricultural land and waterways in the community as well as its groundwater, exposing Ogale’s inhabitants to potential health risks. Groundwater oil contamination in Ogale was found to be 1,000 times higher than levels permitted under Nigerian law and water in the community was found to be unfit for human consumption.

UNEP’s recommendations included:

• Emergency measures to provide adequate sources of drinking water to impacted households;
• Immediate steps to prevent existing contaminated sites from causing further pollution and;
• A substantial programme of clean up and decontamination of impacted sites.

At the time, Shell stated it accepted the findings and the recommendations of the UNEP Report. However, five years later, Shell appears to have failed to comply with the recommendations of the UNEP Report and to clean up the sites polluted by their own oil.

The Ogale Community continues to live with chronic levels of land and water pollution. In November 2015, Amnesty International published a report entitled “Clean It Up”, following field research in Ogale and other communities.

It concludes that Shell has failed to clean up damage caused by oil spills in Ogale in line with the recommendations of the UNEP report.

Amnesty also found that Shell had also failed to clean up three other sites which were the subject of the UNEP report. The mommunity reports that the oil contamination continues to impact on their farming and fishing has all but ended in the community.

Residents report that while a drinking water system has been installed by the Government, the provision of water is patchy and it does not extend to all polluted areas, despite the UNEP report identifying the lack of clean drinking water in Ogale as being an urgent problem.

Despite repeated requests from the leaders of Ogale, Shell is said to have refused to meet with them to try agreeing a clean-up and compensation programme. The community members are now claiming for compensation and seeking to get Shell to clean up the damage caused by their oil.

HRH Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, the Paramount Ruler of Ogale, said: “Shell has polluted our land and our streams and drinking wells for years. Even when the UNEP report suggested that something urgent should be done, Shell did not even come to see our community or to talk to us. No-one is listening to us, no-one cares. We hope at last this case will force Shell clean up at long last.”

Bille Community

Bille is located in the Degema Local Government Area (LGA) in River State, Nigeria. Populated by nearly 13,000 residents, it is comprised of a number of island towns and fishing settlements that are surrounded entirely by water.

Residents of Bille have traditionally relied on fishing to sustain their way of life, however, following the devastation caused by the spills emanating from an oil pipeline known as the “Nembe Creek 30” Trunkline (NCTL) their livelihood has been destroyed.

Due to the proximity of buildings to the waterfront, most properties on Bille have been damaged by the pollution and residents have even been forced to stack sandbags outside their homes to try to prevent oil entering their properties.

The NCTL stretches for almost 100 kilometres and was built in 1981 and although money was recently spent to replace it, Shell allegedly failed to install leak detection systems to prevent and detect operational spills and/or protect against third party interference, known as bunkering, in breach of Nigerian legal standards.

According to the legal action, the creeks, mangroves and island communities in Bille have been devastated by oil emanating from the NCTL since the replacement of the Bille Section of the pipeline in 2010.  It is alleged that 13,200 hectares of mangrove have been damaged by oil spilled from the Bille Pipelines and Infrastructure, the largest loss of mangrove habitat in the history of oil spills.

The key issue in the claim will be whether Shell can be liable for failing to protect their pipelines from damage caused by third parties. In the judgment handed down in the Bodo litigation, the Court ruled that where it can be shown that Shell neglected to protect their pipelines properly, they could be liable for the damage arising from their neglect.

Courtesy: Leigh Day

Despite not being included in the league of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the widely held view is that Nigeria may perhaps need as much international support, if not more, as the LDCs member nations, because of the security and other socio-economic issues it faces that are akin to those of the LDCs.

For more than a decade, Africa’s giant has been battling serious insecurity issues caused by the activities of the Boko Haram Islamic terrorist group, allegedly recruiting locals of neighbouring countries, impoverished by rapidly encroaching desert, drought, famine and other climate-induced disasters.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, who was part of the Nigerian delegation to the UN climate change conference (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco, confirmed the threat the country faces by sharing borders with nations in distress.

“Climate change is not something that is visible but the impact is what we see. In Nigeria, it is affecting us in all fronts. If we had managed the desertification threatening the northerners, cattle rustling and a lot of things and also Boko Haram would not be the issue. And we can learn that when people livelihood is threatened, they can do the unimaginable. It’s like what we are seeing or confronting us and we are trying to get what doesn’t belong to us by force. If you have seen the movie called “Nowhere to run”, and that’s why every body has to see what is going on. So, where are we going to run to? And Nigeria with our population, who is going to house us if somethng happens? That’s the most reason that we have to look at ways of combating them,” she told a team of local and foreign journalists in an interview shortly after the Nigerian delegation unveiled its road map for implementing its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) at the summit.

That Nigeria’s sustainable development is under threat due to undue influence of distressed neighbouring African nations, who form part of worlds least developed countries, has been a topical issue, which has also been widely reported.

For instance, a recent BBC report revealed that locals from nearby countries were induced with money to join the Boko Haram terrorist group to attack Nigeria and its territories.

One of the recruited members reportedly told the BBC: “We only do it for the money. Regularly, they come across the border, looking for recruits. They have paid Nigerian naira ($3,085, £1,835) to those of us who followed them over there. When they come, we inform them about what’s going on, what the security forces are up to. We have no jobs; some of us are still at high school, but we need money. Violence has become a form of work for us.”

Nigeria’s current population based on United Nations estimates is 188,750,850 which is equivalent to 2.48% of the total world population.

Analysts feel the figure grows by the day due to the large illegal migration of foreigners especially from the desert ravaged Sahara and Sahel regions bordering northern Nigeria, the stronghold of Boko Haram activities.

This large human intrusion into Nigeria mounts serious and undue stress on the country’s fragile infrastructure and well being, it was gathered.

Now, one of the major objectives of COP22 was to rally assistance in support of LDCs and as part of the road-map for implementation, LDC Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Initiative (REEEI) for Sustainable Development, was launched on November, 17, 2016, a day to the end of the COP.

The LDCs represent the world’s 48 poorest nations, including Niger, Mali, Togo and Benin, which are Nigeria’s direct and close neighbours.

During the launch of the REEEI, at the Press Conference Room Rabat in the Blue Zone of the COP22 arena, Mr. Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, Chair of the Least Developed Countries Group and Head of delegation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said: “The initiative will enable LDCs to leapfrog fossil fuel-based energy and light up the lives of millions of energy-starved people through modern, clean and resilient energy systems. The LDC REEEI is an important part of this process emerging from the Marrakech climate conference, providing concrete action to address climate change while empowering the world’s most vulnerable communities to build a path to sustainable development.”

On his part, Mr. Ram Prasad Dhital, Executive Director of Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, Ministry of Population and Environment, Nepal, said: “This initiative would support LDCs to develop the capacity to put in place the policies, regulations and project pipelines needed for greater flows of energy finance.”

It is argued that the provision of effective power to the LDC within the framework of the REEEI, if effective, would go a long way in easing huge burden off Nigeria, because locals from some of the LDC nations who usually run to Nigeria for refuge, would have good reason to remain in their lands.

But, on the other hand, they believe great support is also needed to assist Nigeria rebuild itself from the loss it has suffered and continues to suffer in the hands of the defendant climate-ravaged tiny neighbouring countries.

One of the most pressing goals of Nigeria which it seeks support to address, is saving the rapidly drying-up Lake Chad on its border with Chad Republic which is a key initiative for adaptation.

Lake Chad serves both Nigeria and others neighbouring countries in fishing and agriculture, but its drying up has led to loss of livelihood with attendant consequences including migration, severe poverty and malnutrition, as well as insecurity.

In a booklet distributed at the COP22, the Federal Government of Nigeria says it needs well about $142 billion to fund its NDC which it has mainstreamed into the country’s sustainable development efforts.

President Mohammadu Buhari who was represented by the Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, during the Africa Day event at the COP on Wednesday, 16th November, 2016, said the country would launch a Sovereign Green Bond to raise funds for implementing its NDC.

But that won’t go far in solving the enormous problem at hand, thus Nigeria needs huge external fund to reduce greenhouse emission and plan adaptation projects to protect its huge human population from climate change impacts.

“One of the main objectives for delegates (delegates to COP22) is to seek partnerships and support, technical, technology and financial to implement our NDC, estimated to cost $142 billion but yield estimated national benefits of $304 billion(World Bank, 2013). Delegates are strongly encouraged to identify specific projects, programmes and initiatives for support which can be shared with potential partners in discussions at COP22,” says the FG in the COP22 booklet.

According to the FG, “we recognise that Nigeria is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. By 2050, it could cost between 6 percent and 30 percent of our GDP ($100-$460 billion).

“Our population is acutely aware of the risk; the 2012 floods which killed 363 people and displaced more than 2.1 million, the impact on 70 % of Nigerians who rely on rain-fed agriculture, and regional conflicts driven by a shrinking Lake Chad and desertification, are at the top of our minds.

“Despite the challenging time for our economy, the government has continued to prioritise mitigation and adaptation to climate change through the five pillars of the national change agenda, namely power, oil and gas, agriculture, transport and industry. Diversification, especially towards sustainable agriculture, is already a key part of our country’s economic strategy, along with low-carbon power and improving the efficiency of the oil and gas sector.”

President Mohammadu Buhari on September 22nd this year signed the Paris Climate agreement, signifying Nigeria’s support to the global treaty that was the brain child of last climate change conference in Paris, France, known as COP21.

The country has mainstreamed the implementation of the NDC and Paris Agreement into its sustainable development, and would be using aggressive legislation to address the goals, so remarked the Environment Minister who represented the President while unveiling the country’s NDC implementation road-map at the Africa Day event.

“Nigeria submitted its ambitious Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). We have now pledged a 20% reduction greenhouse emission by 2020 and 45 conditional commitments which can be achieved with financial assistance, partnerships, technology transfer and building capacities. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is an integral part of Nigeria’s development and the mission of the Nigerian government through the INDCs is fully in line with them.

“We are focusing on reducing poverty, food security, creating jobs by diversifying the economy, providing a healthy environment and most importantly driving economic development by providing access to energy for our people. This COP22 is the cop of NDC implementation. We have this very much on our minds when our delegations left Paris last year.

“In spite of the global downtown which has affected us domestically, we are committing a reasonable part of our 2017 capital budget to this effort. 2017 capital budget would be a green budget that would reflect Nigeria’s effort to realising our NDC. In addition, we are set to launch our first ever Sovereign Green Bond in the first quarter of 2017. This is intended to fund the series of projects targeted at reducing emission and greening our economy as embedded in our NDC. We are working diligently to strengthen our MRD system as this will help to achieve increase in transparency and accountability that is needed across all sectors and all levels of government.

“On the issue of renewable, our priority is to achieve, energy access, energy security and develop renewable resources for energy. We are strengthening policy in regulatory base. In this regard, we have developed a system of energy for all action agenda and national renewable energy action plan, among other policies. Our expectation is that 30% of this capacity would come from renewable energy. On NDC implementation, for the power sector, we would build on this progress. We will include clear mitigation and adaptation priorities which would also be the basis for budget proposal to attract innovative international climate finance,” she said.

Apart from saving the Lake Chad to make adaptation possible for Nigeria and its neighbours, who are among Least developed countries, addressing power issues, bad roads, and a whole lot others are some of the pressing goals of the Nigerian government, in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

On the issue of power, Nigeria is among beneficiaries of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), which seeks to power up Africa by delivering 10 Gigawatts of electricity by 2020 and 300 Giga watts by 2030 in the African continent, important to drive development in the black continent.

However, considering its large population and the many challenges the country battle with, the funding for the project may not make meaningful impact on the Africa’s giant, who has been struggling to liberate its economy from recession, caused by flat fall in oil price.

Nigeria is a mono-economic nation, deriving about 90% of its foreign exchange from oil, which has lost viability.

Addressing the African Union Commission delegates on the realisation of the AREI, the President African Development Bank, Akinwunmi Adesina, who announced that his bank has committed itself to invest $12 billion to the initiative over the next five years, said redemption of pledges and making of more pledges were required from developed countries to realise the “lightening up Africa” project through renewable energy sources.

“Africa cannot develop in the dark. Just take a look at how lack of electricity drags down Africa’s growth and development. For decades, Africa has continued to export raw materials as it does to the subject of global commodity price shock as we are already witnessing. Africa does not have electricity. Lack of access to power has pushed Africa down to the bottom of global value chains.

“Africa must power itself to add value to what it produces, speed up industrialisation and move to the top of global value chain. This must start with unlocking the huge potentials of energy on the continent including Africa’s vast potentials in renewable energy as well as no renewable energy. Africa simply needs energy period,” said Adesina.

Analysts say the remark by Adesina applies perfectly to Nigeria’s current situation, believing that efforts by the UNFCCC COP in addressing the plights of developing countries and even least developed countries would make greater impact if special attention is given to Nigeria, which plays fatherly role to some of the so-called poor countries, and suffering huge loss in the process.

By Innocent Onoh

With the gradual return of the dry season otherwise known as harmattan in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, there is a steady return of mobile water vendors popularly known as “mai ruwa”. This is occasioned by the steady drop in water level of wells and limited rainfall, which have become the residents’ major source of water as pipe borne water is only available in some homes in few areas of the town.

Makurdi, which is located in North-Central Nigeria, has an estimated population of over three million. But, with one of the major rivers in the country, River Benue, running through it, it has become a typical example of the proverbial story of “living on a river bank but washing ones hands with spittle”.

Although successive administrations in the state from 1999 to date have tried to address the problem of potable water production, supply and distribution through the Benue State Water Board in the form of the Greater Makurdi Water Works, it has been a futile attempt.

With the shortfall in provision of potable water to the ever increasing population and layouts in Makurdi, the services of mai ruwa come in handy as the water vendors buy water in 20 litres jerry cans and hawk to residents in the town at usually N25 per jerry can.

With the return of the raining season, most of these water peddlers who are all from the Northern part of Nigeria make a return to their various states to engage in farming activities as the demand for water drops drastically. However, now that the harmattan has crept back, they are back in their droves and business is starting to gradually pick up tempo as they serve residents of Makurdi where they cannot access potable water as a public utility.

In a chat with this writer, a water vendor who hails from Yobe State and spoke in Hausa, Musa Bello, stated that he has been in the business for about two years in the state and it helps him meet up with basic needs.

According to him, he left Makurdi for Yobe during the farming season to work on his farm and spend time with his family, adding that he is back now that the dry season is setting in so as to continue with his business.

Another mai ruwa, Buka Sani, who also returned from farming in his home state of Kebbi, said he would continue shuttling between Makurdi and Kebbi as the seasons change, in order to make the best out of both the raining season and dry season for farming and hawking water respectively.

Sani expressed hope for brisk business this season as the taps are still not running with water and more people have sunk boreholes where they can buy water and peddle to residents.

It will be recalled that in 2001, the then governor, George Akume, awarded the $26.4 million worth Greater Makurdi Water Works contract to Biwater Company to build a water treatment facility with a capacity of 45,000 cubic meters per day. But, unfortunately, with over $6.2 million expended by the end of his two-term tenure in 2003, it wasn’t still eureka for Makurdi residents in accessing potable water.

Subsequently, the Governor Gabriel Suswam led administration revoked the contract and re-awarded it to Gilmor Nigeria Limited and, in March 2003, the then president, Goodluck Jonathan, commissioned the $42 million 50,000 cubic metres daily capacity waterworks, with a potential to be extended to 100,000 cubic metres. The action raised hope for the over 600,000 residents of Makurdi that they would have unhindered access to potable water. However, the situation did not change; reason being that although the government said the project was almost completed, the second aspect of the project which involved reticulation to link pipelines to homes in the town, weighed down the completion of the project.

It is worthy of note that the existing water pipelines which serve a few homes are those that were laid in 1978 and are either rusted, burst beyond repair or are obsolete in many areas and whenever water is pumped from the Water Board, water is wasted at broken points thereby becoming Non Revenue Water (NRW).

So to say, the need for reticulation to take place in Makurdi before any proper potable water supply can be achieved cannot be overemphasised, considering that the metropolis has grown beyond the former setting of Wadata, High-Level, GRA, Wurukum, North Bank, etc with new layouts such as Nyiman Layout, Welfare Quarters, Owner Occupier Estate, Makurdi International Market, Agber Village, Tionsha, and Agboughl, to name but a few.

From the foregoing, the town has grown and even as the state is believed to have spent over N5 billion during the past administration in the area of potable water provision with the construction of the Greater Makurdi Water Works and water plants in the other two geopolitical zones (Zone A and Zone C) of the state, little wonder the Country Director for Water Aid, Dr. Michael Ojo, last year revealed that only 45 percent of the state had access to potable water, with just three percent of this figure having access to government provided potable water.

The situation is appalling so much that the Governor Samuel Ortom too, while inspecting the Greater Makurdi Water Works, berated the lack of potable water in the state when he stated that the people of the state had waited too long for public water supply. “A lot of money has been spent on this water project and there has to be justification for such spending. Our people deserve to feel the impact of this project. They can’t wait any longer,” he added.

The question therefore now is; with the current biting economic times and recession which has affected even the payment of civil servants’ wages, where and how can the state government access money to fully reticulate the Greater Makurdi Works for it to provide potable water according to its capacity and projection of 35 years viability?

By Damian Daga