Health, education, social interaction and business ventures are being boosted in insurgency-ravaged rural communities in Hong Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa State in Northeast Nigeria, where innovative solar energy systems are putting back smiles to the villagers’ faces, money in their pockets and, most of all, portending fresh hopes for the future.

After experiencing deadly attacks last year by rampaging Boko Haram militants that resulted in considerable human and material casualty, returnee residents of the communities are now picking up the pieces of their lives, thanks to an initiative aimed at expanding access of local communities to modern energy services (such as solar energy) under the Sustainable Energy for All (Se4All) programme being promoted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN).

In every of the 12 benefitting communities, the project provides a solar-powered fridge-freezer in the local health centre, a solar-powered water borehole along with 10,000-litre capacity overhead tanks, as well as solar home and outdoor lighting systems.

In Garaha Mojili for example, the two fridges installed about six months ago at the Garaha Primary Healthcare Centre are helping to curb the Hepatitis B scourge in the community.

Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease. A major global health problem, the World Health Organisation (WHO) describes Hepatitis B as a potentially life-threatening liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus. The UN body fears it can cause chronic infection and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer.

A vaccine against hepatitis B has been available since 1982. The vaccine is 95% effective in preventing infection and the development of chronic disease and liver cancer due to hepatitis B. The vaccine is now readily available in the Garaha Primary Healthcare Centre, where it is stored (along with other drugs) in the solar-powered fridges.

Hitherto, the vaccine had to be transported from Hong, which is several kilometeres away, and its application to the needy was irregular.

Aminichi Edwards, a Junior Community Health Extension Worker (JCHEW) at the clinic, says: “Before now, we used to go to Hong to get immunisation. But, today, as we have this fridge, our immunisation can take place at any moment.

“If a child is delivered today, we are able to get and administer the Hepatitis B vaccine, which is supposed to be given 12 hours after birth or child delivery. We had problems with going to Hong to bring vaccines as it is quite a distance and the bikes and tricycles usually develop fault on the way as the roads are bad, especially during the rainy season. So the vaccines would get here very late and a times not in a very condition. But now, any day and anytime we need vaccines, we get them here.

“A child that is not given the vaccination at the right time can easily contact the Hepatitis disease, which is not good, and that is why we have been advising that it should be administered within 24 hours. It is a disease that easily transferred from one person to another, so this measure is a form of prevention from the child contacting the disease. So, thanks to the solar fridge, it is now readily available and any child delivered here immediately gets the vaccine. There are now no delays in the administration of this and other vaccines to patients.”

Besides the fridge, the clinic is also lit up by solar power.

“We used to make use of the lantern for use here, but we now use the solar light anytime any moment without any problem, no more need to buy batteries or traveling to buy anything, we can use the light anytime any moment. We no longer use the lantern. We used about 8 litres of fuel per day, which would not even take us for long. And the fuel is very costly now. Since we have the solar system, we no longer buy fuel. The system was fixed July 2016 and since then we’ve stopped using the generator,” adds Ms Edwards, listing other villages that patronise the clinic to Dabriah, Garaha Larh, Garaha Dutse and Shasha’u.

Chinapi Yoila, a resident of Garaha Mojili who accompanied his brother, who is a patient, submits: “There is a big difference now in this hospital. There is now fridge where drugs are kept and there is electricity here as well. It used to be difficult obtaining drugs before and I am aware that this was due to transporting the drugs and needed equipment down here from Hong because besides the difficulty of obtaining a bike, tricycle or taxi, the road is also not very good. Now drugs are readily available and there is constant light to enable the staff here to attend to patients.”

Commenting on the new water source of water supply in the village, Maxwell Shingu, rice farmer, says: “Without this solar water pump, we have no other place to get water. All the water hand pumps in this community are all broken down and there was no water. So we now solely depend on the solar water project. Before this facility was put in place, we were fetching water from the river. We actually dug a well close to the river. We have to trek several kilometres to the riverside to fetch water. We also purchase chlorine to treat the water from the river before drinking it. But we have no reason to treat the water from the solar pump as it is already very good for drinking. So we no longer spend money to buy chlorine to treat the water from the riverside before drinking, and our wives and children also no longer trek long distances to fetch water.”

Philip Nathan, the community’s assistant Chief, offers: “The solar lamp after full charge can last for several days. It lights the home at night and charges mobile phones. Before now, we used torchlights and lanterns. We spent about N200 every two or three days replacing batteries for the torch. Now we save an average of N100 everyday as we no longer buy batteries regularly. And this development has improved our personal finances.”

Monday Benson, a trader and beneficiary of the solar lamp, states: “Before now, I spent about N200 every day to fuel the generator. I am now able to save more money as I no longer buy fuel for the generator. In fact, every month, I save about N5,000 in my account, something I was not able to do before. This is very good for me because I plan to get married very soon. I do not take the lamp home because it was given to me under a scheme meant to assist young entrepreneurs like me.”

Mrs Alpha Williams, farmer and business woman: “I now save a lot of money from constant purchase of batteries to power torchlights and kerosene for lanterns. Also, at night, my children read and do their homework with the solar lamp, which I at the same time use to charge my phone. Everything is so convenient and life is now so much easier for us. We also don’t need to go far to fetch water. As you can see, the water station is just by my doorstep. We say thank you to the UNDP and ECN for this kind and timely gesture.”

Okon Ekpenyong, an engineer and deputy director with the ECN, said: “Communities that have been driven away by insurgents are now returning. And now that they are returning, it’s like going back into darkness. And when these people return from exile, we at the UNDP/ECN now decided that they want to change the standard of living of the community by providing them with necessary energy for daily living, which include energy for lighting, energy for water supply, energy for primary health care delivery. In that case now we decided that we are going to provide them solar energy because in this case they will not need petrol or kerosene but they will use the natural sunlight. So now we are using this solar to provide them water supply. We are also providing them solar lightening with which they can use to charge their phones.

“In Garaha Mojili, the project has successfully provided about 2,403 people with solar lighting systems which would enable the villagers perform domestic duties effectively at night, charge their mobile phones in the convenience of their homes and help children read at night. With this, the villagers do not have to worry about buying kerosene or dry cell batteries for lighting. The portable water supply would help to improve the health condition of the villager by reducing cases of infection from water-borne diseases, and reduce the number of hours needed by women and children to fetch water from the stream.

“The project also trained some youths in the installation of the solar home systems, and the installation and maintenance of the solar powered borehole. This is a form of job creation for the youths who can now install and maintain some of these facilities for other communities.”

The 12 benefiting communities are: Kwakwa’ah, Shashau, Garaha Banga, Gahara Lari, Gaya Silkami, Fa’Gaya, Kubutava, Pella, Dilwachira, Mutuku, Gashala Mamud and Garaha Mojili.

Ahead of the 22^nd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commemces in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday (November 7, 2016), civil society leaders from diverse constituencies around the world have voiced their concerns that countries are not doing enough to prevent catastrophic levels of global warming.

The Paris Agreement entered into force on November 4th, a day after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its annual Emissions Gap report, which analyses emissions reductions pledges by countries against current temperature targets. The Report found that if the Paris pledges are implemented fully the world will still see temperatures increase up to 3.4°C this century, a rise which has been described as “incompatible with an organised global community.”

The conference in Marrakech will see developed countries face the familiar challenge of needing to raise their levels of short-term climate targets and finance, which the Paris Agreement did not address. Scientists consider steep emissions reductions in the current decade as the key to achieving a just transition to a low-carbon global economy.

Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), which has member groups across the continent, notes: “The good news of the Paris Agreement is not so much in the early entry into force, because negotiators still have a long way to go in terms of figuring out the details of how it will be implemented. The good news is in the ambitious initiatives that have been launched as a result of the momentum generated. In Africa, we have the AREI which if rolled out properly can make a significant contribution to both emissions reductions and poverty eradication. In Marrakech, Governments have to go further and take the good example of AREI global.”

Asad Rehman of the England, Wales, and Northern Ireland group of the global Friends of the Earth federation, says: “UNEP’s report paints a bleak picture of hunger, floods and people being forced from their homes as we hurtle towards a devastating 3.5°C warming of the planet. The reality is that governments are drinking in the last change saloon when it comes to keeping the world safe from the worst impacts. Rich countries celebrating the Paris Agreement becoming law, whilst failing to deliver the ramp up of the critical pre-2020 action makes their Paris promises extremely hollow and sets us on a suicidal dash for disaster.”

Lidy Nacpil of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt & Development, a regional alliance of dozens of movements, community organisations, coalitions, NGOs and networks: “The UNEP Emissions Gap Report shows a shortfall of 14 gigatonnes of emissions reductions which really tempers the jubilation around the Paris Agreement. However, the reason there is an emissions gap in the first place is because developed countries ave refused to do their fair share of the global effort. The Paris Agreement clearly shows this with the low targets and lack of financial pledges. What they are doing is forcing the least responsible for causing climate change to take on much more than their fair share of the effort, and pay for it too.”

Meena Raman of the Malaysian-based think tank, Third World Network: “As we head into Marrakech, all the focus seems to be on the Paris Agreement. But that’s last year’s news story. This year we need to see real money flowing as climate finance – the “roadmap” put forward by developed countries is nothing more than a sleight of hand. Against estimated needs in the trillions, rich countries are promising $100 billion and having to resort to fudging the numbers even for that. Without finance the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement will be much ado about nothing.”

Azeb Girmai of LDC Watch, a global network with focal points in all 48 Least Developed Countries, states: “People in the Horn of Africa are not celebrating the Paris Agreement. To them it is just a piece of paper. In Somalia, 40% of the population are now in need of food aid as a result of drought-this will only get worse and more frequent as temperatures rise, destroying more livelihoods and forcing more people to abandon their traditional lands. The Paris Agreement recognised the need to address these impacts and tasked the Warsaw International Mechanism to take on this enormous effort. Now it needs to resources to get to work.”

Tamar Lawrence-Samuel, of Corporate Accountability International, stresses: “COP22 has been billed as everything from the ‘action COP’ to the ‘implementation COP’ but before any action can be taken or plans can be implemented, Parties must first address the elephant in the room: big polluters. At COP22, Parties will lay the groundwork needed to advance a policy that protects the implementation of the Paris Agreement from the influence of groups representing Big Oil, Gas, and Coal. Addressing these conflicts of interest will help to ensure that policies on every other issue, from finance to adaptation to loss and damage, will advance the interests of people and the planet, not corporate profits.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday marked the entry into force of the Paris Agreement with a call for strong action on climate change to realise the potential of the landmark agreement.

Meeting with civil society representatives in New York, the Secretary-General said, “I ask each and every one of you to keep up the fight. Hold governments accountable and press for action.”

“Today we make history in humankind’s efforts to combat climate change. Now is the time to strengthen global resolve, do what science demands and seize the opportunity to build a safer, more sustainable world for all.”

Members of civil society, representing a range of organisations working around the world, including in Egypt, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Guatemala, told the Secretary-General that they were committed to carrying on efforts to reduce emissions and to focus on the needs of people.

The Agreement provides that it shall enter into force 30 days after 55 countries, representing 55 percent of global emissions, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession with the Secretary-General. Those conditions were met on 5 October, triggering today’s entry into force.

There are now 98 parties to the Paris Agreement, with Gabon, Indonesia, Ireland, the Republic of Korea, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Viet Nam among the latest to join.

“At a time of record heat, Member States embraced this new global agreement in record time,” Mr. Ban told civil society leaders at an event marking the Agreement’s entry into force. “It is a credit to all of you. And it is historic for the world.

“Today we celebrate, reflect and give thanks. I am deeply grateful to all of you and your organisations – representing millions of people. At a time when civil society is under attack in so many parts of the world, you have shown that citizens’ groups are essential partners for progress. Your vision, courage, persistence and leadership made this day happen.

“We marched shoulder-to-shoulder in 2014 before the Climate Summit I convened. Millions of others held climate marches around the world. You showed the climate challenge stakes – and the solutions. You mobilised hundreds of millions of people for the cause.”

The Agreement will now enter into force in time for the Marrakech Climate Conference (COP 22) that begins in Morocco on 7 November, where the first Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement will open on 15 November.

Countries have been joining the agreement at a steady pace. There were 15 countries that formally joined the Agreement on 22 April, the day the Agreement opened for signatures, and then 31 countries which joined at a special event at the UN on 21 September during the General Assembly high-level week. In early September, the world’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, joined the Agreement, providing the impetus for other countries to quickly complete their domestic ratification or approval processes.

The Secretary-General cautioned that time is short while global temperatures continue to rise.  “We remain in a race against time. But with the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world has the plans we need to make the shift to a low-emission, climate-resilient path. Now is the time to strengthen global resolve, do what science demands and seize the opportunity to build a safer, more sustainable world for all.”

He added, “We are the first generation to really feel the effects of climate change – and the last that can prevent its worst consequences. Today shows us what is possible when we join forces for our common future.”

The world must urgently and dramatically increase its ambition to cut roughly a further quarter off predicted 2030 global greenhouse emissions and have any chance of minimising dangerous climate change, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Thursday as it released its annual Emissions Gap report.

Made public the day before the Paris Agreement comes into force, the report finds that 2030 emissions are expected to reach 54 to 56 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – far above the level of 42 needed to have a chance of limiting global warming to 2℃ this century. One gigatonne is roughly equivalent to the emissions generated by transport in the European Union (including aviation) over a year.

Scientists agree that limiting global warming to under 2℃ this century (compared to pre-industrial levels), will reduce the likelihood of more-intense storms, longer droughts, sea-level rise and other severe climate impacts. Even hitting the lower target of 1.5 ℃ will only reduce, rather than eliminate, impacts.

The predicted 2030 emissions will, even if the Paris pledges are fully implemented, place the world on track for a temperature rise of 2.9 to 3.4 degrees this century. Waiting to increase ambition would likely lose the chance to meet the 1.5 ℃ target, increase carbon-intensive technology lock-in and raise the cost of a global transition to low emissions.

“We are moving in the right direction: the Paris Agreement will slow climate change, as will the recent Kigali Amendment to reduce HFCs,” said Erik Solheim, head of UNEP. “They both show strong commitment, but it’s still not good enough if we are to stand a chance of avoiding serious climate change.

“If we don’t start taking additional action now, beginning with the upcoming climate meeting in Marrakesh, we will grieve over the avoidable human tragedy. The growing numbers of climate refugees hit by hunger, poverty, illness and conflict will be a constant reminder of our failure to deliver. The science shows that we need to move much faster.”

The need for urgent action has been reinforced by the fact that 2015 was the hottest year since modern record keeping began. The trend is continuing, with the first six months of 2016 all being the warmest ever recorded. Yet emissions continue to increase, the report says.

The Kigali Amendment to the UNEP-hosted Montreal Protocol, agreed last month, aims to slash the use of hydrofluorocarbons. Early studies indicate this could cut another 0.5 degrees if fully implemented, although emissions won’t begin to be reduced at any significant rate until 2025.

Also, while members of the G20 are collectively on track to meet their Cancun climate pledges for 2020, these pledges fall short of creating a sufficiently ambitious starting point to align with the temperature target of the Paris Agreement.

However, the Gap report presents an assessment of the technologies and opportunities to find the further cuts required, including through non-state actors, energy efficiency acceleration and crossover with the sustainable development goals.

Non-state actors (the private sector, cities, regions and other subnational actors like citizen groups) can cut several gigatonnes off the gap by 2030 in areas such as agriculture and transport, provided the many initiatives meet their goals and do not replace other action.

Energy efficiency is another area where investment could bring bigger gains. Investments in energy efficiency increased by six per cent to $221 billion in 2015, indicating that action is already happening.

Studies show that for an investment of between 20 and 100 US$ per tonne of carbon dioxide, energy efficiency emissions reduction potentials (in gigatonnes) by 2030 are 5.9 for buildings, 4.1 for industry and 2.1 for transport.

A new report released by the 1 Gigaton Coalition shows that renewable energy and energy efficiency projects implemented in developing countries from 2005 to 2015 will reduce emissions by almost half a gigatonne by 2020, including action by countries that do not have formal Cancun pledges.

“Internationally supported projects on renewable energy and energy efficiency are making significant contributions to reducing global greenhouse emissions,” said Mr. Børge Brende, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. “Thanks to the work of the 1 Gigaton Coalition we can measure and report the impact of these projects to see how far we still have to go to reach the climate goal. This is how the coalition aims to inspire countries around the world to raise their action and ambition on climate change through the energy sector.”

Finally, climate action is intertwined with the sustainable development goals. The earliest impacts of climate change may undermine our ability to deliver the goals by 2030, and failure to deliver on the climate action goal will have even larger implications for maintaining development progress post-2030.

Successful implementation of the Paris Agreement and the sustainable development goals agenda will depend on the ability of governments to develop national targets that serve both and take advantage of common opportunities.