A charge has been made for the need to enhance the use of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the health sector.
Participants at the WaterAid WASH forum
This charge was made by the Advocacy Manager, WaterAid Nigeria (WANG), Saheed Mustafa, on Thursday at a One Day Assessment of WASH Facilities in Primary Health Care Centres Stakeholders’ Validation Workshop, held in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, in commemoration of the Global Handwashing Day 2016.
He maintained that there is a need to raise awareness and start taking actions on how important WASH is in the health sector, especially in Primary Health Care Centres.
“We need to understand the challenges and gaps that affect the practice of WASH in Primary Health Care Centres as a lot of work still needs to be done in getting us to the target of making water accessible to everyone, everywhere by 2030,” he added.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of WANG’s Civil Society Organisation (CSO) partner in Benue State, First Step, Mrs Rosemary Hua, who reiterated the need to provide WASH in Primary Health Care Centres, noted that Benue is a high burden disease state.
To this end, she called on all stakeholders to close ranks in enhancing operations in the WASH sector to improve health in the community stating that a healthy society is a wealthy one.
“Poverty eradication starts with being healthy, because when you don’t fall ill, you save cost,” she said.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Board, Dr Ben Adega, who spoke through the Board’s Director of Primary Health Care, Dr Alex Aida, extolled the intervention of WANG in the water sector of the state, noting that the government can not implement all projects in the sector alone.
Adding that WASH is a component of Primary Health Care (PHC), the Executive Secretary sued for the Board’s partnership with WANG in enhancing primary health in the state.
Commenting at the end of the workshop, a participant and State Coordinator of NEWSAN, Mrs Elizabeth Jeiyol, who was represented by Mr Tersoo Agera, submitted that it was good that the workshop initiative was sought to identify gaps in WASH, adding that if issues of development are addressed through such a forum, many of such issues would be addressed.
The New development bank set up by the BRICS will lend $2.5 billion in 2017, the President of the new lender told the leaders of the bloc who last weekend gathered in the Indian state of Goa for the annual summit.
Right to left: South African President Jacob Zuma, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazilian President Michel Temer, at the BRICS Summit in Goa, India on 16 October 2016. Photo credit: BRICS2016
BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
“Broadly, in the coming year we will look at lending another 2.5 billion dollars. We also said that in the coming year we would cooperate with other business groups in our member countries and BRICS Business Council to create a platform for sharing knowledge,” Kundapur Kamath, the President of the NDB told the BRICS leaders on Sunday.
Earlier this year, the BRICS Bank approved loans amounting to $900 million to green projects in each member state.
The new lender also sold 3 billion yuan ($449 million) of yuan-denominated, green bonds in China’s interbank market in July.
Leslie Maasdorp, NDB’s vice president and chief financial officer, has said the bank is also planning to sell bonds in Russia and India to fund green projects in these countries.
BRICS members, China, India and Russia are also the three largest shareholders in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Both the BRICS Bank and the AIIB will extend China’s financial reach and compete not only with the World Bank, but also with the Asian Development Bank, which is heavily dominated by Japan.
101 countries consider carbon pricing as part of their Paris Agreement commitments
John Roome, Senior Director for Climate Change at the World Bank. He insists that carbon pricing policies must be coordinated with other energy and environmental policies. Photo credit: devfinance.net
Greater cooperation through carbon trading could reduce the cost of climate change mitigation by 32 percent by 2030, according to a World Bank report released on Tuesday at an international carbon event in Hanoi, Vietnam.
New modelling analysis undertaken for the State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2016 report shows that increased international carbon trading could enable large-scale emissions reductions at much lower cost than at present, based on the carbon mitigation goals spelled out in countries’ national climate plans under the Paris Agreement – the Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs. By the middle of the century, an international market has the potential to reduce global mitigation costs by more than 50 percent.
The goal of limiting emission reductions to meet a 2°C or lower target will be difficult to achieve cost-efficiently without more carbon trading, according to the report, prepared by the World Bank and launched at the 15th Assembly of the Partnership for Market Readiness.
“The more we cooperate through carbon trading, the larger the savings and the greater the potential to increase ambition by countries in the short term,” said John Roome, Senior Director for Climate Change at the World Bank. “To be effective, carbon pricing policies must be coordinated with other energy and environmental policies – this will require collaboration within and between countries.”
The Paris Agreement, reached at COP21 in Paris in late 2015, sets up a framework for global cooperation through carbon markets. Over 100 countries consider carbon pricing initiatives as part of their NDCs, through emissions trading within or across borders, international crediting, carbon taxation and other measures.
Under this new cooperative framework, one country can benefit from mitigation activities resulting in emission reductions in another country to fulfill its NDC. The report indicates that financial flows of 2–5 percent of gross domestic product in countries with lower-cost mitigation activities could be realised for investments that will reduce emissions by 2050.
The report also shows that momentum on carbon pricing has continued to grow. In 2016, 40 national jurisdictions and over 20 cities, states, and regions are putting a price on carbon, including seven out of 10 of the world’s largest economies. The coverage of carbon pricing initiatives on global emissions has increased threefold over the past decade, translating to the equivalent of around 7 gigatons of carbon dioxide (GtCO2e), or about 13 percent of global GHG emissions. In addition, governments raised about $26 billion in revenues from carbon pricing initiatives in 2015. This represents a 60 percent increase compared to the revenues raised in 2014.
This year saw the launch of two new carbon pricing initiatives: British Columbia put a price on emissions from liquefied natural gas plants alongside its carbon tax, and Australia implemented a safeguard mechanism to the Emissions Reduction Fund, requiring large emitters that exceed their set limit to offset excess emissions.
Looking ahead, next year could see the largest ever increase in the share of global emissions covered by carbon pricing initiatives in a single year. If the Chinese national Emissions Trading System (ETS) is implemented in 2017 as planned, it would become the largest carbon pricing initiative in the world, surpassing the EU ETS. Initial estimates show that emissions covered by carbon pricing initiatives could increase from 13 percent to between 20 and 25 percent of global GHG emissions.
In April, the High Level Panel on Carbon Pricing called upon the international community to double the percentage of global emissions covered by explicit carbon prices to 25% by 2020 and to double it again to 50% within a decade. Heads of State from Canada, Chile, Ethiopia, France, Germany and Mexico are among the leaders calling for this increased commitment.
The report was prepared with the technical support of Ecofys and Vivid Economics.
Young people will be gathering in Marrakech just before the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holding 7 – 18 November in the Moroccan ancient city to help support ambitious climate action and to highlight the role of youth in the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement that will enter into force on 4 November.
Participants of the Conference of Youth COY 11 last year in Paris. COY 12 focuses on the role of education and capacity building in empowering young people to take action on climate change and to bring about positive change in society
The main focus of this year’s Conference of Youth (COY 12, 4-6 November) is on the role of education and capacity building in empowering young people to take action on climate change and to bring about positive change in society.
“Only by empowering youth in the various decision-making processes that a transition to low carbon and greater resilience require is climate protection possible. We are looking forward to provide a platform for young people at the location of COP22 to demonstrate the importance they have in climate action and to strengthen networks of African youth working on sustainability and low carbon development,” said Fadoua Brour, member of the Moroccan youth organisation in charge of the Conference of Youth.
Since 2005, the Conference of Youth has been held every year, a few days before the annual UN Climate Change Conferences. This year, it is organised by Moroccan youth organisations together with YOUNGO, the official non-governmental youth constituency of the UNFCCC, in order to give youth a voice during the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC.
“The historic Paris Climate Change Agreement is about to enter into force, and as governments move to fine-tune and implement it, they need the full support of all sectors of society, not least of young people,” said Nick Nuttall, UNFCCC spokesperson.
The outcomes of the youth conference will be presented at the Young and Future Generations Day at COP 22 on 10 December, which is being organised by UNFCCC’s Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) team.
The UNFCCC promotes youth participation under its “Action for Climate Empowerment” (ACE) focus, which relates to education, training, public awareness, public participation, public access to information and international cooperation.
Shortly before the entry into force of the historic Paris Climate Change Agreement on November 4, West African countries are stepping up cooperation to ensure that climate action can be properly measured, reported and verified, and have agreed a new network to do so.
Participants at the forum. West African countries are stepping up cooperation to ensure transparency on climate action
The Paris Agreement provides a robust transparency and accounting system, which will provide clarity on countries’ efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to build resilience to the inevitable impacts of climate change, with flexibility for countries’ differing capabilities.
At a recent meeting in Lome, experts from 14 West African nations laid the foundation for a South-South Collaboration Network to promote the exchange of relevant knowledge and experiences in the region on Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV).
“South-South cooperation could be an effective tool to enhance local Measurement, Reporting and Verification capacities. A regional platform that promotes country ownership could strengthen the matchmaking between country needs and support from regional and international donors and organisations,” said Damiano Borgogno, coordinator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Support Programme, main sponsor of the event.
Examples of such matchmaking and support discussed at the meeting were technical guidance and monitoring tools, along with financial support for reporting and verification efforts by multilateral development banks.
Participants as the meeting agreed that effective institutional arrangements are the first and essential step for the establishment of sustainable MRV systems that enable the collection, processing, reporting and archiving of required data in a consistent, transparent, complete and timely manner.
“Sustainable national institutional arrangements that function on a continuous basis become even more critical as they underpin national capacity to facilitate the coordination of all activities in the preparation and submission of high-quality national communications and biennial update reports,” said Jigme Jigme, specialist at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat
The workshop, titled “Sub- Regional Dialogue on the MRV framework – West Africa”, provided the participants with a better understanding of the international MRV framework and related provisions in the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, including the integration between National Communications (NCs), Biennial Update Reports (BURs) and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).
Technical and institutional issues related to the setup of national MRV framework, with particular focus on energy and Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU), were discussed among the 14 Western African countries. Senegal, Ghana, Togo and Mali shared experience and lessons learnt from their MRV processes.
Participants exchanged views on the establishment of a country-driven West African South-South cooperation initiative on MRV, shared ideas on its vision, functioning, timing, priority areas of intervention and expected outcomes. Participants also agreed to keep the momentum and move steps forward in the next months for the operationalisation of the network in the first half of 2017.
“The workshop witnessed unprecedented inter-agency collaboration between UNDP/UNEP GSP, FAO, the UNFCCC Secretariat, BOAD, ECREEE and Agrhymet which will ensure more effective support to the collaboration network,” underlined Rocio Condor Golec, MRV specialist at FAO.
Cities now have an unprecedented opportunity to transform and decarbonise their energy supply and use, according to a new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
IRENA Director-General, Adnan Z. Amin. IRENA stresses that every city has the potential to cost-effectively boost renewable energy use
“Renewable Energy in Cities”, released on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Habitat III Conference in Quito, Ecuador estimates energy use in 3,649 cities and explores their potential to scale-up renewable energy by 2030. It finds that while there is no one-size fits all solution, every city has massive potential to cost-effectively boost renewable energy use at the local level.
“Cities can play a transformative role in leading the world to a clean and sustainable energy future,” said Adnan Z. Amin, IRENA Director-General. “We have to rethink the entire urban energy landscape, which requires rigorous planning and holistic decision-making. Renewable energy, combined with energy efficiency, will power the future growth of cities. We must ensure this transition happens as soon as possible.”
Electricity use varies widely across cities depending on climate conditions, population density and development stage. Likewise, energy use for transport varies greatly depending on urbanisation models. Today, renewables supply only 20 per cent of this energy, but much more is possible. Renewable Energy in Cities outlines three priority areas – both in technology and in policy – where cities can take action to scale up renewables use: renewable energy in buildings (for heating, cooling, cooking, and appliances); sustainable options for transport (electric mobility and biofuels); and creating integrated urban energy systems.
Accounting for 65 per cent of global energy use and 70 per cent of man-made carbon emissions, cities must play a key role in the transition to a low-carbon economy. By highlighting best practice from cities around the world, the report shows what is possible and what policies are needed to enable the change. It also provides concrete examples of how city actors can accelerate the switch to renewable energy at the local level by acting as planners, regulators, financiers and operators of urban infrastructure.
“By 2050, urban populations are expected to double, making urbanisation one of this century’s most transformative trends,” said Mr. Amin. “Now is the time to grow with renewables, leapfrog dirty technology, and create cities of the future that people are proud to call home.”
Meeting every 20 years, this year’s Habitat Conference is focused on sustainable urbanisation. Within this context and for the first time ever, the Conference is discussing the proliferation of renewable energy as a means to achieve a sustainable urban future and common prosperity.
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), and John Kufuor, former President of Ghana and Co-chair of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, on Monday in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire hosted the first official meeting of the African Leaders for Nutrition.
From left to right: Ginette Nzau Muteta, Manager Health Division, AfDB; Maimouna Diop Ly, Principal Health Analyst, Human Development Department, AfDB; Shawn Baker, Director, Nutrition Team, BMGF; Neil Watkins, Interim Deputy Director, Agriculture & Nutrition Advocacy and Communications, BMGF; Akinwumi Adesina, President, AfDB and GloPan Member; Victor Ajieroh, Senior Programme Officer, Nutrition, BMGF and Global Panel Representative; Sandy Thomas, Director, GloPan; Jon Parke, Consultant, GloPan; Sunita Pitamber, Head of the Fragile States Unit, AfDB; and Valerie Dabady, Manager, Partnership and Mobilization Resources Unit, AfDB.
The Champions of the African Leaders for Nutrition also include Hery Rajaonarimampianina, President of Madagascar; Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations; Aliko Dangote, Founder and CEO of the Dangote Group; Jamie Cooper, Founding Chair and President of Big Win Philanthropy; Graça Machel, Founder of the Graça Machel Trust; and José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiation (FAO).
“Stunted children today will lead to stunted economies tomorrow,” said Dr Adesina. The most critical time for optimal development in children is during the first 1,000 days of their lives. During this period the child’s immune system and mental capacity is developed.
In Africa, 58 million children under the age of five are short for their age (stunted), 13.9 million weigh too little for their size (wasted), and 10.3 million are overweight. Unlike underweight and wasting, the effects of stunting are irreversible. This includes impaired learning potential, poor scholastic success and ultimately reduced adult labour capacity and productivity.
Africa accounts for 20 of the 24 countries with stunting rates of over 40%. Furthermore, 22 of the 34 countries that collectively account for 90% of the world’s stunting are in Africa. President Adesina called on all partners and African leaders to join him in “the Coalition of Alliance against Malnutrition in Africa.”
“Good leadership is important for good governance. Without transforming the lives of people, we cannot hope to transform countries and the continent,” said former Ghanaian President John Kufour.
The African Leaders for Nutrition Champions will use their high-level membership to drive increased visibility of nutrition on the continent, strengthen political will, increase national-level prioritisation, and encourage specific policy and financial commitments to nutrition. The political dialogue with Heads of States and Ministers of Finance is expected to spark further progress to deliver the nutrition targets and Sustainable Development Goal 2, to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”, through sustained and increased investment for nutrition.
The African Leaders for Nutrition will champion a Nutrition Accountability Scorecard, which is country-owned and will focus on monitoring progress on country and regional level nutrition specific results. “There is no reason for a child to be unable to attain education achievements or have an economically productive life just because of poor nutrition,” said President Adesina.
“Madagascar has suffered the extreme consequences of climate change, which has resulted in recurrent drought and frequent El Niño occurrences. Madagascar cannot meet the new challenge of chronic malnutrition alone without the support of its partners,” said François Rakotoarimanana, the country’s Minister of Finances and Budget.
The African Leaders for Nutrition Champions emphasized the need for better political leadership and a significant increase in improving nutrition outcomes on the continent. “The African Development Bank will work with the partners to further develop innovative financial instruments which are results-based and provide incentives to countries and the private sector to increase investments in nutrition,” said President Adesina.
Civil society organisations (CSOs) have accused some developing countries of insecurity and double standards by implementing projects that increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere in their quest for industrialisation.
Nigeria’s Environment Minister, Amina Mohammed, with her Moroccan counterpart, Hakima El Haite. Both nations have been accused by CSOs of double standards
They singled out Nigeria and Morocco as countries that are investing in coal production.
The activists thus called for more financing to African countries to implement low-carbon development pathways. Indeed, they urged the developing world in general and the African continent in particular to pursue low carbon-emission pathways in line with the Paris COP21 agreement.
Speaking ahead of the sixth Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA VI) conference, Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), expressed surprise that only 15 African countries have so far ratified the Paris Agreement.
“We want African countries to pursue low carbon-emissions pathways and implement bottom-top projects that will deliver justice to impacted people and communities,” Mithika said.
“Whatever the challenges, African countries need additional financial and technological resources that would enhance their capacity to pursue a low-carbon path of development,” says Azep Girmi of Least Developed Countries (LDC) Watch.
However, civil society actors noted that low-emission pathways do not apply only to the energy sector. In some African regions, land-use development, particularly infrastructure expansion, is identified as a key variable determining future GHG emissions.
“For most developing countries, adaptive and mitigative capacities are low and development aid can help to reduce their vulnerability to climate change,” said Johnson Nkem of African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC). “It can also help reduce their emissions growth while addressing energy-security and energy-access problems,” he added.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Africa’s energy consumption will increase by 80% by 2040; but, with the continent’s population almost doubling, the energy consumption footprint will reduce per capita.
However, studies have projected that nearly one billion additional people will have access to electricity by 2040.
The IEA report however outlines another possible future – what it calls the “African Century” – in which Africa’s governments and donors invest an extra $450 billion in energy. This would sharply increase the use of fossil fuels, reduce much of the most polluting renewables, and provide energy access to 230 million more people. Providing more – and more reliable – power to almost two billion people will increase GDP by 30% in 2040.
Lagos State Government on Tuesday clarified its decision to demolish illegal structures and shanties erected along the river banks and under high tension cables across the state, citing security concerns and flagrant abuse of its building regulations as its core reasons.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde
Addressing journalists at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Alausa, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, said that the move was in line with government’s pursuit of its policy on cleaner environment and restoration of master plans through the removal of all environmental infractions and nuisances across the state.
He said that, over time, the government had noted with dismay the flagrant disobedience of building regulations in the state, hence its decision to go ahead with the enforcement of structures in contravention of the Law.
Mr Ayorinde, who was joined at the press briefing by his counterparts in the Ministry of Housing, Gbolahan Lawal; Ministry of the Environment, Babatunde Adejare; and top officials from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, said government would not go back on its resolve to establish zero tolerance for all structures and properties built under high tension cables.
“It is quite worrisome that ramshackle structures, sheds, canopies and shanties, especially along shorelines, have turned to the abode of miscreants/street urchins, kidnappers, touts, street traders and hawkers who often vandalise public utilities and attack innocent citizens.
“The State’s Urban and Regional Planning and Development Law 2010 prohibits erecting structures within the Right of Ways and set backs of drainage channels, centre-line of over-head electricity wires and also states in very clear terms specified distance to be observed between a Property line and a public utility,” he said.
Mr Ayorinde said after the Security Council Meeting of September, a directive went out to the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LABCA) and the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development to take inventory of all the houses and buildings along the river banks in the riverine areas of the state to, among other things, ascertain whether set backs were adhered to inline with stipulated regulations.
“So you would see that nothing is being done and nothing will be done in Lagos State as far as demolition of illegal structures are concerned without due considerations to the extant laws of the state and without adequately engaging with the communities and the people involved as demonstrated by what the governor did in Illubirin to give them more time to move inspite of the repeated warnings and notices that were being served.
“Yes we would be considerate to the plight of those considered as urban poor, but we will also not allow their situation to jeopardise the safety and security of more than 21 million residents of the state. This is the reason why this is being carried out and this is the reason why government will not succumb to cheap blackmail,” Mr Ayorinde said.
Explaining further, the commissioner said most of the buildings marked for demolition did not comply with the required setback as stipulated, saying that such could have fatal consequences in the wake of an incident.
Giving a background to the demolition of shanties on the Illubirin waterfront, Commissioner for Housing, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, said the occupants were evicted and their shanties demolished because they were illegal settlers in the area.
He recalled that the Illubirin Housing project started about 10 years ago under the administration of former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, with the reclamation of the Lagoon, while the fishermen who were there at that time were resettled at Badore.
He said that, after the reclamation, construction of the housing units started in 2013 and it was initially designed to accommodate 1,254 housing units, while the scheme was reviewed and redesigned by the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to make the place a live, work and play environment, with the partnership of a private investor.
According to Mr Lawal, the illegal settlers moved into Illubirin waterfront during the process of redesigning the scheme, adding that the private investor had perfected plans to move to site, and is committing about $500 million into the scheme.
On his part, Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, said adequate notices and sensitisation have been embarked upon by the State Government to educate the people on the need to refrain from constructing any structure on river banks, saying that the safety of about 22 million residents of the State cannot be allowed to be jeopardised by a few.
Kenya is among 15 African countries that have been commended for ratifying the Paris Agreement on climate change by representatives of over 1,000 civil society organisations (CSOs) in Africa, ahead of the Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA) conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya. CSOs have hailed the nation ahead the CCDA. Photo credit: en.wikipedia
In the same vein, Kenya’s Cabinet last week approved the National Climate Change Policy Framework, which provides a roadmap for coordinated response to climate change and urban development. The framework has been submitted to Parliament for adoption.
The country is now among the 81 countries globally that have ratified the climate change agreement out of the 197 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Speaking at the UN conference centre in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, James Murombedzi of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) hailed Kenya for championing ambitious climate policies in the run-up to Paris and by spearheading the implementation process.
“Kenya has set an example that should be emulated by the remaining African countries to demonstrate their commitment to concrete actions. We commend Kenya’s ratification as this is important to delivering the expected results,” Murombedzi said.
Mithika Mwenda, the secretary general of Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), said Kenya’s step now paves way for it to benefit from the money the civil society is pushing for.
“Kenya now stands to benefit from the $100 billion pledged by developed countries to developing ones and that even larger sums be leveraged from investors, banks and the private sector that can build towards the $7 trillion needed to support a world-wide transformation on climate change,” Mwenda said.
Kenya has also enacted Climate Change Act, 2016 which provides a regulatory framework for enhanced response to achieve low carbon climate resilient development.
Other policy measures to achieve a green economy in Kenya are the National Climate Change Action Plan 2013-2017, Climate Change Response Strategy 2010 and Environmental Management and Coordination Act CAP 387.
Environment Cabinet Secretary (CS) noted Government has identified nine areas where urgent mitigation actions should be undertaken using the billions of shillings.
“Among the nine are restoration of forests and degraded lands, developing an additional 2,275 megawatts of geothermal energy, restoration of degraded forests, encouraging Kenyans to use improved cookstoves and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and agroforestry,” she said.
Others include bus rapid transit and light rail corridors, develop greenhouse gas inventory and improvement of emissions data, measuring, reporting on and monitoring forestry emissions and sinks and mainstreaming of low-carbon development options into planning processes.
“To achieve the above, government needs to undertake a programme of work to restore forests on 960,000 hectares up to 2030 including dryland forest restoration activities, developing, testing and application of compensation and benefits-sharing mechanisms and develop an additional 2,275 MW of geothermal capacity by 2030 through a support programme aimed at encouraging private sector investment,” Wakhungu said.
The country also needs to undertake a programme of work to replant forests on 240,000 hectares of land that were previously forests, increase awareness of improved cooking practices, undertaking pilot initiatives which promote the use of LPG, increasing awareness of stove quality, increasing access to soft loans, building capacity of stove producers, and improving access to testing facilities.
She said the country needs to convert 281,000 hectares of existing arable cropland and grazing land that have medium or high agricultural potential to agroforestry and implement an extensive mass transit system for greater Nairobi, based predominantly on bus rapid transit corridors complemented by a few Light Rail Transit corridors as other mitigation measures.
Others include developing a national forest inventory, forest reference scenario, and a monitoring and reporting system that allows for transparent accounting of emissions and removals in the forestry and land-use sectors.
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UNFCCC, also congratulated countries that have ratified the agreement. “This is a truly historic moment for people everywhere. The two key thresholds needed for the Paris Climate Change Agreement to become legal reality have now been met,” she said.
She added, “The speed at which countries have made the Paris Agreement’s entry into force possible is unprecedented in recent experience of international agreements and is a powerful confirmation of the importance nations attach to combating climate change and realising the multitude of opportunities inherent in the Paris Agreement.
Under the Paris Agreement, governments are obligated to take action to achieve the temperature goals enshrined in the Agreement – keeping the average global temperature rise from pre-industrial times below 2 degrees C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees.
The CCDA conference is an annual event by the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme and a joint initiative of the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Africa is using the conference to forge a common ground ahead of the UN climate conference, known as COP22, in Marrakesh, Morocco next month.
