Twenty-four countries and the European Union agreed on Friday to create the world’s largest marine park in the Antarctic Ocean, covering a massive 1.55 million square km (600,000 square miles) of ocean.
Antarctic Ocean
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, meeting in Hobart, Australia, said the Ross Sea marine park would be protected from commercial fishing for 35 years.
The Ross Sea is seen as one of the world’s most ecologically important oceans.
The sanctuary will cover more than 12 percent of the Southern Ocean, which is home to more than 10,000 species including most of the world’s penguins, whales, seabirds, colossal squid and Antarctic tooth fish.
Fishing will be banned completely in 1.1 million square km (425,000 square miles) of the Ross Sea, while areas designated as research zones will allow for some fishing for krill and sawfish.
Scientists and activists described the agreement as a historic milestone in global efforts to protect marine diversity.
“The Ross Sea Region MPA will safeguard one of the last unspoiled ocean wilderness areas on the planet – home to unparalleled marine biodiversity and thriving communities of penguins, seals, whales, seabirds, and fish,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement, referring to the marine park authority.
Scientists said the marine park would also allow a greater understanding of the impact of climate change.
Russia agreed to the proposal, after blocking conservation proposals on five previous occasions.
The 25-member commission, which includes Russia, China, the United States and the European Union, requires unanimous support for decisions.
“They all have diverse economic, political interests and to get them all to align – especially in the context of there are divergent economic interests – is quite a challenge,” Evan Bloom, director at the U.S. Department of State and leader of the U.S. delegation, told Reuters.
Ahead of the International Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade scheduled to hold next month in Vietnam, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has commenced a campaign against the poaching of the rhinoceros, an animal species characterised by its large size, herbivorous diet and thick protective skin.
The West African black rhino. The WWF wants to show the Vietnamese government the world cares about rhinos
Often abbreviated to rhino, it is believed that nearly 1,400 were slaughtered across Africa last year. However, Vietnam is regarded as the world’s largest market for rhino horns. In most cases, poachers kill rhinos and cut off their horns for illegal wildlife trade.
By weight, rhino horns cost as much as gold on the black market.
WWF is seeking signatories to a petition, which the group says over 100,000 supporters have already signed. WWF will present the entreaty to the Vietnamese government to “show we won’t stand for illegal rhino horn trade.”
Sara Thomas, the WWF Manager, Online Advocacy, says: “The rhino-poaching crisis erupted in 2006 when a rumour began circulating in Vietnam that rhino horn cures cancer. It doesn’t. From there, it quickly became even more in demand as a status symbol when rhino horn began to be gifted to show wealth and power.
She adds that poaching of rhinos in Africa continues unabated, despite intense efforts by many African governments to combat it.
“World Wildlife Fund officials from around the globe will be in Vietnam in November, when the country hosts the critical International Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade. We want to show the Vietnamese government the world cares about rhinos.”
An important milestone on the road to controlling greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping has been achieved with the adoption of new mandatory requirements by the industry’s regulatory authority, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Shipping
Under the new requirements, ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above will have to collect consumption data for each type of fuel oil they use, as well as other, additional, specified data including proxies for transport work. These ships account for approximately 85% of CO2 emissions from international shipping. The data collected will provide a firm basis on which future decisions on additional measures, over and above those already adopted by IMO, can be made.
The requirements were adopted by the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, (MEPC) meeting in London for its 70th session (24-28 October). IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said the new requirements sent a clear signal that IMO was ready to build on the existing technical and operational measures for ship energy efficiency.
“The data collection system will equip IMO with concrete data to help it make the right decisions, as well as enhancing its credentials as the best placed and competent forum for regulating international shipping,” Mr Lim said.
The new mandatory data collection system is intended to be the first in a three-step approach in which analysis of the data collected would provide the basis for an objective, transparent and inclusive policy debate in the MEPC. This would allow a decision to be made on whether any further measures are needed to enhance energy efficiency and address greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. If so, proposed policy options would then be considered.
The MEPC also approved a roadmap (2017 through to 2023) for developing a “Comprehensive IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships”, which foresees an initial GHG strategy to be adopted in 2018.
It contains a list of activities, including further IMO GHG studies, with relevant timelines and provides for alignment of those new activities with the ongoing work by the MEPC on the three-step approach to ship energy efficiency improvements mentioned above. This alignment provides a way forward to the adoption of a revised strategy in 2023 to include short-, mid-, and long-term further measures, as required.
Under the roadmap, and to provide long-term vision for the shipping sector, the MEPC has to address a number of important questions, such as what role should the international shipping sector have in supporting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The Committee also agreed to hold an intersessional working group meeting on reduction of GHG emissions from ships. It is planned that the first intersessional meeting (subject to approval by the IMO Council) would be held back-to-back with MEPC 71, which is scheduled to meet in mid-2017.
In 2011, IMO became the first international body to adopt mandatory energy-efficiency measures for an entire industry sector with a suite of technical and operational requirements for new and existing vessels that entered into force in 2013. By 2025 all new ships built will be 30% more energy efficient than those built in 2014.
Under the new data collection system, aggregated data will be reported to a ship’s flag State after the end of each calendar year. The flag State, having determined that the data has been reported in accordance with the requirements, will issue a Statement of Compliance to the ship. Flag States will be required to subsequently transfer this data to the IMO Ship Fuel Consumption Database.
The IMO Secretariat would be required to produce an annual report to IMO’s MEPC, summarising the data collected. Data would be anonymised so individual ship data would not be recognised.
The MEPC adopted the mandatory requirements as amendments to chapter 4 of annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). They are expected to enter into force on 1 March 2018, under the tacit acceptance procedure. They add new Regulation 22A on Collection and reporting of ship fuel oil consumption data and new appendices covering Information to be submitted to the IMO Ship Fuel Oil Consumption Database and form of the Statement of Compliance, which would be issued to the ship once the relevant data had been reported. Other regulations are amended to cater for the new requirement, including those related to certificates, surveys and port State control.
Stressing the global context of this latest breakthrough, Mr Lim said, “IMO will inform the next Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is to meet in Marrakech, Morocco, next month, on the tangible progress made, proving to the world that IMO continues to lead in delivering on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping.”
The 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, from 7 to 18 November 2016. The COP20 in Lima was tagged the COP of negotiations of a universal climate change agreement, COP21 in Paris last year was a COP of Agreement while COP 22 in Morocco has been tagged the COP of Implementation.
Marrakech, Morocco will host COP22 in November 2016. The COP has been tagged the COP of Implementation
Taking critical decisions to ensure the implementation of the Paris Agreement is the major endeavour at COP22 in Morocco. Last year, the African Development Bank support contributed significantly to ensuring that Africa’s concerns were addressed in the Paris Agreement. The Bank has also committed to triple its climate change finance to about $5 billion per year and to provide $12 billion on renewable energy investments by 2020. In consistence with the New Deal on Energy for Africa that provides a good entry point for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and given that COP22 is a key milestone for the implementation of that Agreement, it is important that Africa is fully on board, while ensuring linkages with the Bank’s High Fives.
“To make the Paris Agreement a real-world success story we need more than a historic political agreement, we need practical climate action to ‘decouple GDP from GHG’ – or economic growth from greenhouse gases” – as former UN climate chief Christiana Figurers put it during a lecture at Climate-KIC partner the Grantham Institute.
Fours ways Marrakesh is going to help achieve that.
Going from National to Global Action Plans is very important: In the run-up to Paris, countries submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Now, they are preparing their first climate action plans (NDCs) – dropping the ‘Intended’ from the title – which will be updated every five years and should represent an increase in ambition. This is the often cited ‘ratcheting’ mechanism built into the Paris Agreement. In Marrakech, countries will hope to agree on how the stock-taking exercise should work every five years, and how they can make sure it will indeed ratchet up the level of ambition around the world.
The action plans outline the post-2020 climate actions of each country and contain details such as emission-reduction targets and how governments plan to make those happen. A range of policies, including those addressing the aviation and maritime sectors (which are missing from the Paris Agreement), need to be drawn up and implemented to create what is often called the “enabling environment” for the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Making Measuring Progress Transparent will keep the commitment: Perhaps even more important, are the ways we monitor and verify the amounts of carbon emission reductions reported by countries. There is currently no common methodology to monitor the national commitments, which hinders the transparency of the Paris Agreement’s implementation. Information matters. If countries understand their emission profile they can target the most problematic areas first.
Then, comparability of national action plans open the door to understanding about which policies work best and why, which will lead to the exchange of best practices – resulting in more efficient action globally. The EU is a strong proponent of such a common approach. This year we expect significant progress on working out the details of a harmonised verification process. Marrakech will be a key milestone to ensure we understand our progress towards the common goal of curbing climate change.
Involving the Business Sector is very important: The development of low-carbon technologies, and making better use of existing ones by making them accessible to all, is crucial in the fight against climate change. In Paris, we’ve seen the world’s billionaires making a stand and the Paris Agreement itself have recognized this too: now is the time to invest. Strengthening technology cooperation between countries will promote economic growth and sustainable development. There have been international efforts in this direction already, such as the UNFCCC’s Technology Mechanism and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTC-N), but it desperately needs scaling up.
Innovative, green technology in all sectors of industry should also make their way to the national economies of developing countries – generating higher rates of productivity, and growth throughout the whole value chain. The world needs to step up efficient match-making between the technology needs of countries and the solutions available around the world. What’s absolutely crucial is that we involve the business sector in this, which ultimately produces the goods and technologies we use. Marrakesh should bring clarity to how this process of global technology transfer will be organized from now on.
Empowering Developing Countries to Take Action: Last, but not least it is fundamental that all countries can develop efficient climate change policies, and have the means to implement them. You’ll hear the term “capacity building” a lot in this context. There are huge differences between developing, emerging and developed countries. Capacity building aims to ensure that governments and civil servants in all countries have the skills and knowledge to implement the Paris Agreement through national policies.
The Paris Agreement makes provisions to support this, with the details to be worked out this year. The EU has made this action a priority in its post-COP21 assessment and a number of other initiatives deliver important programmes to support this worldwide. Already, the UN’s CTC-N has been supporting developing countries with the development of specific climate policy programmes, but there is a consensus that this needs to be scaled up massively. But the public sector by itself, no matter how smart their policies are, will not be enough to make the transition to the zero-carbon economy.
Entrepreneurial education, support for an emerging start-up culture and the encouragement of cross-sector action will empower people who want to take action and make a difference. This is something that international innovation networks and partnerships like Climate-KIC already do on a daily basis. In Marrakesh, a lot of time will be spent on trying to broaden the definition of capacity building to make sure everyone can act on climate change, no matter where they are.
In conclusion, we need a wide range of breakthrough innovations to transform how we live, what we consume, and how we do business while creating new economic growth and jobs. We need to change the system, and we need to do it everywhere on the planet.
City officials have shut down hundreds of public drinking fountains in Chicago, Illinois after tests detected excessive levels of lead in the water – another example of how the potentially harmful metal remains a threat in homes, schools and other settings around the country.
A water fountain in Chicago. Photo credit: iStockphoto
The ongoing crisis in Flint, Michigan, in which a city of nearly 100,000 people was exposed to high levels of lead in the water, has prompted other communities to test for the toxic substance in recent months. Among those was the Chicago Park District, which said it began testing thousands of public fountains in the spring.
The agency found that 445 of the city’s 1,891 outdoor fountains – or nearly a quarter – showed lead levels higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “action level” of 15 parts per billion. In addition, 14 of 544 indoor fountains and sinks exceeded the federal standard.
Some fountains displayed startling amounts of lead in the water. Two fountains in the Avalon Park area registered 1,800 parts per billion and 1,200 parts per billion, according to data released by the city. Another fountain in Grant Park also registered 1,200 parts per billion – 80 times the level considered permissible by the EPA.
Officials said all fountains and sinks that tested for high lead levels have been disabled.
“Ensuring the health and safety of all park patrons and staff is a top priority of the Park District,” the agency’s spokeswoman, Jessica Maxey-Faulkner, said in a statement, adding that the “fountains will undergo further testing, and will be removed, repaired or replaced, as necessary.”
The Park District modeled its effort after testing undertaken by Chicago schools, which also found issues with lead in the water at some schools. Earlier this year, the head of the public school system in Chicago pledged to do “whatever it takes” to rectify lead problems after risky levels of lead were detected in dozens of buildings.
About 40,000 children attend summer day camps at the city’s parks, and thousands more attend programs at the parks throughout the school year, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Public health officials agree that there is no “safe” level of lead in the body. The substance can be particularly damaging to young children, contributing to permanent learning disabilities, behavioral problems and, at higher levels, a number of diseases.
Lynn Goldman, dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University and a former EPA regulator, said Chicago’s findings underscore a lack of adequate testing for lead around the country. Under current rules, cities are required to test only a small number of samples from homes to check the municipal water supply for lead. But no requirements exist for routine tests in schools or other public settings, such as parks.
“This is a national problem,” Goldman said. “What this highlights for me is that it really needs to be a requirement by the (EPA) that all cities and schools test these public drinking water fountains.”
She applauded Chicago for proactively shutting down fountains with high lead levels, but she said there’s no guarantee the same problem won’t crop up again, because the tests offer only a snapshot of the water at any given time. In addition, she said Chicago is hardly the only city where the public water sources are potentially hazardous, as lead pipes and fixtures remain ubiquitous in communities across the country.
Goldman said it’s unlikely that taking a sip from a single fountain would seriously affect a person’s health. But she noted that for some people, such as the homeless, public fountains are a primary water source. And when it comes to children, it could be yet another contributor of lead in their environment.
ExxonMobil Corporation has announced the significant discovery of crude on the Owowo field, offshore Nigeria, with a potential recoverable resource of between 500 million and 1 billion barrels of oil.
Stephen M. Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company
“We are encouraged by the results and will work with our partners and the government on future development plans,” said Stephen M. Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company.
The well was drilled by ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater Ventures) Limited and proved additional resource in deeper reservoirs.
The Owowo-3 well, which was spud on Sept. 23, encountered about 460 feet (140 metres) of oil-bearing sandstone reservoir. It extends the resource discovered by the Owowo-2 well, which encountered about 515 feet (157 metres) of oil-bearing sandstone reservoir.
Owowo-3 was safely drilled to 10,410 feet (3,173 metres) in 1,890 feet (576 metres) of water. The Owowo field spans portions of the contract areas of Oil Prospecting License 223 (OPL 223) and Oil Mining License 139 (OML 139) in which ExxonMobil holds 27 percent interest.
Joint venture partners include Chevron Nigeria Deepwater G Limited (27 percent interest), Total E&P Nigeria Limited (18 percent interest), Nexen Petroleum Deepwater Nigeria Limited (18 percent interest), and the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company Limited (10 percent interest).
The Lagos State Government will not relent in its effort at making the state the safest place to live in by providing a safe environment, the Commissioner for The Environment, Babatunde Adejare has said.
Dr Babatunde Adejare, Lagos State Commissioner for Environment. The Lassa Fever campaign entails Operation Kill Rats, Make More Money. Photo credit: theeconomyng.com
Adejare made the assertion at the official flag-off of the Lagos State Market Deratisation Programme, aimed at ridding the state of the Lassa Fever vector at Obalende market on Thursday.
The government is collaborating with Phosguard Fumigants, an NGO, to promote the programme through “Kill rats, make more money in Lagos’’. Under the programme, the residents are encouraged to kill rats in their environs which the programme implementers, Phosguard will buy at a yet-to-be determined price for proper disposal.
The commissioner said the government was resolved to make Lagos State one of the safest places in spite of its increasing population.
“As a bourgeoning global urban agglomeration with a population of over 22 million people and daily waste generation of 13,000 metric tons, Lagos requires proactive environmental management to control pest and by extension diseases.
“Lagos is a mega city with the highest population which is still growing though in terms of landmass it is the smallest state in the country. According to a UN report, our nation still ranks among the countries with the highest number of infant mortality, hence we need to look inward to know how we can control this. In lieu of this, we are looking at how we can free Lagos from diseases, pestilence and infestations. We talk about mosquito control, pest control and other dangerous animals in our society. The administration of Gov. Akinwumi Ambode is committed to ensuring that we have the safest place to live in not minding anywhere we are in Lagos,” he said.
Adejare said that to provide a safe environment for the people, vector control remains the ideal strategy. “The mega structure of the state has, however, provided the opportunity for transmission of pathogens between animal species and humans which are heightened by the unprecedented increase in the movement of people. No doubt, the alluring feature of our state exposes it to a number of threats that if unchecked can spell doom for the wellbeing of the residents in general.
“The environmental and health hazards that vectors present to our people can therefore not be ignored. Therefore, to protect the population from epidemics, such as Lassa fever, vector control remains the way out. Vector control is a means of eradicating mammals, birds and other arthropods collectively called vectors which transmit disease pathogens,” he said.
Adejare said that the government was using the most environmental friendly vector control intervention with no known side effect.
“To take advantage of the many benefits of vector control, less illness, safety of homes, building and markets, the government is delivering effective deratisation through the use of tested technology. It is noteworthy that all over the world vector management has grown to become an economy on its own; we wish to take advantage of the enormous economic opportunities.
“Therefore, as beneficiaries of this initiative, it is our responsibility to cooperate with the agents of government going round to rid our markets of rodents and other disease vectors. The vector control programme is in line with our goal of regenerating the environment to make it liveable for all and for certain, we all have a role to play in the proper sanitation,’’ he said.
The sole administrator of Ikoyi/Obalende Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Mr Goke Ona-Olawale, lauded the government for the initiative and pledged the council’s cooperation for its success.
“We are lucky to have the flag-off of such an epoch initiative starting with our council. Obliviously, this council has so many important features to qualify it as first. Most of the past presidents of the country lived in this community and we are also privileged to have two main barracks, Dodan and the Police barracks sited here.
“We will ensure that all hands are on deck to ensure the success of the programme aimed at providing a safe environment for us all to live in. The people have also pledged to give the government the necessary support because this is a programme that will directly benefit them and they are well aware,” he said.
The Iyaloja of Obalende, Jokotade Logun, thanked the state government for its efforts at providing a safe environment for the market women and also pledged their support.
“This is a good thing coming to us, it shows that we have a government that is fully committed to our welfare and we will not disappoint, we will provide the necessary support. For our markets to be free of filth, we have also evolved a plan within ourselves to compliment the government efforts, and I have the backing of our members toward achieving it.
“We have been discussing about how we can improve on the sanitation within the markets and now that government has taken a bold step at helping us, we will also make sure we do not disappoint,” she said.
NAN reports that the government has provided two Toyota Hilux vans and other logistics for the hitch-free implementation of the programme. Also, the field officers from Phosguard Fumigants demonstrated how to bait for the rodents and evacuation of the dead rats. (NAN)
In order to fully benefit from the potential of abundant renewable energy in South Africa, companies need to step out of their comfort zones and send clear signals to the markets by committing to an ambitious 100 percent renewable energy future.
Penny-Jane Cooke, Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace Africa, says Woolworths is still in the lead with an improved score of six out of 10
This is the resounding message in an updated report “Shopping clean: Retailers and renewable energy – An Update” released this week by Greenpeace Africa which gives an up to date outline of the state of renewable energy investments and commitments by South Africa’s top five retailers (Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Woolworths, Spar and Massmart).
The ‘Renewable Energy Champions’ campaign was first launched by Greenpeace in April this year with the report “Shopping Clean: Retailers and Renewable Energy” and in the report update, Greenpeace takes a look at how the retailers have improved in the intervening six months.
“When comparing the retailers to one another, Woolworths is still in the lead with an improved score of six out of 10. Massmart is close behind Woolworths with a score of five and a half, a significant improvement from their April score. Pick n Pay has also shown a significant improvement and is now engaging with Greenpeace on how they can increase their commitments to renewable energy in the future. Spar and Shoprite are at the bottom of the table with Shoprite scoring the lowest of all five retailers,” said Penny-Jane Cooke, Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace Africa.
During 2016 both Woolworths and Massmart undertook solar PV installations; with Woolworths installing the first phase of their 2MW system at their Midrand distribution centre, and Massmart installing a 520kW and a 430kW system at their Carnival Mall and Woodmead Makro stores respectively. This combined solar PV capacity is sufficient to power 500 – 700 average South African households.
“One of the most significant actions undertaken by Massmart, Woolworths and Pick n Pay this year was their commitment to lobby to remove the barriers to renewable energy. The retailers have agreed to the need for a holistic sector approach that includes financial mechanisms and regulatory frameworks to create an enabling framework for renewable energy going forward, and have agreed to focus on lobbying for this, meanwhile Woolworths alone has taken the important step of committing to a 100 percent renewable energy future,” added Cooke.
At the bottom end of the updated ranking table both Spar and Shoprite are dragging behind their fellow retailers. Spar’s score has stayed the same as they have not made any progress in the renewable energy sector in 2016. Shoprite continues to have the lowest score of three out of ten due to a lack of publicly available information, lack of transparency and unwillingness to engage with Greenpeace on these issues.
“Shoprite’s sustained low score is a clear indication that the retailer is not yet taking renewable energy seriously, neither are they engaging with the Renewable Energy Champions campaign. Greenpeace believes that Shoprite in particular can do much more to show solar some love, and we call on all five of the country’s top retailers to convert their scores from average to ambitious,” Cooke said.
During the course of 2016, Eskom has begun what appears to be a sustained anti renewable energy campaign, which means there is an increased need for other sectors, including the retail sector, to champion and lobby for a renewable energy future in South Africa.
Renewable energy offers a concrete alternative to the current electricity system that is failing all South Africans.
Global wildlife could plunge to a 67 per cent level of decline in just the 50-year period ending this decade as a result of human activities, according to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2016. The report shows how people are overpowering the planet for the first time in Earth’s history and highlights the changes needed in the way society is fed and fuelled.
The report says global populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles have been on the decline
According to the report, global populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles have already declined by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012, the most recent year with available data. This places the world on a trajectory of a potential two-thirds decline within a span of the half-century ending in 2020.
Fortunately, 2020 is also a year of great promise. In that same year, commitments made under the Paris climate deal will kick in, and the first environmental actions under the globe’s new sustainable development plan are due. If implemented, these measures, along with meeting international biodiversity targets set for 2020, can help achieve the reforms needed in the world’s food and energy systems to protect wildlife across the globe.
“Wildlife is disappearing within our lifetimes at an unprecedented rate,” said Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF International. “This is not just about the wonderful species we all love; biodiversity forms the foundation of healthy forests, rivers and oceans. Take away species, and these ecosystems will collapse along with the clean air, water, food and climate services that they provide us. We have the tools to fix this problem and we need to start using them now if we are serious about preserving a living planet for our own survival and prosperity.”
The WWF report uses the Living Planet Index, provided by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), to monitor trends in wildlife abundance. This index reports how wildlife populations have changed in size, rather than the specific number of animals that have been lost or gained.
“Human behaviour continues to drive the decline of wildlife populations globally, with particular impact in freshwater habitats. Importantly however, these are declines, they are not yet extinctions – and this should be a wake-up call to marshal efforts to promote the recovery of these populations,” said Professor Ken Norris, Director of Science at ZSL.
Additional evidence of a man-made era The top threats to species identified in the report are directly linked to human activities, including habitat loss, degradation and overexploitation of wildlife.
The report’s findings provide additional evidence that the planet is entering completely unchartered territory in its history in which humanity is shaping changes on the Earth, including a possible sixth mass extinction. Researchers are already calling this period the Anthropocene. Understanding why we are moving into this new epoch enables us to identify solutions for restoring the ecosystems we depend upon.
According to the report, food production to meet the complex demands of an expanding human population is leading the race in the destruction of habitats and overexploitation of wildlife. At present, agriculture occupies about one-third of the Earth’s total land area and accounts for almost 70 per cent of water use.
The Living Planet Report 2016 outlines solutions to reform the way we produce and consume food to help ensure that the world is well-fed in a sustainable way. The report also focuses on the fundamental changes required in the global energy and finance systems to meet the sustainability needs of future generations.
Pushing the planet to its limits Living Planet Report 2016 draws on leading research about the scale and impact of human activity on our planet. One such framework, developed by the Stockholm Resilience Centre in collaboration with partners, demonstrates that humanity has surpassed four out of nine Planetary Boundaries – safe thresholds for critical Earth system processes that maintain life on the planet.
In a special foreword in the report, Planetary Boundaries lead researcher Johan Rockström underlines the need for an urgent transition to a world that works within Earth’s safe operating space.
The report also features research from the Global Footprint Network that shows that while we only have one Earth, humanity is currently using the resources of 1.6 planets to provide the goods and services we use each year.
“No matter how you add it up, the math does not look good. The more we continue to exceed Earth’s limits, the more damage we do to our own future,” said Lambertini. “We are at a decisive moment in time when we can seize the solutions to steer our food, energy and finance systems in a more sustainable direction.”
Charting the way forward
The WWF report demonstrates that we need to rethink how we produce, consume, measure success and value the natural environment.
Adequately protecting the environment alongside economic and social development requires an urgent system change by individuals, businesses and governments to move from a short-sighted approach to a visionary approach that values future generations.
In one example, the report shows how smallholder farmers in Kenya work with local authorities and the food industry to manage the natural resources of Lake Naivasha, the country’s second largest freshwater body, a biodiversity hotspot and a significant contributor to its GDP.
The report also illustrates the positive momentum that is building by highlighting recent global agreements on climate change and sustainable development. In particular, the report recognizes the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as an essential guide to decision-making that can ensure that the environment is valued alongside economic and social interests.
“A strong natural environment is the key to defeating poverty, improving health and developing a just and prosperous future. We have proven that we know what it takes to build a resilient planet for future generations, we just need to act on that knowledge,” Lambertini added.
Living Planet Report 2016: Risk and resilience in a new era is the 11th edition of WWF’s biennial flagship publication. The report tracks over 14,000 vertebrate populations of over 3,700 species from 1970 to 2012.
Attempting a review of “Lagos Water Crisis: Alternative roadmap for public water sector” on Thursday in Lagos during the book’s public presentation, Dr Chido Onumah, who is Coordinator of the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), suggests that, if followed with the appropriate political will, the report can transform the Lagos water system “from a source of disease, conflict and suffering into a model for all the world to emulate”
Lagos is regarded as the fabled city of water yet, says the reviewer, the bulk of the population have no access to it
Favour, 15, and her four siblings live with their parents in a two-room apartment in Bariga, a suburb formerly under Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos State, but now a Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of its own. Like in other places, the taps in the building have gone dry for years, and so is the public tap down the street erected by the government to meet the water needs of the people in the area. So they are forced to buy water from mai ruwa, the ubiquitous water vendors who have become a permanent feature of life serving the needs of the people in virtually every community in the state.
But most of the time the family can’t afford the vendors, so she and her brother, Tomi, 13, would pick up the jerrycans to go search for water for the use of the household before they go to school. To get enough water every morning, they have to do three trips each. And when they return from school, after homework, the other major preoccupation is to go look for water.
Almost on a daily basis, they live with the stress of pounding the streets with adults and early teens like themselves who are routinely roused from sleep before dawn by their parents to go and fetch water, not just for drinking and cooking, but also for other domestic needs for which the commodity is required. This is the depressing spectacle that is common in the coastal city of Lagos, a dreamy landscape of over 21 million residents
Snuggled in the caressing coolness of the lagoon and the Gulf of Guinea, Lagos is the fabled city of water; water everywhere, yet in a disarming twist of cruel irony, its residents, especially low-income earners that form the bulk of the population, have no access to water. Thank God for mai ruwa. What would have happened without the intervention of this itinerant group of resilient economic hustlers whose main source of water supply are the boreholes and water tankers? Of course, this acute water shortage has severe consequences, including compromised sanitation and the impoverishment of Lagosians.
It is this embarrassing dilemma bedeviling the city that the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria seeks to address in its latest audacious report entitled, Lagos Water Crisis: Alternative Roadmap for Efficient Water Sector. A tour de force of no mean reckoning, the 56-page report (including references) is at once an eye-opener – a sobering, reflective and penetrating excursion into the stark profile of public water utility in Africa’s most populous city. Thankfully, while it paints an ugly picture of this sector, this document also offers a ray of hope.
The content page has seven sub-headings and kicks off with the executive summary that outlines the aim of the report, which includes charting a pathway out of the Lagos water problem, highlighting the impact and reasons why the current water system is not working, offering blueprints from around the world that would suit the Lagos situation and making concrete proposals that can be exploited in the interim, as well as continuously by the Lagos State government and the Lagos State Water Corporation.
According to the report, Lagos is responsible for more than 60 percent of industrial and commercial activities in Nigeria. The Lagos State Water Supply Master plan estimates daily water demand in the city at 540 million gallons per day (MGD) and production by the Lagos State Water Corporation at 210 MGD. It says, however, that the Corporation’s website lists total production capacity at only 163 MGD. By 2020, water demand is expected to reach 733 GMD.
The report opens a rare insight into the health and economic implications of the Lagos water crisis. It notes that since water and sanitation are crucial factors in public health, the impact of water crisis on public health is grave. “Indeed, it puts the State’s booming population at risk of diseases like cholera, dysentery, diarrhea and salmonellosis, in addition to escalating cases of typhoid and malaria fever,” the report observes gravely.
Quoting Dr. Jide Idris, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, it recalls that in February 2016, 25 children in Otodo Gbame, in Ikate Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state died after drinking the community’s pathogen-infected water. Unfortunately, many houses are currently serviced by boreholes. The dangers of drinking such water, it says, include long-term exposure to toxins. Also, quoting a 2012 report published in Resources and Environment, the report says some borehole water samples examined in Lagos contained high concentration of the heavy metals lead and cadmium at levels above the World Health Organisation (WHO) maximum acceptable concentration (MAC). It warns that only adequate water treatment could help control heavy metal exposure.
On the economic consequences of water shortage, the report notes that the high cost of sourcing water has made Lagos residents poorer. It notes, “The average family could use up to seven or eight jerrycans daily, which translates to N10,000 to N17,000 monthly in a nation where the middle class average family income is N75,000-N100,000. This high price threatens the availability of water, which improves the quality of life and makes citizens healthier for economic activities and development.”
Faced with such high human and economic cost as a result of water crisis, it is pertinent to examine how Lagos found itself in this awkward position. For starters, the report observes that the root of Lagos water crisis is not traceable to a single cause, but to a number of causes which includes, first and foremost, the fact that for decades expansion of the public water system has not corresponded with the rapid growth of the metropolis.
Other reasons include ageing and insufficient water infrastructure, decades of policies that did not work, failure to ensure meaningful public participation, poor labour practices, regulatory failures, and, of course, inadequate budget allocation. For example, though the governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, described the State’s 2016 budget as the “people’s budget,” it falls short on water, with only N17.6billion or 2.7 percent for the State’s Water Corporation. In spite of this, the report notes that with the right financial and social policies, Lagos can fund the water structure required to ensure all Lagosians have affordable access to safe water.
If there’s one significant achievement of this report it is the fact that it brings to the fore the problem of access to water as a human rights issue. It clearly underscores this notion through interviews with a cross section of Lagos residents which show that the public desires a system that sustains their right to water and allows the people to participate in making decisions about their water needs.
However, to fulfil the human right to water, the report says governments must ensure water is available, physically accessible, affordable, safe, and acceptable in odour, colour and other qualities. The concept of water privatisation being canvassed in some quarters is unanimously rejected by all individuals and groups featured in the interviews.
The report examines public water successes, citing examples and models from around the world which Lagos could draw from if it is committed to re-inventing its public water system. It reminds those who are angling for the privatisation of water that the most prominent examples of efficiency are located in the public sector, not the private sector. “For example, public operator Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA) increased coverage from 20% to 90% in less than 20 years,” the report says.
Pointing the way forward for Lagos, the report offers Governor Ambode and the State House of Assembly a set of policy guidelines which, if followed with the appropriate political will, could transform the Lagos water system “from a source of disease, conflict and suffering into a model for all the world to emulate.”
Well-researched and brilliantly rendered, ERA/FoEN has through this report once again demonstrated its legendary capacity to intervene and proffer solutions in critical areas of life, especially as it affects the environment. Unlike the Lagos water, the language of this report is accessible, and is made more captivating by graphic illustrations that accentuate as much as the word the quality of the entire package.
This is not a document that should be left to gather dust on the shelves of public libraries (where they exist) or government offices. It is a report that state governors across the country should permanently hold on to if they are serious about solving the water crisis in their states.
Perhaps as a way of driving home the importance of water, it is just as fitting that the authors summoned the immortal words of Leonardo Da Vinci to wrap up this excellent report: “Water is the driving force of all nature.”
The title of the review is paraphrased from lines in the poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
