Bayelsa and River state have also had their fair share of the earth tremor menace, which is increasingly giving the nation a cause for concern.
Several cities in Nigeria have experienced earth tremor
A couple of months ago, tremors in parts of the two oil-rich states reportedly caused palpable apprehension among residents of affected communities.
Residents of the areas noted that the tremors caused serious cracks on the walls of their buildings though no injury was reported.
It was learnt that, in some of the impacted communities such as Igbogene and Akenfa in Bayelsa as well as Akinima, Akie-Oniso (Oruama), One Man Country and Mbiama – neighbouring communities in Rivers, many people who experienced it took some time to recover from the trauma.
According to them, there were heavy vibrations that lasted for some minutes during the incident which was said to have started at about 12 midnight.
A retired Principal and landlord in Igbogene, Bayelsa State, Chief Etekpe Friday, described the experience as “frightening”.
“We were about to go to bed when I heard a heavy vibration. I thought it was something else so I quickly went into prayers,” the 60-year-old man stated.
Another resident, Victor Idieto, described the earth tremor as a kind of earthquake.
He said, “In fact, there was a kind of earthquake, very serious quake that lasted for some minutes.
“At first, I thought it was armed robbers that were removing my roof, so I started shouting, ‘armed robbers, armed robbers’, only to realise that others had similar experience.”
At Akie-Oniso(Oruama) in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, a resident, Paul Kio, said the tremor caused a serious crack in his building.
“This vibration was something unpredictable, look at the cracks on my wall,” Kio explained.
Also, Paul Harrison, who hails from Delta State, but resides in the area, said it was the fourth time the incident had taken place, vowing to take his family away from the community if another occurred.
The story was the same at Akinima, headquarters of the LGA. A house wife, Animason Emeka-Mark, pointed out that she had a traumatic feeling throughout the fateful night.
“Everywhere was shaking. It was something else. I thought the world had come to an end,” she said.”
Officials of the environment based non-governmental organisation, Environmental Right Action and Friends of the Earth in Nigeria, Bayelsa State chapter, who were also on an assessment tour of the affected areas, said that was not the first vibration experienced.
ERA/FoEN coordinator in Bayelsa, Mr. Alagoa Morris, said the last occurrence took place two years ago in Freetown, Ikarama 1 & 2 in Okordia clan in Yenagoa LGA.
He said that though what could have triggered the tremor had yet to be established, some indigenes and environmentalists had linked it to intense seismic and oil exploration activities undertaken by multinational companies in the area over the years.
Morris, therefore, called on the government and relevant agencies to look into the incident with a view to ascertaining the real cause and prevent future occurrences to avert any disaster.
Although Nigeria is not located within the major seismic zones of the world; over the years, several minor earthquakes have been experienced in some parts of the country.
Earthquake
Seismic events had been recorded instrumentally and also historically from 1933 to 2011 in Nigeria. The first widely reported occurrence of an Earth tremor in Nigeria was in 1933. Other events were reported in 1939, 1964, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2006. The intensities of these events ranged from III to VI based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. Of these events, only the 1984, 1990, 1994 and 2000 events were instrumentally recorded.
These pockets of activities were felt in different parts of the country with the southwest region recording the highest number of events and moderate magnitudes of between 4 and 4.5.
They had body wave magnitudes ranging from 4.3 to 4.5, local magnitudes between 3.7 and 4.2, and surface wave magnitudes of 3.7 to 3.9.
The geology and the structural tectonic setting of the region in question are the probable mechanisms that are responsible for the observed and recorded events in Nigeria.
When these events occurred, there were no functional seismological observatories in Nigeria. However, that has now changed with the establishment of a seismographic network managed by the Centre for Geodesy and Geodynamics (CGG), Toro, Nigeria.
In 2006, the Centre for Geodesy and Geodynamics in Toro took over the management of the Nigerian National Network of Seismographic Stations (NNNSS) established by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).
Presently, the network has four operational stations equipped with 24-bit 4-channel recorders and broadband 30-second seismometers. Efforts are being made to establish more stations and migrate to real-time collection of seismic data using the general packet radio service (GPRS) technology as well as automatic location of events.
Effort to increase the number of stations has reached an advance stage. The Centre also intends to modify the monitoring framework to collocate with Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), Global Positioning System in the exiting five stations and the proposed additional one station.
Remote sensing, geological and geophysical studies have revealed the presence of a NNE-SSW trending Ifewara-Zungeru fault zone which has been shown to be linked with the Atlantic fracture system. The dynamics of the Atlantic fracture zones have been suggested to be responsible for the seismic activities experienced in the areas.
Six states have been named as possible sites for devastating earthquakes before 2020. They are Lagos, Bayelsa, Oyo, Rivers, Cross River and Delta.
A view of the Lagos Marina. Experts have listed Lagos, Oyo and several others among states prone to earthquake
However, Kaduna State, which has of recent experienced series of earth tremors, is not lincluded in the list.
Researchers from the Department of Geology, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife in Osun State, led by Dr Adepelumi Adekunle Abraham, warned in a report titled “Preliminary Assessment of Earth Tremor Occurrence in Shaki Area, Shaki West Local Government, Oyo State” of an impending “damaging earthquake” in the next four years.
The study was informed by an earth-moving tremor that occurred at Shaki town, in the Shaki West Local Government, Oyo State.
The report stated: “After the earth tremor of 2009 in southwestern Nigeria that was felt in several towns and villages in Oyo, Osun and Ogun states, a detailed short-term probabilistic earthquake prediction was carried out by our team, our findings indicate the probability of earthquake occurrence in the study area between the year 2009 and 2028 increased from 2.8 per cent to 91.1 per cent.”
The areas flagged by the report with the possibility of experiencing earthquake disaster are:
Lagos, Port-Harcourt in Rivers State, Warri in Delta State, Bayelsa State, Cross River State and Oyo State.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Association of Water-Well Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners (AWDROP) has called on the Federal Government to take measures that could reduce the effects of earthquake as the states exist at the risk of possible earthquake.
National President of AWDROP, Mr. Michael Ale, lamented that lack of Underground Water Abstraction Regulation in Nigeria could easily induce earthquake and sea water intrusion, “hence the need for government to ensure strict compliance in the implementation of code of practice in borehole drilling” in the country.
Ale said his association had been informed of the salt water intrusion affecting underground water usage and subsidence along the land-ocean boundaries in shoreline areas.
Many residents of Sambang Dagi in Jaba Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State have been displaced as a result of earth tremors felt in the area.
From Left: Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. speaking to the press. He has urged residents of communities affected by the earth tremors to remain calm. Photo credit: Bayoor Ewuoso
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the first tremor happened at Nok village about 20km away from Sambang, and another was felt in the early hours of Monday.
The residents were reportedly thrown into state of shock when the incident took them unawares around 4am.
Details of damages or any loss of live was still sketchy as of the time of filling this report.
Nasir el-Rufai, governor of the state, has urged residents of the affected communities to remain calm.
He said this in a statement issued on his behalf by Sam Aruwan, his spokesman.
The statement said the government had made a formal report to the appropriate authorities to investigate the development and report on the event for appropriate guidance.
“The Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has confirmed that the geological and emergency agencies have been notified.
“The governor sympathises with the people in the Kwoi area over the reported earth tremors. He has directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to mobilise to the area and comfort our citizens.
“The national geological agency has also been notified, and has been invited to investigate the tremors in the Kwoi area and provide appropriate guidance.
“The Kaduna State Government is receiving updates from the area,” the statement read.
“Relevant government agencies have been directed to take steps to comfort the residents of Kwoi area and to assuage their unease as they come to terms with an unusual event.
“The Kaduna State Government wishes to appeal for calm, and urges everyone not to spread unverified information, or create panic.”
Just days ago, precisely from Sunday morning till about 2pm, Kwoi town in Jaba local government area of the state was hit by a tremor. The strange vibration of the earth and deafening sounds created panic as residents were forced out of their homes.
An eye witness, Suleiman Yakubu, who is a journalist, said of the incident: “Though people have not started fleeing the community but, as I talk to you, there is tension. Everyone is standing outside as the earth is vibrating under their feet. It started since morning and if it continues like this till evening, people will have no choice than to leave the town to safer places.”
Another eyewitness, Badugu Nehemiah, a politician, said: “Since morning, many people in our villages have been running up and down, because both buildings and the ground have been shaking. Many churches had to cut short their Sunday service programmes because of the earthquake threat. As I am speaking with you, the ground is still shaking.”
And, about four months before the Kwoi tremor, Ikara town in the same Kaduna State also experienced a tremor that sacked hundreds of households.
A few days ago a 5.8 earthquake in Tanzania killed about 15 people and injured over 200 others; while another quake which struck in Italy late last month killed close to 300 people and caused extensive damage.
The US government on Friday temporarily blocked construction on part of a North Dakota oil pipeline, an unusual intervention in a prairie battle that has drawn thousands of Native Americans and activists to camp and demonstrate.
Dakota Access pipeline protest in North Dakota. Photo Credit: “No Dakota Access in Treaty Territory – Camp of the Sacred Stones”
In announcing the pause, the government acknowledged complaints from the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribal nations that their concerns had not been fully heard before federal overseers approved a pipeline that the tribe said could damage their water supplies and ancestral cultural sites. The Justice Department and other agencies called for “serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes’ views on these types of infrastructure projects.”
The tribe in a statement called the federal order “a game changer.”
The government’s move, announced minutes after a federal judge rejected efforts by the Standing Rock Sioux to block construction of the project, appeared to seek to ease tensions and reset the terms of a passionate debate that has cast the 1,170-mile Dakota Access pipeline either as an economic boon for the Plains or a threat to Native American sovereignty, waters and lands. But perhaps more significantly, it appeared to signal a broader willingness to re-examine the involvement of the tribes in infrastructure decisions like this one.
The government said it would invite tribes to attend formal consultations about how they might work together on federal decisions on tribal lands and on whether future legislation is needed.
In recent days, protesters have clashed with the pipeline company’s contractors and private security guards, and officials in North Dakota have stepped up patrols and warned of rising tensions as ranchers, sheriff’s officers, tribal leaders and protesters waited for a ruling on the Standing Rock Sioux’s federal lawsuit to block construction on the pipeline.
In a joint statement from the Departments of Justice, the Interior and the Army, the government announced that the pause applied to the pipeline’s path across a sliver of federal lands and under a dammed section of the Missouri River known as Lake Oahe. The lake, created by government-built dams a half-century ago, is a water source for the Standing Rock Sioux and a focal point of the dispute.
The Army Corps of Engineers intends to review its previous decisions under federal environmental and other laws that had given approval for the pipeline. The government also urged the company building the pipeline to “voluntarily pause” all construction for 40 miles around Lake Oahe. The rest of the pipeline construction would not be affected.
Tribal leaders said they were heartened by the government’s move and relieved that, for the time being, the Dakota Access pipeline would not be allowed to cross under their water supply. “When there’s a wrong that keeps continuing to happen, it’s O.K. to stand up against that wrong. That’s all we did,” said David Archambault II, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux. “I’m just so thankful that agencies are starting to listen.”
For supporters and opponents of the pipeline, it was a day of high-tension whiplash.
The tribe had been bracing for a defeat in the courtroom. But the government’s intervention surprised so many that the tribe and its supporters sent out news releases condemning the ruling as soon as it was handed down, and sharply reversed course once they realized that the government-ordered pause had scrambled the situation here.
Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the MAIN Coalition, a pro-infrastructure group supporting the pipeline, hailed the judge’s decision, but said the government’s move was “deeply troubling and could have a long-lasting chilling effect on private infrastructure development in the United States.”
“Should the administration ultimately stop this construction, it would set a horrific precedent,” Mr. Stevens said in the statement. “No sane American company would dare expend years of effort and billions of dollars weaving through an onerous regulatory process receiving all necessary permits and agreements, only to be faced with additional regulatory impediments and be shut down halfway through completion of its project.”
Activist Howard Ehrman said: “This important victory only happened because of the unity, strength and solidarity of Native Americans in lifting up the rights of Mother Earth including the sacredness of water and taking direct action.”
The company behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, did not respond to a request for comment.
It was unclear whether the company would heed the government’s request to pause construction 20 miles to the east and west of Lake Oahe. After protests swelled recently and flared into violence last Saturday, construction work was halted near the site of the protest camp and the fields about a mile up the road where the pipeline is set to be buried.
The company has previously said it has complied with every state and federal rule and gotten all the necessary permits to build the $3.7 billion pipeline. It has said the Dakota Access pipeline would create jobs, pump millions into local economies and provide a reliable way to transport oil from western North Dakota to pipeline networks in Illinois that was safer than hauling oil on trucks or trains.
In his ruling, Judge James E. Boasberg of Federal District Court in Washington focused on efforts by the Army Corps to meet with the Standing Rock Sioux and others to work through possible issues with the pipeline, since “the Corps appears to have had little involvement in Dakota Access’s early planning,” the judge wrote, but “The writing was on the wall, however, that many DAPL permitting requests would eventually land in the Corps inbox.”
The judge described a series of attempted meetings and missed communications between government and tribal officials; the judge suggested that the lack of cooperation was mostly on the part of the tribe, while “the Corps has documented dozens of attempts it made to consult with the Standing Rock Sioux from the fall of 2014 through the spring of 2016” on the pipeline plan.
Two days after the Corps approved what are known as preconstruction notifications on the pipeline, the tribes filed suit demanding that the permits be withdrawn.
The judge said the efforts to obtain cooperation from the Standing Rock tribe were exhaustive, with dozens of attempts documented by the Corps to bring them to the table for discussion of Lake Oahe and other points of water crossings. The judge then wryly added: “To the reader’s relief, the Court need not repeat them here. Suffice it to say that the Tribe largely refused to engage in consultations.”
The meetings that the Corps was able to arrange, he wrote, “sufficed” under the law.
“Today’s news is a stunning development,” said Jan Hasselman, a lawyer with Earthjustice, an environmental legal group that is representing the Standing Rock Sioux. “It vindicates what the tribe has been saying form the beginning: The process was wrong, and the legal standards for projects like these need reform.”
It was unclear on Friday how long the government-ordered pause in construction around Lake Oahe might last, or whether the move had given the Standing Rock Sioux any greater odds of prevailing. But on Friday morning, tribal members said they had lived on the land for generation upon generation, and were prepared to stay through the fall, the winter and beyond.
“They’ll be here for years,” said Jana Gipp, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux, as she surveyed the camp’s tents and teepees from a grassy bluff. “They won’t give this up.”
By Jack Healy and John Schwartz (The New York Times)
Joint Statement from the Department of Justice, the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior Regarding Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The Department of Justice, the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior issued the following statement regarding Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
“We appreciate the District Court’s opinion on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act. However, important issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other tribal nations and their members regarding the Dakota Access pipeline specifically, and pipeline-related decision-making generally, remain. Therefore, the Department of the Army, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior will take the following steps.
The Army will not authorize constructing the Dakota Access pipeline on Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe until it can determine whether it will need to reconsider any of its previous decisions regarding the Lake Oahe site under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or other federal laws. Therefore, construction of the pipeline on Army Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe will not go forward at this time. The Army will move expeditiously to make this determination, as everyone involved — including the pipeline company and its workers — deserves a clear and timely resolution. In the interim, we request that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.
“Furthermore, this case has highlighted the need for a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes’ views on these types of infrastructure projects. Therefore, this fall, we will invite tribes to formal, government-to-government consultations on two questions: (1) within the existing statutory framework, what should the federal government do to better ensure meaningful tribal input into infrastructure-related reviews and decisions and the protection of tribal lands, resources, and treaty rights; and (2) should new legislation be proposed to Congress to alter that statutory framework and promote those goals.
“Finally, we fully support the rights of all Americans to assemble and speak freely. We urge everyone involved in protest or pipeline activities to adhere to the principles of nonviolence. Of course, anyone who commits violent or destructive acts may face criminal sanctions from federal, tribal, state, or local authorities. The Departments of Justice and the Interior will continue to deploy resources to North Dakota to help state, local, and tribal authorities, and the communities they serve, better communicate, defuse tensions, support peaceful protest, and maintain public safety.
“In recent days, we have seen thousands of demonstrators come together peacefully, with support from scores of sovereign tribal governments, to exercise their First Amendment rights and to voice heartfelt concerns about the environment and historic, sacred sites. It is now incumbent on all of us to develop a path forward that serves the broadest public interest.”
Phivolcs cites ‘abnormal activity’ such as drying wells, more earthquakes, and increased sulphur dioxide emission of the volcano
The Mayon Volcano. Volcanologists say magma beneath the so-called ‘perfect cone’ is building up. Photo credit: Rhaydz B. Barcia/Rappler
Scientists at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) have warned of a possible “big” Mayon volcano eruption in the coming days. The warning was issued at the weekend.
“Phreatic explosion may happen anytime but a big explosion is expected in the coming days,” said Philvolcs resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta.
Laguerta cited “abnormal activity” similar to what happened prior to the Mayon eruption in 1984.
The 1984 Mayon eruption is classified as a Vulcanian-type eruption which involves relatively small but violent explosions of thick lava producing columns of ash, gas, and occasional pyroclastic flows.
“The massive drying up of wells across Albay, specifically in the municipalities surrounding the volcano, may be attributed to the magma movement activity beneath the restive volcano,” Laguerta added.
He also cited the three consecutive earthquakes in August originating from the Sto Domingo fault line, which can affect volcanic activity.
Laguerta said his office asked geodetic engineers from the Phivolcs central office to conduct a ground survey around the volcano following the earthquakes.
“We noted after the survey, Mayon is inflated, magma beneath the volcano is building up. Deep wells are drying up surrounding the volcano and in several towns here – an implication of abnormal activity,” he said.
Magmatic eruption possible
Laguerta said that while magma build-up did not progress past the belly of the volcano during its explosion in 2014, a “magmatic eruption” may happen this time around.
“Today the possibility to continue for magmatic eruption is possible. We cannot discount the possibility of big explosion,” he said.
With these latest findings, Phivolcs raised Mayon to Alert Level 1.
According to a Phivolcs advisory, its monitoring showed the following:
Increased sulphur dioxide emission from the Mayon crater, or beyond the baseline level of 500 tons per day, even exceeding 1,000 tons per day on some days, since July 2016
Increased volcanic earthquake activity, with a total of 146 earthquakes recorded by the Mayon Volcano Observatory seismic network from August 3 to August 6 on the southeast side, 10 kilometers away from the volcano
Four of the 14 monitored water wells located on the southeastern side of Mayon are drying up, while one has completely dried up
Steam activity from the crater has ranged from weak to moderate, and no crater glow – which would indicate magma activity – has been observed. Even so, Phivolcs warned of a phreatic explosion anytime that could lead to a big eruption.
Rocks and steam are spewed out during a phreatic explosion.
Laguerta also reiterated the government’s warning for the public to stay out of the 6-kilometer danger zone, to avoid casualties.
In 1993, 77 farmers were killed, while several foreigners and their Filipino tourist guide were killed in phreatic explosions in 2013.
Cedric Daep, Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (Apsemo) chief, said there are 18,000 people living along the slopes of the volcano.
Mayon has an elevation of 2,462 metres and is about 300 kilometers away from Manila. Its worst eruption was in 1814, which killed 1,200 people.
The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry has named Domimique Bally Kpokro of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to its five-person Executive Committee.
Domimique Bally Kpokro
Mr. Kpokro is president of the African Centre for Environmenal Health and vice president for Africa, World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry. He will remain in Abidjan in these positions.
Mr. Charlie Brown, American, President of the World Alliance, said, “It has been my honour to work with Dominique Bally Kpokro since 2010; he is truly one of the foremost young environmental leaders in the world. I was in Abidjan last year (April 2015) for a splendid conference Dominique organised, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) workshop for francophone Africa to transition the region to mercury-free dentistry.”
The old form of dentistry was to use amalgam, a material that is 50% mercury, a powerful neurotoxin and environmental menace. The Minamata Convention on Mercury calls for a transition to mercury-free dentistry. Since it burst onto the scene in 2010, the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry has steadily expanded its global mission, and now has programmes in every region, with a particular emphasis on West Africa and East Africa.
Led by NGO leader Mr. Leslie Adogame of SRADev Nigeria, the nation of Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s focal point in the campaign for mercury-free dentistry. The now-famous Abuja Declaration for Mercury-Free Dentistry for Africa, drafted in Abuja in 2014 and endorsed by 40 civil society organisations from across West, North, East, Central, and Southern Africa, calls for Africa to the be the first continent to be rid of mercury-free dentistry, starting with a ban for children.
Dr. Shahriar Hossain of Bangladesh, leader of the Asian campaign for the World Alliance, said: “Dominique Bally is well known in Asia for his work against toxins and for better environment for all. His appointment will be very well received in my region.”
Mr. Kpokro said: “I have been to 15 African nations to work for mercury-free dentistry. In this new role with the World Alliance, I will make sure that Africa’s voice is equal to all others. Working with my esteemed colleagues, I intend to accelerate the movement to mercury-free dentistry across Africa. Today, I am pleased to say, we have campaigns across West, North, East, Central, and Southern Africa.”
With its Secretariat in Washington, the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry has a worldwide network with nine regional vice presidents and NGO representatives in 40 nations. Led by professionals in dentistry, medicine, ecology, engineering, journalism, and law, it works in partnership with UNEP and governments to implement the transition to mercury-free, amalgam-free dentistry.
Kpokro added: “The government of Cote d’Ivoire is implementing a full transition to mercury-free dentistry, and I salute the work of The Ministry of environment Dr Allah Kouadio Remi through his General Director of Environment Pr. George Kouadio, for establishing and allowing a permanent dialogue with all stakeholders in charge of the implementation of such transition to mercury-free dentistry.”
The IUCN World Conservation Congress closed on Saturday in Hawaiʻi, setting the global conservation agenda for the next four years and defining a roadmap for the implementation of the historic agreements adopted in 2015.
Dancers of Nakinimakalehua Consortium (with Halau Ke’alaokamaile, Pa’u O Hi’iaka, Halau Kamaluokaleihulu and Halau Hi’iakainamakalehua) take the stage during the closing performances in the IUCN World Conservation Congress opening ceremony, Neal S. Blaisdell Centre arena in Hawai’i, Thursday, September 1, 2016. Photo credit: CTY – HSA / Bruce Asato
The IUCN Congress has drawn to a close with the presentation of the Hawai’i Commitments. This document, titled “Navigating Island Earth”, was shaped by debates and deliberations over the last 10 days, and opened for comment to some 10,000 participants from 192 countries.
It outlines opportunities to address some of the greatest challenges facing nature conservation and calls for a commitment to implement them. It encapsulates the collective commitment by all who attended the Congress to undertake profound transformations in how human societies live on Earth, with particular attention to making our patterns of production and consumption more sustainable.
“Some of the world’s greatest minds and most dedicated professionals met here at the IUCN Congress to decide on the most urgent action needed to ensure the long-term survival of life on Earth and our planet’s ability to sustain us,” says Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General. “This IUCN Congress has come at a pivotal time in our planet’s history as we find ourselves at a crossroad, facing challenges of unprecedented magnitude.
“Today, we leave Hawaiʻi equipped with a much clearer roadmap for advancing on the post-2015 agenda, confident that we have taken our first steps on the road to a sustainable future where nature and human progress support each other.”
With more than 10,000 registered participants, the event brought together leaders from government, civil society, indigenous, faith and spiritual communities, the private sector, and academia, to collectively decide on actions to address the most pressing conservation and sustainable development challenges.
More than 100 resolutions and recommendations have been adopted by IUCN Members – a unique global environmental parliament of governments and NGOs – many of which call on third parties to take action on a wide range of urgent conservation issues.
Key decisions included closure of domestic markets for elephant ivory, the urgency of protecting the high seas, the need to protect primary forests, no-go areas for industrial activities within protected areas and an official IUCN policy on biodiversity offsets.
“International decision-makers have converged on the most urgently needed conservation action,” says IUCN President, Zhang Xinsheng. “IUCN’s more than 1,300 Members behind these decisions give them the weight to drive the real change needed to address some of the biggest challenges our planet faces today.”
IUCN Members have also approved a new programme for IUCN for the next four years and elected new IUCN leadership.
The IUCN Congress put new issues on the global sustainability agenda, including the importance of linking spirituality, religion, culture and conservation, and the need to implement nature-based solutions – actions that protect and manage ecosystems, while effectively addressing societal challenges, such as food and water security, climate change, disaster risk reduction, human health and economic well-being.
U.S. President Obama’s announcement to expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – now the largest protected area in the world – set the scene for the IUCN Congress.
Other announcements included the commitment from Governor Ige of Hawaiʻi to protect 30% of Hawai’i’s highest priority watershed forests by 2030, effectively manage 30% of Hawai‘i’s nearshore waters by 2030, double local food production and achieve 100 % renewable energy in the electricity sector by 2045.
Colombia has announced the quadrupling in size of the Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary bringing it to 27,000 km2.
The IUCN Congress also saw new commitments to the Bonn Challenge initiative to restore 150 million hectares of degraded land by 2050. With the latest pledges from Malawi and Guatemala, total Bonn Challenge pledges have now exceeded 113 million hectares, committed by 36 governments, organisations and companies.
The next IUCN World Conservation Congress will take place in 2020.
Experience gained using markets in the Asia-Pacific region to combat climate change can help ensure success of the global climate change agreement adopted in Paris last December.
The International Convention Centre on Jeju Island in South Korea hosted the 2016 Asia-Pacific Carbon Forum, where participants explored market approaches to combat climate change. Photo credit: twitter.com
This was the consensus of the 300 participants, from 60 countries, at this year’s Asia-Pacific Carbon Forum that held recently in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea.
After three days of panel discussions, meetings and presentations, participants observed that:
China has more than 10 years of experience with carbon markets, starting with emission reduction and development projects under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), establishment of voluntary emissions trading, seven emissions trading system (ETS) pilots and plans for a national ETS in 2017.
The Republic of Korea has had an ETS since 2015, becoming the second country in Asia to introduce a nationwide cap-and-trade system, which now covers about 530 businesses.
Japan is pursuing a number market approaches to combat climate change, including a Joint Crediting Mechanism similar to the CDM, a system that awards offset credits to domestic entities that reduce emissions, a voluntary ETS and an ETS in the city of Tokyo.
New Zealand has had an emissions trading system since 2008, designed to assist the country in meeting its international climate change obligations and reduce domestic emissions below business as usual. The system is currently being reviewed.
Australia, after a few years of uncertainty and policy reversals, has stabilised its climate policy suite around its Emission Reduction Fund and the Safeguard Mechanism.
The Paris Climate Change Agreement, the gathering stressed, provides: for transferring mitigation outcomes, essentially emissions trading; a new Sustainable Development Mechanism; and a framework for non-market approaches. All three of these economic instruments, it was gathered, are described in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
“It was extremely encouraging to see the commitment of APCF participants to harness the carbon markets in achieving development outcomes, and as a climate and development practitioner I join in the effort,” said Rakshya Thapa, Regional Technical Specialist, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “I believe the carbon market is one of the most important instruments that can further the objectives of the Paris Agreement while simultaneously and coherently achieving Sustainable Development Goals.”
“The Forum drew together a wealth of experience in using market incentives to cut carbon emissions, whether in innovative climate finance or carbon trading,” said Dirk Forrister, President and Chief Executive Officer, International Emissions Trading Association (IETA). “It is encouraging to learn how the new markets in Korea, China and the global aviation industry are shaping a future vision of international cooperation in protecting the climate.”
“Delighted to see growing enthusiasm for the resurgence of carbon markets after the adoption of the Paris Agreement,” said V.K. Duggal, Senior Climate Change Specialist, Asian Development Bank (ADB).
“The forum brought together the emission trading community – governments, financial institutions, investors, donors and businesses – discussing a range of topics, including carbon markets, national mitigation actions, aviation, domestic carbon pricing systems, such as those in operation in the Republic of Korea and in China, and in development in Thailand and other jurisdictions,” said Niclas Svenningsen, Manager, Stakeholder and Relationship Management Unit, Sustainable Development Mechanisms programme, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat. “The event was useful to shape up collaboration in the region in linking markets and to achieve our long-term climate and sustainability goals through market instruments, including UNFCCC instruments such as the clean development mechanism.”
APCF 2016 was organised by the ADB, IETA, UNFCCC secretariat and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, in collaboration with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
Support for Indigenous peoples’ rights has received a boost, thanks to key decisions adopted last week by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in Hawaiʻi, USA.
Peruvian amazonian indigenous peoples
In a landmark pronouncement, the IUCN Members’ Assembly voted to create a new category of membership for Indigenous peoples’ organisations. According to the organisation, this will open the opportunity to strengthen the presence and role of Indigenous organisations in IUCN – a unique membership union gathering 217 state and government agencies, 1,066 NGOs, and networks of over 16,000 experts worldwide.
“Today’s decision to create a specific place for Indigenous peoples in the decision-making process of IUCN marks a major step towards achieving the equitable and sustainable use of natural resources,” says IUCN Director General, Inger Andersen. “Indigenous peoples are key stewards of the world’s biodiversity. By giving them this crucial opportunity to be heard on the international stage, we have made our Union stronger, more inclusive and more democratic.”
“This decision is historical in that it is the first time in IUCN’s history that a new membership category has been established,” says Aroha Te Pareake Mead, Chair of IUCN’s Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP). “It also marks a turning point for the inclusion and full participation of Indigenous peoples in all aspects of IUCN’s work.
“For Indigenous peoples this provides an unprecedented opportunity to contribute to global policy on biocultural conservation, indigenous issues, traditional knowledge and the future direction of conservation as distinct peoples. I am proud of IUCN and its members for doing the right thing and enabling Indigenous peoples to speak for themselves as full members of the Union.”
IUCN Members also called for all protected areas to be considered as no-go areas for environmentally damaging industrial activities and infrastructure developments. IUCN Members emphasised the need for respect of Indigenous peoples’ rights as a high priority, to ensure their free, prior and informed consent in relation to activities in sacred natural sites and territories conserved by Indigenous peoples and local communities. To date, only World Heritage sites have been recognised as off limit.
The need for consideration of the rights of Indigenous peoples has also been emphasised as part of the decision to increase the coverage of marine protected areas in order to achieve effective conservation of the oceans.
IUCN Members voted on a motion related to primary forests, which highlights the role of Indigenous peoples and local communities in conserving intact forest landscapes. Ecosystems such as primary forests are vital for the protection of Indigenous cultures and livelihoods of the poorest and most marginalised communities.
Other motions important for Indigenous peoples have also been adopted on a wide range of topics.
The Members’ Assembly is the highest decision-making body of IUCN. It brings together IUCN Members to debate and establish environmental policy, to approve the IUCN Programme and to elect the IUCN Council and President.
Motions are proposed by IUCN Members every four years to set priorities for the work of IUCN. IUCN’s membership currently stands at over 1,300 and includes some of the most influential government and civil society organisations from more than 160 countries, giving the decisions taken at the IUCN Congress a powerful mandate.
Resolutions and Recommendations on important conservation issues are adopted by this unique global environmental parliament of governments and NGOs, guiding IUCN’s policy and work programme and as well as influencing many other organisations around the world.
