Indigenous peoples and local communities at the front lines of climate change will soon be able to exchange lessons learned and share their unique perspectives on reducing emissions, adapting, and building resilience through a new platform created by the Paris Agreement.

The platform will break fresh ground in 2017 by giving indigenous peoples and local communities an active role in shaping climate action, including a prominent role in the first open multi-stakeholder dialogue. Parties and accredited organisations can get involved by writing a submission of their ideas on the local communities and indigenous peoples’ platform by 31 March 2017.

The international climate policy arena has recognised the unique role that indigenous peoples and local communities play in exchanging knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change. Therefore, the UN Climate Secretariat is facilitating the operationalisation of a platform for the exchange of experiences and sharing of best practices on mitigation and adaptation in a holistic and integrated manner.

The newly established platform came into existence through the decision adopting the Paris Agreement in December 2015 at COP21. In the climate conference (COP22) held in Marrakech in November 2016, Parties decided to adopt an incremental and participatory approach to developing the local communities and indigenous peoples platform.

The platform is giving indigenous peoples and local communities an active role in shaping the process. A representative of the group will co-moderate the first open multi-stakeholder dialogue which will take place at the mid-year UN Climate Change Conference in May 2017 in Bonn to discuss ways to effectively operationalise the platform.

How to get involved

The UNFCCCis inviting parties and accredited organisations to share their ideas about the purpose, content, and structure of the local communities and indigenous peoples platform by 31 March 2017 here. They are asked to specify in the submission that it is provided in response to the call for submissions on ‘the local communities and indigenous people’s platform’.

Organisations are welcome to send the submissions to secretariat@unfccc.int. Parties are welcome to upload the submissions in the submission portal (SBSTA 46 & 2017).

A niche market in debt raised to fund environmental projects may be set for significant growth and could make a bigger contribution to the trillions of dollars needed to stop the world overheating.The volume of “green bonds” with proceeds

earmarked for investments such as a wind farm or a low carbon transport network nearly doubled in 2016. Sales could accelerate further this year, with France set to become the first G7 country to join the development banks and companies that have already issued this form of financing.

Growth may not maintain last year’s blistering pace, industry watchers say, not least because the United States, the country where the most green bonds have originated, is set to be led by Donald Trump, who has sometimes called man-made climate change a hoax.

“The market is on the cusp of breaking into the mainstream,” said Nicholas Pfaff, senior director at trade association ICMA.

“To have a major G7 issuer like France commit to doing a large programme is very important … There are some very important players in the U.S. but a lack of momentum there is not going to be fatal for the market.”

The green bond market grew by more than $80 billion in 2016 – its best year since its launch in 2007 – to $170 billion, according to Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), a London-based non-profit that certifies green credentials of bonds.

Even so, outstanding green bonds still account for less than 0.2 percent of the $100 trillion global debt market.

OECD studies suggest annual debt issuance will need to rise to between $620 and $720 billion by 2035 if world leaders are going to meet their 2015 pledge to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. The studies are based on the average capital mix – equity, loans and bonds – of green projects.

But market watchers say France, host of the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat global warming, could be key to growth.

While Poland was the first country to launch a green bond – selling a 750 million euro bond last month – France aims to launch one by the end of the month.

The government has identified around 10 billion euros of green expenditure so France may become a regular issuer of green bonds. It could also encourage companies, the largest issuers of green debt.

“It would change the market,” said Christa Clapp, head of climate finance at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo (CICERO).

“Not only would it bring scale but…it could pave the way to more corporates by showing how to do it.”

Morocco, Nigeria, Sweden and Kenya have also signaled they will issue green debt.

HSBC says the pace of growth in green bond issuance will not be sustained in 2017, estimating $90-$120 billion globally which could include up to half a dozen sovereign issuers. Natixis forecasts $140 billion of new bonds.

Yet in the United States – where firms have issued around $30 billion of green bonds – a Trump presidency may push climate change down the policy agenda, discouraging issuance.

Trump has threatened to tear up the Paris Agreement. He has also said he has an open mind and other countries have pledged to restrict greenhouse gas emissions, irrespective of U.S. policies.

However, CBI communications manager Andrew Whiley said there is still plenty of American money to be invested in green debt.

“While the U.S. at one level is going to sour the political atmosphere, there are still many American investors looking for good quality green products,” he said.

There are only around $3 billion of dedicated green funds by CBI estimates, including those from BlackRock and Allianz.

But in December 2015, investors representing over $11 trillion of assets under management committed to work to grow a green bond market as part of the Paris actions.

China, which by some estimates already has the largest green bond market in the world, may be able pick up any slack if enthusiasm for the debt wanes in the United States.

China’s Bank of Communications holds the record of the biggest green bond issued – a 30 billion yuan ($4.35 billion) two-tranche issue in November 2016.

But China’s success lays bare one of the teething problems that have dogged the green bond market. What constitutes green?

The Chinese government’s definitions of green bonds, for example, allow funding for clean-power coal stations which would not qualify under other market standards.

Some think that after an explosion in green bonds, the market might have to take a step back to go forward.

In that sense, said Christopher Flensborg, head of sustainable products at Swedish banking group SEB, Trump’s victory may even help in the long term because it would clear out the market of issuers that were not truly green.

A United States under Trump “won’t be a show-stopper but it will make people think twice, which we think is a good thing,” he said. “A lot of people crowding in will withdraw from the market. We think the momentum is going to be lost slightly but the quality is going to be improved massively.”

By John Geddie & Alister Doyle, Reuters

Environment development and sustainability The fly-away prices of cooking gas and kerosene have become a cause for concern by environmentalists, who fear that the hike in the cost of these items portends danger to the environment and human life.

Recently, the price of cooking gas jumped from N3,500 to N4,500 for 12.5kg cylinder while a litre of kerosene flew to N300 as against N150 or N130 previously.

But industry stakeholders are uncomfortable with the development, saying that Nigerians will now resort to the cheaper but somewhat controversial alternatives: firewood and charcoal – and with the attendant unsavoury implications.

Prof. Olukayode Oladipo, a climate change expert, said in Lagos on Wednesday, January 11 2017 that increase in the prices of these products would aggravate deforestation and increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the environment. Deforestation occurs when forest is being cut down on a massive scale without making proportionate effort at replanting.

Prof. Oladipo, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) consultant, pointed out that natural disasters experienced globally necessitated pragmatic approach from both the government and citizens to protect the environment by paying attention to tree conservation.

He said: “Trees play a critical role in supporting environmental equilibrium and human comfort because they absorb carbon dioxide from the air, which is a main GHG.

“Trees are also strategic in combating global warming, flood, check erosion and stem the tide of windstorm by serving as wind breakers in coastal areas.

“By the time we destroy this important shield for cooking, then we are exposing ourselves to grave danger in the country.”

According to him, deforestation will hinder Nigeria’s commitment to reduce GHG emissions unconditionally by 20% and conditionally by 45% in line with its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

He said that Nigeria subscribed to NDCs when it signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The professor noted that Nigeria had the highest rate of deforestation in the world having lost more than half of its primary forests.

The climatologist, who is also of the University of Lagos, Akoka, urged the Federal Government to evolve pricing mechanism that would make cooking gas and kerosene affordable and available in the country.

“It is quite unfortunate that, inspite of the vast deposit of natural gas and crude oil in the country, many Nigerians cannot afford the price of cooking gas and kerosene.

“If the government creates an approach that supplements the cost of these products, those in the rural areas will embrace the use of cooking gas.

“It will also discourage all those that cut trees for charcoal production in Oyo North and Kaduna to desist from the practice,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr Sulaimon Arigbabu, Executive Secretary, Human and Environment Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre, said that the price increase of the product was a setback for the country considering its position as a frontline state for desertification in climate change.

He noted that escalation and scarcity of the product would negate government’s campaigns against tree cutting, adding that many people would revert to the alternative of falling trees to make food.

“This practice has great implications for their health. In Nigeria, about 95,000 women are reported to die from indoor air pollution, mostly occasioned by using firewood to cook.

“Also, the issue of adulterated kerosene leading to explosion has happened in the past. Many fraudulent people exploit the scarcity and hike in price to adulterate the product and put at risk the lives and properties of the citizens.

“Government needs to wake up to the issue of escalating increase in price of gas by ensuring that the prices are more predictable and realistic.

“If the government does not do anything about the situation, Nigeria would not be able to meet its Nationally Determined Contributions to reduce emission which we pledged to in the Paris Agreement.

“Beyond that, we would be spending a lot in taking care of people’s health; avoidable health expenses because we allowed air pollution.”

Dr Mayowa Fasona of the Department of Geography, University of Lagos, advocated that government should ensure the sustainability of clean cooking in the country through realistic pricing mechanism for gas.

“There is an urgent need for government to expand access to clean cooking energy in the country considering the global challenge of climate change.

“With the devaluation of the Naira, reduced purchasing power and increased cost of LPG and kerosene, many families are going back to firewood use which constitutes a major threat to the country.

“It is imperative for government to tackle the challenges of affordability, availability, acceptability and accessibility in usage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas on a mass scale towards sustainable socio-economic and environmental development,” Fasona said.

By Funke Ishola

Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, in collaboration with the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, has initiated steps needed to issue Nigeria’s first Sovereign Green Bond. This, it was gathered, is part of a strategic process to add to the nation’s funding options in the financing of its development initiatives.

The process, the Environment Ministry disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday, 12 January 2017, will also enable the country tap into the growing global market for green bonds, which is estimated to have reached $100 billion by the end of 2016.

As part of the process to ensure that there is wide consultation on the process of periodic issuance of the Federal Government Green Bonds, Mohammed and Adeosun on Thursday hosted a Public-Private Advisory Group meeting on the Green Bonds.

According to Ms. Mohammed, the advisory group will provide advice and also identify likely impediments to the issuance process and provide guidance on how projects can be certified “Green”. The minister further stated that the group was set up to provide support to the Federal Ministry of Environment in its implementation of the Green Bond guidelines in order to maintain a process that is transparent and consistent.

Both ministers, in consultation with experts and key actors, have agreed on a number of key requirements in the issuance of the Green Bond.

These are:

• the projects should be green in nature,
• the project cost should form part of the Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS) of selected Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs),
• the project should have a defined revenue model or economic impact that generates resources that will be used to service the green bond, and
• the emissions contributions of the projects should be calculated and documented.

A sub-set of Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change (ICCC) was tasked to identify the pipeline of projects with “Green Credentials” that will be funded by the Green Bond. The ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in this sub-set are Environment (FRIN, CCD, DDA, FOR, GGW), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT-Transport), Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR) and Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing (FMWPH).

The Federal Ministry of Environment, it was gathered, has developed a set of guidelines, drawing from the template model provided by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) with technical inputs from Debt Management Office (DMO), Climate Bonds Initiative, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank.

In September of 2016 the Federal Ministry of Environment held a stakeholders meeting with key players in the capital markets on the plans for issuance of a Green Bond. To continue the consultations, the ministry in collaboration with Ministry of Finance set up a Green Bond Private Public Advisory Group (GB-PPSAG) to continue consultations which will support the Federal Government in the process of development of a Green Bond programme.

A high-impact stakeholders meeting with Capital Market operators and investors will hold in Lagos at the end of February, 2017.

Participants on the Advisory Group are drawn from investments banks, developments banks, issuance houses, MDAs and capital market regulators. Ministry sources say that the issuance of Nigeria’s Sovereign Green Bonds will probably be the first in an emerging market in the world and in Africa.