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Communication: REDD+ programme urged to utilise online media

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Communication: REDD+ programme urged to utilise online media

Nigeria’s UN-REDD Programme has been urged to make better use of online publications as well as social media platforms in order to effectively communicate and increase awareness on its activities.

Cross River State Commissioner for Climate Change and Forestry, Dr Alice Olok Ekwu (standing), with the FAO Representative on REDD+, Dr Rabe Mani, during the workshop
Cross River State Commissioner for Climate Change and Forestry, Dr Alice Olok Ekwu (standing), with the FAO Representative on REDD+, Dr Rabe Mani, during the workshop

This call formed part of the outcomes of a three-day “Capacity building workshop of selected and strategic media professionals on REDD+” that held recently in Calabar, Cross River State.

Specifically, the gathering listed web-based publications such as EnviroNews Nigeria, Premium Times and Sahara Reporters as online media that should be prioritised in this regard, adding that the programme’s accounts on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and others should also be created so as to improve communication and create awareness.

REDD+, which stands for Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, is a global initiative designed to pay groups or countries for protecting their forests and reducing emissions of greenhouse gas pollutants, especially carbondioxide (CO₂).

Created in 2008, the UN-REDD Programme (United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is a collaborative programme of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

After extensive deliberations as well as the presentation of about seven papers in three days, the forum called on the media to research to understand the local context and relate REDD+ communication to local realities and facts.

Similarly, the REDD+ programme was asked to identify and use appropriate traditional modes of communication to enhance REDD+ communication. It was likewise called upon to involve relevant influencers or opinion leaders in the programme to increase awareness and promote behaviour change.

Both parties – REDD+ programme and the media – were however told to keep REDD+ communication simple. This, they were asked to do, by defining acronyms and technical terminologies to enhance understanding and improve communication.

While being called upon to develop innovative approaches to report its activities regularly to create more awareness, it was also recommended that REDD+ should partner with media managers/executives to enhance information dissemination on the programme.

The Programme is also to build and sustain relationship with media personnel (such as reporters, presenters, camera men and producers) to enhance information dissemination on the programme.

It was also agreed that the Programme should build the capacity of media personnel on REDD+ issues to sustain knowledge and improve communication.

Cross River State Commissioner for Climate Change and Forestry, Dr Alice Olok Ekwu, while declaring that the state government is committed to the UN-REDD process, however said: “We need to work harder. I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen during the course of this three-day workshop. We will do all in our capacity to take UN-REDD to the very next level.”

The FAO Representative on REDD+, Dr Rabe Mani, commended the gathering for the enlightening deliberations as well as the state government on efferts made towards realising the REDD+ process. He urged the authorities not to rest on their oars, moreso now that the Programme is about to transit from the readiness to the implementation phase.

Images: Environment Ministry’s review panel in Ondo

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Images: Environment Ministry’s review panel in Ondo

The Technical Panel Review of Federal Ministry of Environment headquartered in Abuja, the federal capital city, at the weekend paid a courtesy call on Dr Olusegun Mimiko, the Governor of Ondo State, in Akure, the state capital.

Photos by Sam Olusegun.

Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko (middle); Representative of the Federal Minister of Environment, Mr Olayinka Tejuosho (left); and Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola (right)
Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko (middle); representative of the Minister of Environment, Mr Olayinka Tejuosho (left); and Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola (right)
From right: Chief of Staff to Ondo State Governor, Dr Kola Ademujimi; representative of the Minister of Environment, Mr Olayinka Tejuosho; Governor Olusegun Mimiko; Chairman of Technical Panel Review of Federal Ministry of Environment, Funsho Makanjuola; and Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola.
From right: Chief of Staff to Ondo State Governor, Dr Kola Ademujimi; representative of the Minister of Environment, Mr Olayinka Tejuosho; Governor Olusegun Mimiko; Chairman of Technical Panel Review of Federal Ministry of Environment, Funsho Makanjuola; and Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola.
From right: Representative of the Minister of Environment, Mr Olayinka Tejuosho; Governor Olusegun Mimiko; Chairman of Technical Panel Review of Federal Ministry of Environment, Funsho Makanjuola; and Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola
From right: Representative of the Minister of Environment, Mr Olayinka Tejuosho; Governor Olusegun Mimiko; Chairman of Technical Panel Review of Federal Ministry of Environment, Funsho Makanjuola; and Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola
From right: Representative of the Minister of Environment, Mr Olayinka Tejuosho; Governor Olusegun Mimiko; Chairman of Technical Panel Review of Federal Ministry of Environment, Funsho Makanjuola; and Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola
From right: Representative of the Minister of Environment, Mr Olayinka Tejuosho; Governor Olusegun Mimiko; Chairman of Technical Panel Review of Federal Ministry of Environment, Funsho Makanjuola; and Secretary to Ondo State Government, Dr Rotimi Adelola

Experts clamour Green Water Initiative in Africa

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Experts clamour Green Water Initiative in Africa

Water and climate experts on Sunday in Stockholm, Sweden called for a Green Water Initiative, as part of a Water Revolution in Africa, that would alleviate hunger on the continent and help to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SIWI Executive Director, Torgny Holmgren. Photo credit: theguradian.co.uk
SIWI Executive Director, Torgny Holmgren. Photo credit: theguradian.co.uk

At the onset of the 2016 World Water Week (WWW) holding in the Swedish capital city, a group of world-renowned hydro-climate experts said that rainwater harvesting and other green water management methods are key to alleviating hunger in sub-Saharan Africa and meeting the SDGs.

Green water is the part of the rain that infiltrates into, and is stored in, the soil.

“Large parts of the world are struggling to adapt to a drier reality, but challenges are especially dire in Africa’s drylands. Africa’s climate is its Achilles Heel,” said Professor Malin Falkenmark, Senior Scientific Advisor to Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), organisers of the WWW.

In the water-scarce regions of sub-Saharan Africa (mainly consisting of savannah), direct management of scarce rainfall must form an integral part of the development agenda, said the group, which includes Malin Falkenmark (Stockholm International Water Institute and Stockholm Resilience Centre), Johan Rockström (Stockholm Resilience Centre), Johan Kuylenstierna (Stockholm Environment Institute), Charles J. Vörösmarty (CUNY Advanced Science Research Centre), Torgny Holmgren (SIWI) and Fred Boltz (The Rockefeller Foundation), during Sunday’s Malin Falkenmark Symposium at the WWW.

The vast drylands encircling the Congo Basin are home to some 750 million people, a number that is expected to increase to 1.6 billion in the next 35 years. Meanwhile, agricultural yields in this region are very low, on average around one tonne per hectare, as a result of frequent droughts.

The group said that, to meet the SDG Goal 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture), Africa needs a Triple Green Revolution: green for productive use of green water, green for intensification and enhanced food production, and green for sustainability and building water resilience in watersheds.

Rain, the scientists said, is the ultimate water source in dryland agriculture, as the limited blue water (such as rivers and streams) will be needed for increased urban water supply, industry and energy production.

They suggest rainwater harvesting systems that can offer supplementary irrigation, harvested from slopes and valley bottoms and stored in ponds or dams for use during dry spells and drought periods.

To finance the initiative, the group proposed a Water Harvesting Innovation Fund for Africa, to build water resilience for food security and human well-being.

“Initiatives like the Green Water Initiative in Africa, within the framework of the 2030 Agenda is of great importance if we will have any chance of realising the Sustainable Development Goals. I hope to see some concrete response to this call,” said SIWI’s Executive Director, Torgny Holmgren.

An annual global meeting for water and development issues, WWW welcomes some 3,000 participants from over 120 countries, who gather to discuss global and local water and development challenges.

Lagos moves against illegal structures in Ikoyi, VI, Lekki

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Lagos moves against illegal structures in Ikoyi, VI, Lekki

The Lagos State Government on Sunday read the riot act to all the owners of illegal structures, shanties, street hawkers and those who have converted walkways into trading points and food courts in Ikoyi, Victoria Island (VI) and the Lagoon Front of Lekki, giving them 14 days’ grace to remove such illegal structures.

Tunji Bello, Secretary to the Lagos State Government
Tunji Bello, Secretary to the Lagos State Government

In a press statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Tunji Bello, the State Government warned that if such illegal structures are not removed after the 14-day grace, the State Special Task Force on the Clean Up of the areas would move in to enforce the laws.

“The owners of all the illegal structures, shanties, abandoned buildings and all those who have converted road median to commercial uses in Ikoyi, VI and Lekki have between today (Monday) and two weeks’ time to comply or have the State Special Task Force on the Clean Up of the areas to contend with,” the SSG was quoted as saying in the statement.

The statement added that owners of all abandoned buildings in different areas of Ikoyi, Lekki and VI, which are now harbouring prostitutes, illegal miscreants and unwanted elements must clear the structures of such undesirable elements immediately.

Bello specifically warned owners of properties on the Lagoon fronts of Lekki Phase 1, who have littered the whole areas with compactors and several other deadweight equipments, to remove them outrightly.

Bello said the state government notes with concern the conversion of the frontages of properties and abandoned houses to kiosks and trading points by maids and guards as well as the unregulated activities of horticulturists who have turned setbacks to hideouts and selling points.

He reiterated the determination of the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration to restore the original master plan of Ikoyi, VI and Lekki by checking the activities of roadside automobile repairers who have converted many dual carriage lanes to single lanes with indiscriminate parkings.

He said government would no longer tolerate unauthorised parking of vehicles, trucks as well unsightly state of drainage infrastructure, adding that owners of such vehicles and properties with unkempt drainages will be prosecuted.

Bello said it is totally unacceptable for people to stockpile and display wares such as bags of charcoal on major roads like Ahmadu Bello Way and Federal Secretariat Road, Ikoyi, stating that, henceforth, such goods would be confiscated and the owners prosecuted.

He said: “We are using this medium to sensitise members of the public and residents of the affected areas who are involved in these illegalities to immediately take right action and do the needful as the State Government will take the necessary steps to enforce its environmental and sanitation laws forthwith.

“All those engaging in roadside display of wares, illegal street trading and all illegal squatters on undeveloped land and all those who have converted road median to commercial uses in Ikoyi, VI and Lekki are being advised in their own interest to put a stop to the illegalities.”

Co-chairs for biodiversity, ecosystems assessment emerge

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Co-chairs for biodiversity, ecosystems assessment emerge

Three of the world’s most eminent experts on the intersection of nature and human well-being were announced recently in Bonn, Germany as co-chairs of a new global assessment commissioned by the 125 governments comprising the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

IPBES launches biodiversity, ecosystem services assessment
Sir Robert Watson, Chair of IPBES

Professors Sandra Díaz (Argentina), Eduardo Brondízio (Brazil & USA) and Josef Settele (Germany) will lead more than 100 expert authors from around the world in a three-year multidisciplinary collaboration to produce the IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

Speaking about the significance and scope of the undertaking, Sir Robert Watson, Chair of the IPBES, said: “In 2005, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), which I co-chaired, changed the way we look at our world. The consensus of the largest group of social and natural scientists ever assembled to assess knowledge in this area was that humanity was putting such strain on our environment that the Earth’s ecosystems might be unable to sustain future generations.

“The IPBES Global Assessment is the intellectual progeny of and scientific successor to the MA. Its findings will be the basis for national and international decision-making by governments, the private sector and civil society over the next decade and beyond – providing the science to underpin success of the new Sustainable Development Goals.”

Covering a timeframe from the middle of the last century until the middle of this century, the assessment will analyse the state of knowledge about how people and nature interact, direct and indirect drivers of change, values, response options and nature’s benefits to people. It will explore the contributions of biodiversity and ecosystems to long-term quality of life – focusing on the synergies and trade-offs needed to balance the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as progress made on the UN Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Asked about the differences between the MA and the new assessment, Dr. Anne Larigauderie, IPBES Executive Secretary, explained: “The Global Assessment will offer a much-needed update on the status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services – which were last reviewed more than a decade ago. It also introduces a number of innovations, in addition to its unprecedented intergovernmental mandate – having been specifically requested by our Member States, based on a detailed blueprint. It is guided by the IPBES conceptual framework, which recognises different world views and incorporates a wide range of values and knowledge systems including, for the first time, vital indigenous and local knowledge. The careful balancing of our participating experts is another source of great value – with equitable representation of the natural and social sciences, geographical regions, gender and professional experience.”

The first author meeting that brought together almost 150 participants held a week ago. It included the newly announced co-chairs, coordinating lead authors, lead authors as well as members of the IPBES Multidisciplinary Expert Panel, Bureau and technical support unit. A first order draft of the Global Assessment is expected to be ready for expert review in mid-2017, with two further rounds of author meetings, reviews and revisions, before submission to IPBES governments for final approval in May 2019. The Assessment will also be a key input to the Fifth Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-5) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, to be published in 2020.

Sandra Díaz is a Professor of Community and Ecosystem Ecology at the National University of Córdoba and a senior member of the National Research Council of Argentina (CONICET) at Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Founder and director of the international initiative Núcleo DiverSus on Diversity and Sustainability, she has authored more than 150 scientific publications, many of them in prominent academic journals, and served in leading positions for the IPCC, the MA, Future Earth and DIVERSITAS.

Eduardo S. Brondízio is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, co-Editor-In-Chief of Current Opinion on Environmental Sustainability and serves on a range of international scientific bodies including the Science Committee of the Future Earth programme. Committed for three decades to research on human-environment interaction in the Amazon, he is the author of more than 180 scientific publications and has contributed to numerous regional and global assessments including the MA.

Josef Settele is at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, heading the animal ecology and social-ecological research section. He is a Professor of Ecology at Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg, and a member of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research – iDiv. He served as a coordinating lead author for both the IPCC and the recent IPBES pollination assessment, and is one of the most prolific scientific authors in the field, with more than 370 scientific publications, including more than 30 books.

 

Minor dead, 100 homes destroyed in Sokoto windstorm

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Minor dead, 100 homes destroyed in Sokoto windstorm

The combined effect of heavy rains and windstorm that occurred Friday night killed three-year-old Sharif Bashir and destroyed about 100 houses in Tudun-Yando village in Dange Shuni local government area (LGA) of Sokoto State.

Windstorm leaves a building and a car in ruins
Windstorm leaves a building and a car in ruins

EnviroNews gathered that ‎the disasters, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, affected Tudun Yan-dogo, Kwanar Kinba, Dogon Marke, Shuni town, Rafin Ali, Betta and Kadabale, among other villages.

What is left of a petrol station
What is left of a petrol station

The bereaved father, Bashir Aliyu, confirmed to EnviroNews that Sharif died as a result of a wall that fell down on him at around 3.00am on Saturday.

Destroyed roofing
Destroyed roofing

He said: “We regard the death of Sharif as an act of God. We have since buried him.” He added that, apart from farm produce and livestock that were lost to the combined disasters, several houses, schools and filling stations ‎were also affected.

Destruction trails the Tudun-Yando village windstorm
Destruction trails the Tudun-Yando village windstorm

Sympathising with the victims of the disasters, the local government council chairman, Alhaji Mode Dan Tasallah, told EnviroNews that ‎the council would provide temporary shelters to them in schools and other public buildings.

Twisted steel roofing components litter the filling station
Twisted steel roofing components litter the filling station

He added that the council would “set up a‎ committee comprised 10 members to assess the extent of damage caused by the disasters. It will also recommend the types of assistance to be extended to the victims.”

Director-General of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Hassan Maccido, told EnviroNews that the agency would assess the situation and make recommendations to government.

By Abdallah el-Kurebe 

Thomsom: Financing for sustainable development vital

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Thomsom: Financing for sustainable development vital

Sustainable Development Ambassador Peter Thomson, President-elect of the United National General Assembly, has signaled that unlocking finance for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a key challenge of our times.

Ambassador Peter Thomson
Ambassador Peter Thomson

At a meeting in New York convened by the UN Environment Inquiry and UN Women on 24 August, Ambassador Thomson – currently Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the UN – declared that it was not enough to just wish there was adequate sums of public finance, or wonder why large amounts of private finance are so hard to attract to the right investments.

Opening the meeting, he said: “Implementing the SDGs will not be possible without adequate financing. We have to be creative in mobilising finance from every possible source and ambitious in exploring how to work together in aligning our global financial system with sustainable development.”

Given between $5-7 trillion a year is needed to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Ambassador Thomson said the stakes were high and the transition to a sustainable low-carbon green economy was required in order to realign the world’s financial system to make it the enabler of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Presentations at the meeting were made by People’s Bank of China’s Research Bureau Chief Economist, Ma Jun, President of the Brazilian Federation of Bankers, Murilo Portugal, CalPERS Investment Director, Anne Simpson, and the United Kingdom Treasury’s Deputy Director of Global Financial Markets, Robert Ward.

During the meeting, Yannick Glemarec, Assistant Secretary-General, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women and co-chair of the meeting, stated, “UN Women is deeply committed to addressing the gender gap in access to finance in order to ensure that new financial solutions benefit women and men equally in support of sustainable development.”

Following the meeting Simon Zadek, co-director of the Inquiry, said: “With less than a month to go before the 71st session of the General Assembly, it is extremely positive that the incoming President is willing to take a leadership position around financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

UN Academy promotes sustainable development

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UN Academy promotes sustainable development

After its inauguration in March, the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) – Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development organised its first ever UN Summer Academy at the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany from 22-26 August. It was the fifth UN Summer Academy globally with previous editions hosted in New York and Turin, Italy.

Participants at the UN Academy
Participants at the UN Academy

This year’s UN Summer Academy focused on the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The Summer Academy’s theme “Shaping a Sustainable Future” echoes the motto and work of the United Nations in Bonn (UN Bonn). UN Bonn, consisting of 18 different UN organisations, builds a powerhouse for sustainable development and different UN Bonn entities contributed with their expertise to the panel discussions, key note speeches and workshops.

More than 50 participants and speakers from over 30 countries across the globe attended the UN Summer Academy at the UN Campus’ historic Haus Carstanjen, where the UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development sits. The week-long interactive learning and sharing event gathered UN staff, sustainability practitioners, researchers, businesses and representatives from different governments and public authorities. It aimed to stimulate exchange and learning from action in areas of critical importance: People, Planet, Prosperity, Partnerships and Peace – the elements that underpin Agenda 2030 with its Sustainable Development Goals.

“The first UN Summer Academy here in Bonn was a great success,” emphasises Patrick van Weerelt, Head of Office of UNSSC Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development Bonn. “It allowed for fruitful discussions between a multitudes of actors with many different perspectives. I am sure the UN Summer Academy will become a permanent feature of our annual program in Bonn, opening the UN Campus to a wider audience and providing a unique space for reflection and discussion in a different setting. “Shaping a Sustainable Future”, the motto of this year’s UN Summer Academy, is particularly pertinent here in Bonn, which is an outstanding model for sustainability.”

Through the support of the Federal Foreign Office Germany and the state North Rhine-Westphalia, the UNSSC Knowledge Centre was able to offer a total of 13 scholarships, which allowed a wide spectrum of nationalities to take part. Recipients of the scholarships included government representatives from Ukraine and Egypt, as well as PhD students from Brazil and Germany, working on research on sustainability.

“This year’s UN Summer Academy represents the new spirit of openness and integration of the new agenda and models the need for countries, as well as the UN system, to work in a more integrated way with stakeholders from all sectors of society,” said Ambassador Ingrid Jung, Head of the Liaison Office of the Federal Foreign Office to the United Nations in Bonn during her opening speech. She further added: “We see the work of the UNSSC Knowledge Centre as a useful extension of our approach to foster a vision of foreign policy as an opportunity for cooperation and as a basis upon which to build the foundation for a working partnership on global matters. We are very much looking forward to future joint projects with UNSSC.”

During a “Share Fair”, the Summer Academy opened its doors to the UN staff in Bonn to provide a networking platform for the participants. Every participant had the opportunity to present his or her own work, no matter how big or small, on sustainable development.

“This year’s UN Summer Academy provided us with an opportunity to explore ideas and learn from each other as well as a chance to meet experts in the field of sustainable development. We go back to our countries inspired and with many new connections, which will help us to make a difference back home,” explains Dwiti Vikramaditya, representative of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) India, an NGO educating 25,000 deprived indigenous children across the subcontinent. “Education is the first step to change attitudes and behaviors in the long term.”

Participants also had the chance to experience some of the biggest global challenges that the UN addresses today via UN Virtual Reality. “Clouds over Sidra”, “My Mothers Wing” and “Waves of Grace” allow to explore the effects of displacement and conflict as well as Ebola through an immersive experience.

Investors urge G20 leaders to ratify climate pact

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Investors urge G20 leaders to ratify climate pact

As leaders of the world’s largest economies prepare to attend the upcoming G20 meeting in Hangzhou, China, 130 investors with over $13 trillion in assets under management (AUM) have written to the G20 Heads of State, urging them to ratify the Paris Climate Change Agreement this year.

The CBD skyline of Hangzhou, China. The city will host the upcoming G20. Photo credit: cnbc.com meeting
The CBD skyline of Hangzhou, China. The city will host the upcoming G20. Photo credit: cnbc.com meeting

The investors, from a coalition of six organisations, have also called on G20 nations to double global investment in clean energy, tighten up climate disclosure mandates, develop carbon pricing and phase out fossil fuel subsidies.

The letter reads in part:

“The Paris Agreement on climate change provides a clear signal to investors that the transition to the low-carbon, clean energy economy is inevitable and already underway.

Governments have a responsibility to work with the private sector to ensure that this transition happens fast enough to catalyse the significant investment required to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals including:

  • Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, and
  • Achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions (“a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of GHGs”) in the second half of the century.”

The six organisations co-sponsoring the letter are: IIGCC – Europe’s Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change; Ceres/INCR – the North American Investor Network on Climate Risk; IGCC – the Australia/New Zealand Investor Group on Climate Change; AIGCC – the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change; CDP and PRI.

Commenting on the letter, Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), said: “The Paris Agreement provides a clear signal to investors that the transition to the low-carbon, clean energy economy is inevitable and already underway. Governments must ratify the Paris agreement swiftly and have a responsibility to implement policies that drive better disclosure of climate risk, curb fossil fuel subsidies and put in place strong pricing signals sufficient to catalyse the significant private sector investment in low carbon solutions required to realise the agreement’s goals.”

Investors also called on the G20 leaders to prioritise rulemaking by national financial regulators to require disclosure of “material” climate risks.

Commenting on this, Mindy Lubber, President of the US NGO Ceres and Director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), said: “Financial regulators, like the SEC, should step up attention to improve the quality of corporate climate disclosures, which are broadly lagging when considering wide-ranging and escalating climate risks. Improving the quality of climate-related financial disclosure, and aligning it between different jurisdictions, is vital to spurring broad capital market action on this issue. Our organisations are fully engaged with the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD). We applaud this initiative and encourage G20 nations to consider the TCFD’s forthcoming recommendations as inputs to their national disclosure rules.”

Investors urged the G20 to support a doubling of global investment in clean energy by 2020, as called for by the UN Secretary-General in January 2016.

Speaking about this, Emma Herd, CEO of the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), said: “While the private sector can provide much of this vital investment, policy signals must also support climate goals in the clearest possible manner. Maintaining strong growth in clean energy investment is key to tackling climate change. We strongly encourage G20 nations to ratify Paris and help drive trillions of dollars into new clean energy investment opportunities.”

The letter also welcomes the work of the G20 Green Finance Study Group, which aims to enhance the contribution of institutional investors to the greening of mainstream financial flows.

Fiona Reynolds, Managing Director of PRI, said, “Investors signing this letter understand that the study group’s conclusions will be presented at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in 2016. We therefore ask for the green finance agenda to be taken forward by the German and other future G20 presidencies. In order for green financing to reach its potential, the G20 must encourage the public and private sectors to work more closely together on issues such as stronger environmental protection and implementation of regulation. Incentives and policy frameworks must also be in place so that private capital flows more freely into green investments.”

Commenting further, Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP, added: “Investors also highlight the recommendations made to world leaders a year ago in the 2015 Global Investor Statement on Climate Change and renew their calls for the G20 to support both the development of carbon pricing and the prompt phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies.”

Finally, the investors, in the letter, urged the G20 to both prioritise implementation of their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and to prepare to strengthen them with the goal of ensuring all G20 nations meet their commitments and raise their climate ambition during 2018 to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals.

Flood destroys 50 homes in Sokoto’s Gudu LGA

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Flood destroys 50 homes in Sokoto’s Gudu LGA

Flood on Tuesday morning destroyed about 50 houses in Bachaka village of Gudu Local Government Area (LGA) in Sokoto State.

Flooding in northern Nigeria
Flooding in northern Nigeria

The State House of Assembly member representing Gudu LGA, Sani Yakubu, told news men in Sokoto on Wednesday that the disaster was as a result of several hours of heavy downpour.

According to Yakubu, “The disaster affected about 300 families, leaving them hopelessly displaced and squatting in schools and with relatives. No life was lost but domestic wares and foodstuffs were destroyed.”‎

The lawmaker, who said that he had visited the affected village, said that the victims were in immediate need of food items as well as building materials to enable them raise the destroyed houses.

While calling for the relocation of the village to a safe place in order to avoid recurrence of the incidence, Yakubu said that he had so far donated a total sum of N1.1 million, between Tuesday and Wednesday. ‎‎

Appealing to Gudu LGA and the Sokoto State Government to provide immediate assistance to cushion the effects of the disaster before assessment of the entire incident was made, Yakubu also called on the State and National Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA/NEMA) to hasten the assessment process in order to quicken the assistance.

Head of Sokoto NEMA‎ office, Muhammad Sulaiman, told EnviroNews that although he had not received any report in that regard, “we will confirm from SEMA and take appropriate action.”

However, the Director-General of ‎SEMA, Alhaji Hassan Maccido, told EnviroNews that the agency would dispatch a team of experts to assess the disaster. “We will assess the extent of damage and recommend to the state government the forms of assistance to give to the victims.”

By Abdallah el-Kurebe 

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