Ahead of the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commemces in Marrakech, Morocco on Monday (November 7, 2016), civil society leaders from diverse constituencies around the world have voiced their concerns that countries are not doing enough to prevent catastrophic levels of global warming.
Some members of the Nigerian delegation (Dr Peter Tarfa, Mr Ochuko Odibo, and others) to the COP are already in Marrakech. They are seen here attending the First Prep/Coordination Meeting for G77+China
The Paris Agreement entered into force on November 4th, a day after the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its annual Emissions Gap report, which analyses emissions reductions pledges by countries against current temperature targets. The Report found that if the Paris pledges are implemented fully the world will still see temperatures increase up to 3.4°C this century, a rise which has been described as “incompatible with an organised global community.”
The conference in Marrakech will see developed countries face the familiar challenge of needing to raise their levels of short-term climate targets and finance, which the Paris Agreement did not address. Scientists consider steep emissions reductions in the current decade as the key to achieving a just transition to a low-carbon global economy.
Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA). He says that, in Marrakech, governments have to go further and take the good example of AREI global
Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), which has member groups across the continent, notes: “The good news of the Paris Agreement is not so much in the early entry into force, because negotiators still have a long way to go in terms of figuring out the details of how it will be implemented. The good news is in the ambitious initiatives that have been launched as a result of the momentum generated. In Africa, we have the AREI which if rolled out properly can make a significant contribution to both emissions reductions and poverty eradication. In Marrakech, Governments have to go further and take the good example of AREI global.”
Asad Rehman of the England, Wales, and Northern Ireland group of the global Friends of the Earth federation, says: “UNEP’s report paints a bleak picture of hunger, floods and people being forced from their homes as we hurtle towards a devastating 3.5°C warming of the planet. The reality is that governments are drinking in the last change saloon when it comes to keeping the world safe from the worst impacts. Rich countries celebrating the Paris Agreement becoming law, whilst failing to deliver the ramp up of the critical pre-2020 action makes their Paris promises extremely hollow and sets us on a suicidal dash for disaster.”
Lidy Nacpil of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt & Development, a regional alliance of dozens of movements, community organisations, coalitions, NGOs and networks: “The UNEP Emissions Gap Report shows a shortfall of 14 gigatonnes of emissions reductions which really tempers the jubilation around the Paris Agreement. However, the reason there is an emissions gap in the first place is because developed countries ave refused to do their fair share of the global effort. The Paris Agreement clearly shows this with the low targets and lack of financial pledges. What they are doing is forcing the least responsible for causing climate change to take on much more than their fair share of the effort, and pay for it too.”
Meena Raman of the Malaysian-based think tank, Third World Network: “As we head into Marrakech, all the focus seems to be on the Paris Agreement. But that’s last year’s news story. This year we need to see real money flowing as climate finance – the “roadmap” put forward by developed countries is nothing more than a sleight of hand. Against estimated needs in the trillions, rich countries are promising $100 billion and having to resort to fudging the numbers even for that. Without finance the early entry into force of the Paris Agreement will be much ado about nothing.”
Azeb Girmai of LDC Watch, a global network with focal points in all 48 Least Developed Countries, states: “People in the Horn of Africa are not celebrating the Paris Agreement. To them it is just a piece of paper. In Somalia, 40% of the population are now in need of food aid as a result of drought-this will only get worse and more frequent as temperatures rise, destroying more livelihoods and forcing more people to abandon their traditional lands. The Paris Agreement recognised the need to address these impacts and tasked the Warsaw International Mechanism to take on this enormous effort. Now it needs to resources to get to work.”
Tamar Lawrence-Samuel, of Corporate Accountability International, stresses: “COP22 has been billed as everything from the ‘action COP’ to the ‘implementation COP’ but before any action can be taken or plans can be implemented, Parties must first address the elephant in the room: big polluters. At COP22, Parties will lay the groundwork needed to advance a policy that protects the implementation of the Paris Agreement from the influence of groups representing Big Oil, Gas, and Coal. Addressing these conflicts of interest will help to ensure that policies on every other issue, from finance to adaptation to loss and damage, will advance the interests of people and the planet, not corporate profits.”
The Benue State Programme Coordinator, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), Emmanuel Igbaukum, has expressed optimism that the project will aid the Federal Government of Nigeria to attain its 2018 projection to stop rice importation and enhance conservation of foreign exchange.
A rice farm. Photo credit: www.osundefender.org
The SPC, who spoke on Friday (4th November, 2016) while fielding questions from journalists at the end of the Benue State IFAD-VCDP Progress Report held in Makurdi, stated that VCDP’s intervention would aid in increasing the current five million tonnes of rice per annum, which is considered inadequate for the country.
According to Mr Igbaukum, the intervention in the state currently covers 2,300 hectares of rice farms, which translates to about 10,000 metric tonnes of rice, adding that the target is to get an upscale of 10,000 hectares of rice farms by 2017 to increase rice production and stop importation of rice into the country.
Speaking further, Mr Igbaukum, who noted that they are concerned about suspected herdsmen attacks on farmers in the state, stated that they have encouraged their farmers to farm in contingent groups to allow them to negotiate for security.
He maintained that, with the peace meeting initiated by the state government and concerned parties in the incessant crisis, they are confident that their farmers will not experience any attack that will affect rice production in the state.
On the aspect of cassava production in the VCDP, the SPC lamented that they are still sourcing for credible off-takers in cassava farming with only two identified so far.
Earlier in his presentation, Mr Igbaukum noted that, in meeting up with the IFAD-VCDP goal and objectives, all rice farmers in the five intervention Local Government Areas in the state were trained on GAP Rice and GAP Cassava to ensure improved and increased rice and cassava quality and quantity respectively.
Furthermore, he noted that inputs were distributed to both rice and cassava farmers for the farming season and Benue farmers received all the help they needed during land preparation and through service providers, they accessed 50 percent discount on all land preparation activities as well as improved seeds for planting.
“Farmers also enjoyed several trainings within and outside the state on GAP, fertiliser and herbicides to mention but few and now that the harvest is almost ready, off-takers are readily waiting to make millionaires out of Benue farmers,” he stated.
The President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Marcel de Souza, has assured the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) of greater cooperation and collaboration in the quest to sustainably manage West Africa’s abundant water resources.
President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Marcel de Souza. ECOWAS will collaboration with AMCOW in the quest to sustainably manage West Africa’s abundant water resources.
Marcel De Souza was speaking as he welcomed AMCOW’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Canisius Kanangire to the ECOWAS headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.
While underscoring the importance of water to human existence, the ECOWAS Commission’s President regretted the prevalence of indiscriminate exploitation of gold and mercury in Burkina Faso and other parts of the sub-region which according to him, “constitutes a veritable threat to water security, human subsistence and animal life.”
“ECOWAS will work more closely with AMCOW in strengthening and preserving water quality, controlling indiscriminate mineral exploitation, and managing West Africa’s transboundary water resources effectively.”
In his response, the AMCOW Executive Secretary thanked his host for the warm welcome and promised to deploy AMCOW’s extensive experience and influence in resolving issues bordering on water quality and transboundary water resources management in the sub-region.
Recalling past successes in his previous role as Head of the Lake Victoria Commission in Kenya, Dr. Kanangire assured the ECOWAS Commission’s President of AMCOW’s readiness to “assist ECOWAS in improving policy, financing and monitoring of the sub-region’s water resources with a view to achieving equitable access to water and sanitation.”
Established since 1975 with the vision of creating a borderless region where the population has access to its abundant resources and is able to exploit same through the creation of opportunities under a sustainable environment, ECOWAS envisages an integrated sub-region where its fifteen member-states cooperate on industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial issues, social as well as cultural matters.
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim in a statement on Thursday in Washington says that what was agreed in Paris is now a defining principle of the organisation’s work
World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim
November 4, 2016, is a defining moment in human history. For the first time a global agreement to turn down the heat on our planet enters into force.
The Paris Climate Change Agreement – ratified in record time by over 90 countries to date – will now be the instrument around which our futures depend. However, even with the commitments made in Paris and encouraging action on the ground, we will not meet our aspiration of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees unless we move faster and at the scale that is needed.
As the world heads into COP22 in Marrakesh, we must regain the sense of urgency we felt a year ago. With each passing day, the climate challenge grows. If we are to have any chance of meeting the goals enshrined in the Agreement, we need to move quickly on at least four priorities for action.
Build climate ambition into the development plans of every country: Over the next 15 years, infrastructure investments around the world will amount to over $90 trillion. Most of this will be in developing countries. Making sure these investments are low-carbon and climate-resilient can promote sustainable economic growth, which is key to achieving our goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity.Countries can now use the Paris Agreement to drive climate-smart policy action, like carbon pricing, to attract the right infrastructure investments. In the post-Paris world, growth cannot come at any cost.
Accelerate the transition to cleaner energy: Last week, the International Energy Agency boosted its five-year growth forecast for renewables because of strong support in key countries and sharp cost reductions. In fact, renewables surpassed coal last year to become the largest source of installed power capacity in the world. Building on this momentum, we need to focus special attention and action on Asia, where energy demand is growing and some countries continue to look to coal as the solution. Shifting those countries toward low-carbon energy paths, combined with action on phasing down hydrofluorocarbons, could make all the difference. We need to help countries make the right choice between high-carbon energy sources and renewable alternatives. We must ‘follow the carbon.’ That means we have to direct concessional finance where it will make the greatest difference.
Help countries build resilience to climate shocks: As we said in Paris, without climate action at scale, more than 100 million people could fall back into extreme poverty by 2030. That’s why we need to build the resilience of communities, economies, and ecosystems. We have a good idea of what is needed – more efficient water supply, climate-smart agriculture, early warning systems, disaster risk reduction, and better social protection. We have a choice to make. Otherwise, the poverty reduction gains we’ve made together will be lost.
Green the finance sector: We need a global financial system that’s fit for purpose to factor in climate risks and opportunities. This is vital if we are to mobilize the trillions of dollars in private capital needed to address climate change. More and more, we are seeing major institutional investors incorporating climate considerations into their decision making. Still, many developing countries will continue to need significant amounts of concessional finance to make good on their climate plans. Donor countries made a strong commitment in Paris. And now we must turn those commitments into action.
What was agreed in Paris is now a defining principle of the World Bank Group’s work. Ending extreme poverty and fighting climate change are inextricably linked. We cannot do one without the other.
Today is a day to celebrate. Tomorrow, we get back to work with an even greater sense of urgency.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will be present at the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Marrakech, Morocco, with a delegation of its scientific leadership led by IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee.
COP22, at which the IPCC represents the voice of science, runs from 7 November to 18 November.
One of the main aims for the IPCC at COP22 will be to inform participants about its Special Report Global Warming of 1.5ºC, an IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.
This report, requested a year ago by COP21 in Paris, will be delivered in 2018. The IPCC approved the outline of the report last month and has now issued a call for nominations of authors.
At COP22 the UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) will also consider how IPCC assessments can inform the global stocktake, the five-yearly review set up under the Paris Agreement of progress towards the goal of holding global warming to well below 2ºC above pre-industrial levels while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5ºC.
Besides participation in the official COP22 and related agendas, the IPCC is holding two side events at COP 22:
7 November, 13.15-14.45: Refinement of 2006 IPCC Guidelines at which speakers from the Taskforce on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Technical Support Unit and the UNFCCC Secretariat will discuss the 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. This methodology report, to be delivered in 2019, will update the IPCC’s current methodologies that provide guidance to countries on measuring their greenhouse gas emissions and removals.
14 November, 18.30-20.00: Responding to Paris: the IPCC’s programme for the coming years at which the IPCC Chair and other Bureau members will discuss the IPCC’s workplan, including Global Warming of 1.5ºC and the Sixth Assessment Report.
In addition Université Cadi Ayyad in Marrakech is hosting an event for policymakers, other stakeholders and the public on 10 November at which the IPCC will present findings from the Fifth Assessment Report and its current work programme.
A big green light for faster, stronger climate action was on Friday switched on as the Paris Climate Change Agreement entered into force, only three days before the start of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech.
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). A big green light for faster, stronger climate action was on Friday switched on as the Paris Climate Change Agreement entered into force
“The Paris Agreement’s ambitious and essential goals are now a live reality for every government. From today, ever-increasing climate action becomes an accepted responsibility and a central part of the sustainable development plans of all countries,” said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The international effort to bring the Paris Agreement into force in less than a year – an unexpectedly rapid result – reflects the strong, common political will to shift as quickly as possible towards the low-carbon, resilient economies and societies which are the only way to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
“Climate action – faster, smarter, bigger and better – reduces the greenhouse gas emissions which drive climate change and at the same time catalyzes the clean power economies and climate-resilient societies which are the foundation on which the future health, wealth and well-being of all people now depend,” said Ms. Espinosa.
Last year, countries of the world constructed a fresh, integrated vision for the future which rests firmly on the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
These momentous agreements must succeed together and require unprecedented scale and depth of universal and concerted action involving all governments, local and regional authorities, business and investment actors at all levels and in all countries.
The timetable is pressing. The Paris Agreement’s primary goal – to limit global warming to well below 2°C and as close to 1.5°C as possible to prevent dangerous tipping points in the climate system – means that global emissions must peak soon then be driven down very rapidly.
Yet greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and global average temperatures continue rising, underlining the urgent task in front of the two-week COP 22 conference in Marrakech, beginning Monday, 7 November.
The Agreement’s early entry into force has focused minds on completing the fundamental work and confirming the key requirements that will allow countries together to implement Paris’s goals at the required scale and speed. In Marrakech, that includes several important issues.
Marrakech will host the first meeting of the Paris Agreement’s governing body, known as the CMA. This is a moment of celebration but also a moment of reflection on the task ahead and a point where governments recommit to the new agenda of rapid implementation, not least in pressing forward with adequate support for vulnerable countries to take their own action.
Meanwhile, work will continue in Marrakech to complete the details of a transparent global regime, or rulebook, which will account for, review and underpin greater action by all sides.
It is the completed rulebook that will make the Paris Agreement work smoothly over the years and decades to come. The early entry into force of the Agreement calls for a speedy completion of the rulebook, ideally by 2018.
Marrakech also gives developed countries the opportunity to present their roadmap to mobilise the pledged $100 billion in annual support to developing countries by 2020.
The Standing Committee on Finance will present its Biennial Assessment report, which provides a picture of climate finance flows for the period 2013-2014. It will do so at a side event on Monday, 7 November at 13:15-14:45.
Governments will also be looking to increase clarity for adaptation finance and for a mechanism to strengthen capacity building, which supports developing countries to build up their internal skills and institutional strengths to build their own clean energy, sustainable futures.
Climate-friendly national policies are central to the successful delivery of the Paris goals. This is especially so because the Agreement’s success rests on full implementation of the global set of national climate action plans.
COP22 will see initiatives that support the implementation of these so-called Nationally Determined Contributions http://www4.unfccc.int/ndcregistry/Pages/Home.aspx (NDCs) and help integrate them into each country’s development agenda alongside the Sustainable Development Goals.
The NDCs coupled with governments’ publicly accepted responsibility to lead climate action under the Agreement, place an emphasis on how countries integrate climate action and implement sustainable development and risk management goals across sectors and ministries.
One event to support countries in this is the NDC Partnership. Launching on Tuesday, 15 November, the NDC Partnership https://www.eventbrite.com/e/launch-of-the-ndc-partnership-at-cop22-tickets-28950974143 is a coalition of developing and developed countries and international institutions working together to ensure countries receive the technical and financial support they need to achieve climate and sustainable development goals as fast and effectively as possible.
Policy, incentives and regulation should all work in a concerted, coherent manner to enable every country to deliver their climate and sustainability contributions and, crucially, to increase exponentially the climate action by cities, states, companies, investors and citizens.
For this reason, Marrakech will provide a Global Climate Action forum over the two weeks to showcase and hear new initiatives from the many public and private partnerships that are driving global climate action to unprecedented levels.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday marked the entry into force of the Paris Agreement with a call for strong action on climate change to realise the potential of the landmark agreement.
UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. He has called for strong action on climate change to realise the potential of the Paris Agreement
Meeting with civil society representatives in New York, the Secretary-General said, “I ask each and every one of you to keep up the fight. Hold governments accountable and press for action.”
“Today we make history in humankind’s efforts to combat climate change. Now is the time to strengthen global resolve, do what science demands and seize the opportunity to build a safer, more sustainable world for all.”
Members of civil society, representing a range of organisations working around the world, including in Egypt, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Guatemala, told the Secretary-General that they were committed to carrying on efforts to reduce emissions and to focus on the needs of people.
The Agreement provides that it shall enter into force 30 days after 55 countries, representing 55 percent of global emissions, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession with the Secretary-General. Those conditions were met on 5 October, triggering today’s entry into force.
There are now 98 parties to the Paris Agreement, with Gabon, Indonesia, Ireland, the Republic of Korea, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Viet Nam among the latest to join.
“At a time of record heat, Member States embraced this new global agreement in record time,” Mr. Ban told civil society leaders at an event marking the Agreement’s entry into force. “It is a credit to all of you. And it is historic for the world.
“Today we celebrate, reflect and give thanks. I am deeply grateful to all of you and your organisations – representing millions of people. At a time when civil society is under attack in so many parts of the world, you have shown that citizens’ groups are essential partners for progress. Your vision, courage, persistence and leadership made this day happen.
“We marched shoulder-to-shoulder in 2014 before the Climate Summit I convened. Millions of others held climate marches around the world. You showed the climate challenge stakes – and the solutions. You mobilised hundreds of millions of people for the cause.”
The Agreement will now enter into force in time for the Marrakech Climate Conference (COP 22) that begins in Morocco on 7 November, where the first Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement will open on 15 November.
Countries have been joining the agreement at a steady pace. There were 15 countries that formally joined the Agreement on 22 April, the day the Agreement opened for signatures, and then 31 countries which joined at a special event at the UN on 21 September during the General Assembly high-level week. In early September, the world’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, joined the Agreement, providing the impetus for other countries to quickly complete their domestic ratification or approval processes.
The Secretary-General cautioned that time is short while global temperatures continue to rise. “We remain in a race against time. But with the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the world has the plans we need to make the shift to a low-emission, climate-resilient path. Now is the time to strengthen global resolve, do what science demands and seize the opportunity to build a safer, more sustainable world for all.”
He added, “We are the first generation to really feel the effects of climate change – and the last that can prevent its worst consequences. Today shows us what is possible when we join forces for our common future.”
The world must urgently and dramatically increase its ambition to cut roughly a further quarter off predicted 2030 global greenhouse emissions and have any chance of minimising dangerous climate change, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Thursday as it released its annual Emissions Gap report.
Fossil fuel pollution: World must urgently and dramatically increase its ambition to cut roughly a further quarter off predicted 2030 global greenhouse emissions
Made public the day before the Paris Agreement comes into force, the report finds that 2030 emissions are expected to reach 54 to 56 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – far above the level of 42 needed to have a chance of limiting global warming to 2℃ this century. One gigatonne is roughly equivalent to the emissions generated by transport in the European Union (including aviation) over a year.
Scientists agree that limiting global warming to under 2℃ this century (compared to pre-industrial levels), will reduce the likelihood of more-intense storms, longer droughts, sea-level rise and other severe climate impacts. Even hitting the lower target of 1.5 ℃ will only reduce, rather than eliminate, impacts.
The predicted 2030 emissions will, even if the Paris pledges are fully implemented, place the world on track for a temperature rise of 2.9 to 3.4 degrees this century. Waiting to increase ambition would likely lose the chance to meet the 1.5 ℃ target, increase carbon-intensive technology lock-in and raise the cost of a global transition to low emissions.
“We are moving in the right direction: the Paris Agreement will slow climate change, as will the recent Kigali Amendment to reduce HFCs,” said Erik Solheim, head of UNEP. “They both show strong commitment, but it’s still not good enough if we are to stand a chance of avoiding serious climate change.
“If we don’t start taking additional action now, beginning with the upcoming climate meeting in Marrakesh, we will grieve over the avoidable human tragedy. The growing numbers of climate refugees hit by hunger, poverty, illness and conflict will be a constant reminder of our failure to deliver. The science shows that we need to move much faster.”
The need for urgent action has been reinforced by the fact that 2015 was the hottest year since modern record keeping began. The trend is continuing, with the first six months of 2016 all being the warmest ever recorded. Yet emissions continue to increase, the report says.
The Kigali Amendment to the UNEP-hosted Montreal Protocol, agreed last month, aims to slash the use of hydrofluorocarbons. Early studies indicate this could cut another 0.5 degrees if fully implemented, although emissions won’t begin to be reduced at any significant rate until 2025.
Also, while members of the G20 are collectively on track to meet their Cancun climate pledges for 2020, these pledges fall short of creating a sufficiently ambitious starting point to align with the temperature target of the Paris Agreement.
However, the Gap report presents an assessment of the technologies and opportunities to find the further cuts required, including through non-state actors, energy efficiency acceleration and crossover with the sustainable development goals.
Non-state actors (the private sector, cities, regions and other subnational actors like citizen groups) can cut several gigatonnes off the gap by 2030 in areas such as agriculture and transport, provided the many initiatives meet their goals and do not replace other action.
Energy efficiency is another area where investment could bring bigger gains. Investments in energy efficiency increased by six per cent to $221 billion in 2015, indicating that action is already happening.
Studies show that for an investment of between 20 and 100 US$ per tonne of carbon dioxide, energy efficiency emissions reduction potentials (in gigatonnes) by 2030 are 5.9 for buildings, 4.1 for industry and 2.1 for transport.
A new report released by the 1 Gigaton Coalition shows that renewable energy and energy efficiency projects implemented in developing countries from 2005 to 2015 will reduce emissions by almost half a gigatonne by 2020, including action by countries that do not have formal Cancun pledges.
“Internationally supported projects on renewable energy and energy efficiency are making significant contributions to reducing global greenhouse emissions,” said Mr. Børge Brende, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. “Thanks to the work of the 1 Gigaton Coalition we can measure and report the impact of these projects to see how far we still have to go to reach the climate goal. This is how the coalition aims to inspire countries around the world to raise their action and ambition on climate change through the energy sector.”
Finally, climate action is intertwined with the sustainable development goals. The earliest impacts of climate change may undermine our ability to deliver the goals by 2030, and failure to deliver on the climate action goal will have even larger implications for maintaining development progress post-2030.
Successful implementation of the Paris Agreement and the sustainable development goals agenda will depend on the ability of governments to develop national targets that serve both and take advantage of common opportunities.
As Akinbode Oluwafemi, deputy executive director, Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) unveiled an anti-tobacco billboard strategically located by the National Assembly complex in Abuja on Thursday (November 3, 2016), he says the development was informed by the need to press home demands for adoption of Regulations for Implementation of the National Tobacco Control Act 2015
The anti-tobacco billboard
Without mincing words, we must inform you of the stage we are in regarding the implementation of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act 2015: The Federal Ministry of Health is still fleshing out regulations for its effective implementation, which will be transmitted to the National Assembly for approval.
This is therefore a very crucial time because, between the periods the NTC Act was signed into law in 2015 and the inauguration of the National Tobacco Control Committee (NATOCC) by Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, and now, the tobacco industry has not relented in the trade we know too well.
We have recorded a lot of shocking developments that encourage us to demand expedited action on the tobacco control regulations. We have recorded among others, Philip Morris International Nigeria Limited (PMINTL) cigarette imports from Senegal, an unwarranted aspersion on the integrity of NATOCC members by the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA) – a group that was in the fore of British America Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) campaign for a sufficiently weakened tobacco law in Nigeria, and now the unrelenting marketing gimmicks targeted at our kids.
The attempt to get our kids hooked through kiosks and other Point of Sale (POS) near schools is now a big issue not only in Nigeria but across Africa. In Cameroun, Togo and Uganda to list a few countries, these things are happening. Our concern however is that Nigeria still remains the biggest market for the tobacco industry on the African continent because of its teeming population of vibrant youths. In virtually all the states of the federation, street corners and around schools have been targeted by the tobacco death merchants to market new flavours of cigarettes. Is it not very disturbing to know that there are orange, vanilla and Amarula flavours of cigarettes now being openly displayed and sold to capture the attention of our kids and addict them to smoking?
With the aforementioned, the question that may then agitate your minds is: Why are we putting up this billboard? And why this location? For us, the unveiling of this billboard is not the mere ceremony of a big and colourful advertisement. It is not competition over a product. This is an innovation in getting our advocacy messages on public health to our esteemed lawmakers who have the onerous task of approving the tobacco control regulations for effective implementation of the NTC Act.
The message we have on the board is also intended to resonate with our kids who are intelligent and will ask their parents what the issues are. They will ask questions and we will have to answer them.
For the wider public, the billboard is like a television set that you cannot switch off. It is always there, they will always see it. Unlike television or magazine adverts, you cannot flip the channel or turn the page. So, for our lawmakers who traverse this route daily, they cannot miss it and the message will stick. Most importantly we want it to galvanise them to action.
As we preach this message using this outdoor medium, we are also asking the Ministry of Health to expedite action on the NTC regulations for the full implementation of the Act.
We have said it time and again, delay is dangerous. The time to Act is now!
Mariam Lady Yunusa, Abuja-based urban planner and erstwhile Director of Partnerships and Manager, African Urban Agenda at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in Nairobi, revisits the recently-held Habitat III summit in Quito, Ecuador, saying in this treatise that though Africa’s road to Quito has been challenging, it has also been rewarding
Mariam Lady Yunusa. She says Africa’s road to Quito has been challenging, but also rewarding
The mail came in from one of the two African Members of the Habitat 3 Bureau who was coordinating Africa’s position at the negotiations on the New Urban Agenda. “We have a document on which we are all agreed.” The relief that followed was palpable among all the African diplomats, professionals, experts, government focal points, and partner networks who have toiled for over two years to build up Africa’s position on Habitat III. Their joy was infectious even across the airwaves. Africa is ready for Quito – not in 54 disparate entities, but as one block, with a common position, with one voice. It is indeed cause for celebration and expectant jubilation.
Why is this such a milestone? Although a new mandate for the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) was derived to support and monitor the implementation of the Habitat Agenda adopted at the Istanbul Conference, and approved by all regions of the world, both the Vancouver and Istanbul conferences had no regional or sectoral focus but they set the stage for global awareness and regional policy debates. The urbanisation phenomenon was not associated with Africa and some parts of Asia, which were considered rural.
During the Habitat I and Habitat II Conferences, Africa’s participation was hardly relevant. The continent was still basically rural and participated as a continent that neither accepted that it neither needed to worry about human settlements nor understood the implications of the urbanisation dynamics to its predominantly rural-based primary exports as the backbones of their economies.
The Building Blocks
The first signs of continental consciousness of the challenges and potentials of urbanisation for Africa was marked by African Union’s (AU) Decision 29 of 2003 in Maputo, in which Heads of State pronounced their determination to “reap the potential benefits of cities and towns as centres of economic growth and places of opportunity and prosperity for all African people in the course of economic development and structural transformation.” The AU called upon UN-Habitat to continue providing support to the Commission of the AU to implement this decision. This marked the opening of space for attention to urbanisation at the highest level.
The last two decades have seen a marked increase in Africa’s economic growth and productivity and with it a rise in the multiple challenges of rapid urbanisation and the growth of cities and human settlements. The consequent growing appreciation that it is impossible to deal with Africa’s growth and poverty challenges without managing urbanisation has provoked the establishment of the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD). Over a period of 10 years (2005-2015) they met in different cities of Africa bi-annually, discussing a wide range of themes on urbanisation. At its 4th meeting in Nairobi in 2012, the Ministers took a decision to “maximise the urban advantage”. This decision stood on four pillars: develop a transformative national urban policy; create a more compact city at human scale; undertake institutional and legal reforms and learning to do things together.
At its session in Ndjamena, the AMCHUD took a decision to advance partnership (learning to do things together) as the mechanism for preparing Africa for the upcoming Habitat III. In appreciation of the daunting challenge of building a consensus on urbanisation to reach a broad understanding of the common issues that confront the African continent, and as a response to the need for an early preparation and to have a unified voice for Africa at Habitat III, a group of African Member States took up the challenge and provided financial and technical support to facilitate country level preparations as well as support consultations required for forging a common position that has been achieved as a product of the national reports.
At its 5th Session, African Ministers decided to further adopt the UN Habitat-led African Urban Agenda (AUA) as its main input into the ambitious and visionary Agenda 2063. The AUA was born as a partnership between government and non-state actors out of the need to raise the profile of urbanisation as a force for structural transformation of Africa, as well as a vehicle to prepare Africa for the Habitat III Conference. Subsequently, the transition of the AMCHUD into the AU’s Specialised Technical Committee No 8: Public Service, Local Government Decentralisation Urbanisation and Local Government (STC No.8).
The AUA ‘s top-down and bottom-up approach, which emphasises partnership between government, civil society and the private sector, was integrated in the work plan of the STC No.8 and the programme of work of the 10-year implementation plan of the Agenda 2063, was subsequently endorsed by the Heads of State in Johannesburg in 2015. In forging consensus to achieve a common position and frame of work, various strategies were adopted:
Technical and financial support to multi-level and multi-sectorally comprised National Habitat Committees to prepare their national reports;
Sponsoring civil society members to accompany government partners to regional and global conferences at which they participated in various events alongside their counterparts from other regions;
Close support to UCLG-A by providing strategic inputs into all its regional seminars designed to prepare associations of local governments to understand their roles in the AUA, the New Urban Agenda (NUA), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063.
The outline of the processes for the Habitat III were discussed with all National Associations of Local Governments and this buttressed a strong buy-in to Agenda 2063;
UN-Habitat took advantage of all major conferences to hold side events to which cross-section of African experts, professional, diplomats and civil society partners participated, and the concepts of the AUA and its drive for a common position was explained;
An applied research was commissioned, and the report served as an expert and intellectual compliment to the Africa Regional Report, which was produced as a synthesis of the national reports;
Several expert group meetings were held, under the leadership of the AU Department of Political Affairs, at which concepts, processes and regional position on issues were defined;
The sub-regional economic commissions were also contacted, consulted and a some of them invited to the regional meetings to participate in shaping the Common Africa Position;
Of special note is a side event that was organised in New York in Sept 2015 at the SGD Summit, which was attended by UNSG, Chairperson of the AU, President of the AfDB, Executive Secretary of the UNECA and the Executive Director of the UNFPA. At this event the world witnessed an Africa that had found its voice, and was decisively preparing to engage the world as a continent with the most challenges in urbanisation;
Key messages on the role of urbanisation in Africa’s structural transformation were articulated and disseminated at all global conferences and Heads of State summits.
All the strategies outlined served to raise the awareness of Africa at all levels to the challenges of urbanisation as well as its potential as a force for structural transformation of African economies. The buy-in and build-up to the Common Africa Position on Habitat III (CAPH3) that culminated with the endorsement by African Ministers at the Africa Regional Conference on Habitat III in Abuja in Feb 2016, was indeed gratifying. The CAPH3 which stands on eight pillars and the Abuja Declaration was endorsed by African Heads of State at its Summit in Kigali in June 2016, served as the main premise for Africa’s engagement and negotiation for the NUA.
From New York to Nairobi to Abuja to Kigali to Surabaya and back to New York, Africa’s main concerns, which it pushed to see reflected in the NUA, were mainly woven around: finishing the business of the MDGs on slum rehabilitation and prevention; adequate shelter and affordable housing; basic services and effective environmental management; retaining the concept of cities and human settlement as a continuum; strengthening of institutions and systems for transformative change; enhancing environmental sustainability and effective response to climate change in human settlements; enhancing Africa’s global competitiveness; addressing attendant consequences of massive movement of populations due to insurgency and terrorism; urbanisation as a force for economic growth and structural transformation; and as a catalyst for job creation for women and youth.
Most of the issues of concern to Africa were captured in the draft NUA but a point of critical importance to the continent, which proved tough, was the strengthening of UN-Habitat based in Nairobi as the focal point for human settlements and sustainable urbanisation. The negotiations were held off for four months and a couple of points revolving around the implementation and review of the NUA. After 38 long hours of negotiation, the final draft that has been agreed to is testimony to the commitment of the parties involved, and the willingness to give and take. Africa has stood up to be heard.
The Driving Force
Africa’s road to Quito is marked by early preparation championed by Member States that committed resources to support national governments to prepare reports in an inclusive, representative, consultative and integrated manner. These reports formed the inputs for the African Regional Report on Habitat III, and inspired the Common African Position on Habitat III.
Africa’s road to Quito has been framed by strong partnerships, alliances and unflinching resolve. Member States have been faithful to their resolve to do things together and with cooperation and collaboration. UN-Habitat, the Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the AfDB and the UCLG-A gave the requisite support to the AU to formulate the CAPH3 that was built on all of Africa’s previous commitments as already highlighted. Backed by a team of dogged and firmly resolved diplomats, experts, professionals and technocrats who spared no night nor day in keeping the momentum going, they kept in tow with emerging positions at the negotiation table and consulted one another for redlines, amber lines and green lines. Unlike its fragmented posture in previous conferences, Africa on this road is sure-footed as a committed member of the global community. Africa negotiated hard while making its voice clear on its interest and issues germane to the development and attainment of its Agenda 2063.
Africa is going to Quito’s Habitat III with a stronger voice than hitherto, yet as a continent that is keenly aware of its challenges and, more than ever, the need for building trust and alliance within itself and the people as well as the need to cooperate with international partners in a mutually respectful and beneficial manner.
Africa is pleased to have overcome its traditional weakness of fragmentation and has learned value in sharing views and pooling resources on its way to Quito. The continent is glad to have contributed to shaping a new strategic global urban agenda with a human face. A global vision of the 20th century urbanism, which addresses the specifics of compact cities, polycentric growth, mixed land uses and city skylines, prevention of unplanned growth and sprawl and transit oriented development, is not only refreshing but a welcome development to Africa. The generality of Africans can relate with and find meaning in the New Urban Agenda – a thought without which the world could not be said to be truly advancing.
Needless to state that post-Quito will be critical as all eyes, so to speak will be on Africa as the last global frontier of urbanisation to uphold its loud and articulated voice into concrete sustainable programmes – programmes which will give hope and confidence to the youth of Africa and equip them to own their future … programmes that will stimulate economic transformation and promote regional integration in Africa.
Africa’s road to Quito has been tough, exerting, challenging and engaging but absolutely rewarding and I believe, worth it all.
