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GEF, others unveil investments for oceans protection

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GEF, others unveil investments for oceans protection

New investments in issues ranging from coastal fisheries and conservation funds to combating plastic pollution and expanding marine protected areas were on Friday announced by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) at the Our Ocean conference that held during the week in Washington DC, USA.

Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of the GEF. GEF has announced new investments in various ocean conservation issues
Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of the GEF. GEF has announced new investments in various ocean conservation issues

Alongside fellow environment and conservation leaders, the GEF CEO and Chairperson, Naoko Ishii, stressed the need to match political commitments with financial support for the world’s oceans, our vital global commons.

 

Expansion and Protection of Marine Protected Areas

The Wildlife Conservation Society, Waitt Foundation, Blue Moon Fund, and the GEF announced a $48 million commitment to expand and protect the world’s marine protected areas (MPAs).

Joining Cristián Samper, President and CEO of WCS, Naoko Ishii, announced GEF’s contribution, “I am pleased to announce the GEF’s new commitment of $33 million dollars to create, expand and improve the effectiveness of over seven million hectares of marine protected areas. These new funds will help ensure protection of valuable marine and coastal ecosystems worldwide, our vital global commons.”

“Marine Protected Areas are a win-win. Marine Protected Areas are our best conservation tool protecting habitat, improving fisheries, supporting local livelihoods and securing the long-term health of marine biodiversity and the oceans,” said Samper.

 

Meloy Fund for Small-Scale Fisheries

With the conservation organisation, Rare, and in collaboration with Conservation International, GEF announced the Meloy Fund for Small-Scale Fisheries, the first-of-Its kind impact investment fund.

“Despite providing half the world’s fish, the vast majority of fishing-sector employment and encompassing our most critical marine habitat, there is a yawning gap in investment in the sector.  The Meloy Fund aims to bridge that gap and further incentivise sustainable small-scale fishing practices,” said Rare CEO Brett Jenks.

Naoko Ishii, said, “We cannot secure our oceans’ future without the active involvement of the private sector. Investment in coastal fisheries is both an environmental necessity and a largely untapped economic opportunity. Today, we are here to announce the creation of the $20 million Meloy Fund, a first-of-its-kind attempt to attract private impact investments in community small-scale fisheries in Indonesia and the Philippines. The GEF investment in this fund is part of our commitment to both promote sustainable fisheries worldwide, protect marine ecosystems and foster partnerships with the private sector.”

 

Blue Abadi Fund

Conservation International, together with The Walton Family Foundation, the GEF, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund,announced the launch of a trust fund, Blue Abadi.  The fund will support long-term protection of Indonesia’s Bird’s Head Seascape — home to the single greatest reservoir of marine life on the planet.

“The Bird’s Head Seascape is a groundbreaking partnership protecting a unique and irreplaceable corner of our blue planet,” said Peter Seligmann, chairman and CEO of Conservation International. “The Government of Indonesia and the local community have taken the lion’s share of responsibility for these efforts. I am thrilled that Conservation International and our partners can support the long-term financial stability of this partnership through the Blue Abadi Fund.”

Naoko Ishii said “I am pleased to announce that the GEF will provide seed funding of more than two million dollars to help catalyse the Blue Abadi Fund in the heart of the Coral Triangle, one of the most marine biodiverse regions in the world. The Blue Abadi Fund is unique. It creates an investment partnership between a multilateral institution and private philanthropists working together with the public sector and NGOs. This groundbreaking new fund demonstrates the power of partnerships to co-finance ocean conservation.”

 

Stemming the tide of ocean pollution

Ocean Conservancy, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and GEF all announced greater efforts to tackle ocean pollution.

Addressing the Our Ocean conference, Naoko Ishii said, “It will take action on many fronts to deal with the growing menace of marine pollution.” She made two related announcements.

“To help eliminate plastics in the oceans, the GEF, in collaboration with UNEP will invest $2 million dollars to support the efforts of the Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance to prevent plastic from leaking into the oceans,” said Ishii. “The GEF investment will also support the efforts of the Ellen MacArthur foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative to move the entire plastics supply chain toward a circular economy.”

Ishii continued, “At the same time, we cannot forget that excess nitrogen is poisoning our lakes and oceans. Therefore, I am also pleased to announce $6 million in new GEF support for a project with UNEP to address this important issue.”

“Marine debris, especially plastic debris, is a growing concern for all who care about our ocean and the communities that depend upon it,” said Andreas Merkl, CEO, Ocean Conservancy. “To stem the tide against plastic waste leaking into the ocean, it will takecoordinated action across all sectors. This is why I’m pleased to have the support of the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme and our other partners in the Trash Free Seas Alliance® as we work to engage foreign governments, businesses and local civil society organizations to build durable solutions that will combat the flow of plastic waste into the ocean at every point in the pollution vector.”

Hosted by US Secretary of State John Kerry, Our Ocean 2016 brought together heads of state, scientists, business leaders, NGOs, and others to tackle key issues including marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, marine pollution, and climate-related impacts on the ocean.

Giant panda no longer Endangered

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Giant panda no longer Endangered

No longer classified as endangered, the iconic species, symbol of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), is one step further away from extinction

The giant panda has been downgraded from Endangered to Vulnerable on the global list of species at risk of extinction
The giant panda has been downgraded from Endangered to Vulnerable on the global list of species at risk of extinction

In a welcome piece of good news for the world’s threatened wildlife, the giant panda has just been downgraded from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the global list of species at risk of extinction, demonstrating how an integrated approach can help save our planet’s vanishing biodiversity.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced the positive change to the giant panda’s official status in the Red List of Threatened Species, pointing to the 17 per cent rise in the population in the decade up to 2014, when a nationwide census found 1,864 giant pandas in the wild in China.

“For over 50 years, the giant panda has been the globe’s most beloved conservation icon as well as the symbol of WWF. Knowing that the panda is now a step further from extinction is an exciting moment for everyone committed to conserving the world’s wildlife and their habitats,” said Marco Lambertini, WWF Director General.

“The recovery of the panda shows that when science, political will and engagement of local communities come together, we can save wildlife and also improve biodiversity,” added Lambertini.

While the panda’s status has improved, other species are under increasing threat, including the Eastern gorilla that is now listed as critically endangered, just one step away from extinction, due primarily to poaching.

WWF’s panda logo was designed by the organisation’s founding chairman, the naturalist and painter Sir Peter Scott in 1961. Twenty years later, WWF became the first international organisation to work in China.

Ever since, WWF has been working with the government on initiatives to save giant pandas and their habitat, including helping to establish an integrated network of giant panda reserves and wildlife corridors to connect isolated panda populations as well as working with local communities to develop sustainable livelihoods and minimise their impact on the forests.

These efforts have seen the number of panda reserves jump to 67, which now protect nearly two-thirds of all wild pandas. They have also helped to safeguard large swathes of mountainous bamboo forests, which shelter countless other species and provide natural services to vast numbers of people, including tens of millions who live alongside rivers downstream of panda habitat.

Industrialists, scientists seek ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ in Amazon region

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Industrialists, scientists seek ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ in Amazon region

Drawing on biodiversity and biomimetics, new innovation model proposes to use science, cutting-edge technology and indigenous knowledge to carve out new path for development in Amazon region

Brazilian climatologist, Carlos Nobre, leads a group of Latin American scientists and entrepreneurs clamouring a Fourth Industrial Revolution in the Amazon
Brazilian climatologist, Carlos Nobre, leads a group of Latin American scientists and entrepreneurs clamouring a Fourth Industrial Revolution in the Amazon

Latin American scientists and entrepreneurs on Friday published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that would turn the biodiversity and biomimetic assets of the Amazon and the knowledge of its Indigenous Peoples into fuel for a “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” while simultaneously protecting the region from the economic pressures that are currently threatening to turn the world’s largest rainforest into a degraded savannah.

Led by renowned Brazilian scientist Carlos Nobre, an MIT-trained climatologist, the group includes Peruvian entrepreneur Juan Carlos Castilla-Rubio, chairman of Space Time Ventures and of Planetary Skin Institute; Brazil’s Space Research Institute-INPE researchers Gilvan Sampaio, Laura Borma and Manoel Cardoso; and José Silva, a post-graduate at University of Brasilia. The group argues that, in the short term, and using a low-tech approach, it is feasible to develop unique, biodiversity-based products, with high added value capable of reaching global markets.

“We hope to start a revolution,” said Nobre, noting that the multidisciplinary science and technology group he leads is driven by a sense of urgency. Its members seek to set up public-private partnerships among key actors in Brazil and other Amazonian countries, bringing together the finest research and development centres, universities, startups and visionary companies worldwide, guided by the need to involve Indigenous Peoples, while ensuring that social safeguards are in place to protect their rights and interests.

“In order to reach the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming levels anticipated by the Paris Accord, we must move towards the de-carbonisation of the economy, and that includes a zero deforestation target for the world’s forests, which also implies zero deforestation for Brazil,” Nobre said.

Nobre notes as well that indigenous knowledge, the knowledge of the traditional communities about biomolecules and the forms and processes of ecosystems, has been accumulated through countless generations in the Amazon. “Respect for this knowledge and for inclusive development must serve as the foundation for innovation models for the future of the forest,” he asserts.

The proposal by the group envisions making economic use of the biodiversity and biomimetic assets of the Amazon, with its diversity of living plants, animals and insects, pairing them with advances in applied research in advanced biological, digital and material science technologies that are currently fueling a Fourth Industrial Revolution.

These include breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, the Internet of Things, quantum computing, genomics, genetic editing, nanotechnologies and 3D printing, amongst many others. This new model provides a valid way to change the tragic and irreversible fate towards which the planet’s largest tropical forest seems to be headed. A huge opportunity will be lost if the region continues to be driven by a development model that threatens the forests, fuels climate change, and destroys Indigenous Peoples and the biodiversity they have protected for centuries and generations. They must be respected as holders of traditional knowledge and rights.

Characterised by high rates of deforestation and exposed to increased frequency of fires and long periods of drought and extreme weather, the Amazon under the current development model could well enter an irreversible process of “savannisation,” the authors warn.

The group predicts that, by 2050, half of the tropical forest may be replaced by degraded tropical savannah or seasonal forests. Drier and poorer, the region would face a point of no return for the survival of the world’s largest tropical forest, with catastrophic consequences for Indigenous Peoples, Brazil, South America and the world.

“If warming in Amazonia exceeds four degrees Celsius, or if more than 40 percent of the forest is cleared, we will reach the tipping point for the forest’s balance with the climate,” Nobre said. “The resulting savannisation process could become irreversible.”

Brazil’s success with reducing illegal deforestation by 80 percent in the last decade creates a bridge that could make possible a radical reversal of the current development model in the Amazon, serving as a springboard for exploiting the assets of biodiversity and biomimetics, according to Nobre and his colleagues.

The group cites, for example, the alkaloid spilanthol, found in the leaves, stems and flowers of the jambu – a plant common in Amazonian gardens and widely used in local cuisine. Spilanthol slightly numbs the tongue when ingested, as described in patents for anesthetics, antiseptics, anti-wrinkle preparations, toothpaste, gynecological medicines and anti-inflammatories. Another natural product, known as copaiba oil, is easily processed from start to finish in the Amazon, and could be used as an alternative source of fluorine-xylo for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

But the PNAS article proposes to delve even further into the research and development of innovations offered by the forest and its peoples. The researchers discuss using the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to learn from and imitate the forest’s natural forms, as well as the processes, molecules, materials and ecosystems, all capable of inspiring invaluable innovations for multiple industries in Brazil and around the world.

“We are rapidly coming to understand how things are created in nature, and how organisms sense their environment using sophisticated sensors, how they interpret that information, how they move about in their environment using biomechanical and kinetic principles, processes that have taken millions of years to develop behave and function,” said Castilla-Rubio, one of the authors and a biochemical engineer from Cambridge University.

In addition, he says, the forest reproduces complex biological systems and biomimetic solutions to problems on a nano-molecular scale. These environmentally friendly processes can inspire technologies to prevent and remedy pollution, provide new insights for designing bio-textiles, and inform advanced applications of robotic behavior and cognition, which are in the initial phase of the innovation cycle.

“Leveraging the Amazon’s vast biomimetic and biodiversity assets, we can aspire to develop revolutionary innovations in multiple fields. For example, a long-lasting foam produced by a species of frog has inspired the creation of new technologies for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” said Castilla-Rubio.

The revolutionary plan the authors envision as capable of changing the course of the history of the Amazon cannot be implemented in a single step. Instead, an ambitious innovation initiative that would pool capabilities and resources from technology startups, visionary corporations, academia, government and leading philanthropic actors on a massive scale for navigating the long road ahead is needed. “We have an important choice to make,” Castilla-Rubio said. The future of the Amazon, and its impact on the planet, lies so clearly in the balance. Time is not on our side, but we can still choose the ‘third way’.”

How Swiss traders flood Africa with toxic fuel, study reveals

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How Swiss traders flood Africa with toxic fuel, study reveals

A report published on Thursday has revealed how Swiss commodity trading firms exploit lax regulatory standards to sell African customers fuel with high sulphur content. Titled “Dirty Diesel”, the report was published by Public Eye, a Swiss non-governmental organisation.

Fuel tankers in Apapa, Lagos
Fuel tankers in Apapa, Lagos

Produced by the trading firms themselves, these types of fuel have reportedly been banned in Europe. According to observers, they contribute significantly to the rapidly rising air pollution in African cities and jeopardise the health of millions of people.

In a petition addressed to Trafigura, Public Eye and its West African partners call on the Geneva-based commodities giant only to sell fuel that meets European standards in all of its operations around the world.

Based on three years of research, the “Dirty Diesel” study highlights for the first time the pivotal role played by Swiss commodity trading companies in Africa’s fuel industry and reveals the shocking business model behind a supply chain completely controlled by these companies in their multiple roles as producers, suppliers, and – in some regions – operators of gas station networks.

In West Africa especially, Vitol, Trafigura and Addax & Oryx are accused of exploiting weak regulatory standards and make the local urban populations pay with their health. Public Eye researchers drew fuel at local pumps in eight countries. The analysis revealed that the diesel samples contained up to 378 times more sulphur than is permitted in Europe. Furthermore, other toxic substances, such as benzene and polycyclical aromatic hydrocarbons, were also found in concentrations that are also banned in Europe.

The 160-page report also shows that the trading companies not only ship dirty diesel and dirty gasoline – and in some areas even sell it at their own pumps – but also produce both fuels themselves. On land or at sea, they are accused of mixing up a petrochemical cocktail from refinery products and other components known in the industry as “African Quality”. These toxic fuels are said to be mainly mixed in the ARA-Zone (Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp) where Swiss trading firms have their own refineries and storage facilities. Many West African countries that export high grade crude oil to Europe receive toxic low quality fuel in return, it was revealed.

Producing and selling such products is illegitimate and violates the African populations’ right to health, said environment watchdog, Greenpeace, in a statement on Thursday.

According to a recent UN study, the populations in the continent’s major urban centres suffer from the most rapidly increasing levels of air pollution in the world. It is estimated that, by 2030, Africa will have three times as many deaths from traffic-related particle dust than Europe, Japan, and the US combined. Respiratory illnesses are already a major health issue and diesel fumes can cause cancer.

“To disarm this time bomb the governments of the affected countries need to set and enforce stricter standards. But the Swiss commodity companies, too, must respect human rights wherever they do business – and comply with the UN-Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights adopted in 2011,” stated Greenpeace.

CEO Jeremy Weir wrote in last year’s sustainability report that Trafigura wants to “become acknowledged sector leaders in the way we manage corporate responsibility”. The company also intends to adapt its business practices to the aforementioned UN guidelines.

In order to remind the commodities giant of its good intentions, Public Eye and its West African partner organisations will be shipping a container full of toxic air from Accra, the capital of Ghana, back to Geneva in late September. With this symbolic “Return to Sender”-campaign, the NGOs are inviting Trafigura “to put its money where its mouth is and stop selling fuel that does not meet European standards anywhere in the world.”

Indonesia, EU agree on moves to curb illegal logging

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Indonesia, EU agree on moves to curb illegal logging

Indonesia and the European Union on Thursday agreed that, beginning 15 November 2016, Indonesia can issue the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) licences to verified legal timber products it exports to the EU.

The FLEGT Action Plan of 2003 is the EU’s initiative against illegal logging, which aims to reduce illegal logging by strengthening the sustainability and legality of forest management, improving forest governance and promoting trade in legally produced timber.

Illegal logging negatively impacting IGR, laments Ogun
Illegal logging. Via the issuance of FLEGT licences, EU and Indonesia hope to combat illegal logging and associated illegal timber trade

Thursday’s decision makes Indonesia the first country in the world to achieve this major milestone in the global effort to combat illegal logging and associated illegal timber trade.

The decision was made at the 5th Joint Implementation Committee, which oversees the implementation of the Indonesia-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade – Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT VPA). Indonesia and the EU signed the Agreement in Brussels on 30 September 2013, completing negotiations of the VPA.

Indonesia has developed a system for assuring that all timber products harvested or imported, transported, traded, processed and exported comply with national laws on environmental, social and economic aspects identified by stakeholders from government, the private sector and civil society. The country’s timber legality assurance system, called Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu (SVLK), is subject to independent monitoring by civil society and periodic evaluation by an independent auditor. The implementation of the FLEGT licence means that the Indonesian SVLK meets the requirements of the VPA with the EU.

“Indonesia has achieved great progress in bringing its forest sector under control and improving transparency, participation and other aspects of good forest governance through a process of dialogue and compromise among all stakeholder groups,” said Putera Parthama, Director General of Sustainable Forest Management at Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and co-chair of the JIC. “By addressing legality we have built the foundation for sustainable forest management and action to address climate change. We have met the high certification standards of the EU.”

In addition to improving governance and increasing government revenues, the FLEGT licence benefits timber traders. FLEGT-licensed products automatically meet the requirements of the EU Timber Regulation, which prohibits operators in the EU from placing illegally harvested timber and products derived from illegal timber on the EU market. EU operators can therefore place FLEGT-licensed timber on the EU market without doing due diligence.

The JIC also agreed on joint activities until the end of 2017 through which the EU and Indonesia will oversee the continual improvement of Indonesia’s timber legality assurance system and wider VPA implementation. The plan will address continuation of the multistakeholder process, data collection, independent forest monitoring, enforcement, and monitoring the EU market for FLEGT-licenced timber products.

“The decision to begin FLEGT licensing is a landmark achievement in a partnership that links EU businesses and consumers with legal traders in Indonesia,” said Vincent Guérend, the EU Ambassador to Indonesia and co-chair of the JIC. “By guaranteeing legality, FLEGT licences should not only make business more efficient for traders in both Indonesia and the EU but also strengthen governance and ensure fairness to all forest stakeholders. They are the result of increasing transparency and better accountability and stakeholder participation in decisions about forests. Today, all of Indonesia’s timber exports are from independently audited factories and forests.”

The EU has already completed internal procedures to recognise FLEGT licences from Indonesia. Competent authorities and timber importers in the 28 EU Member States are now preparing to receive the world’s first shipments of FLEGT-licensed timber.

According to the EU, FLEGT contributes to efforts to limit climate change, conserve biodiversity, protect rights and increase transparency.

Time to act on Tobacco Act Regulations

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Time to act on Tobacco Act Regulations

When former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, signed the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act 2015 into law four days to the end of his administration, most Nigerians heaved a sigh relief.

Paul Hopkins, tobacco industry employee-turned-whistleblower, said his job was to make sure the competition never got a breathing space
Paul Hopkins, tobacco industry employee-turned-whistleblower, said his job was to make sure the competition never got a breathing space

The exhilarating feeling among Nigerians was not unanticipated as the law had gone through a tortuous road, almost declared missing at a point before resurrecting to become a reality. The process proper started more than a decade before when Nigeria joined the committee of nations that signed and ratified the first global health treaty known as the World Health Organisation – Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC).

The coming into force of the FCTC on 27 February 2005 marked the first time that the WHO went as far as enacting international legal powers to address tobacco addiction and its deadly fallouts. Dr. Jonathan’s signing of the law was therefore a watershed for Nigeria as it joined the ranks of nations that have domesticated the treaty.

While the law still has loopholes such as a bureaucratic provision that the National Assembly must give its nod for implementing Regulations to be fashioned by the Ministry of Health for implementation to begin, in the overall, the NTC Act 2015 is seen as a torchlight pointing in the right direction.

A further encouraging development is the recent inauguration of the National Tobacco Control Committee (NATOCC) by Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, and Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo’s meeting with civil society where he pledged federal government’s support for quick implementation of the tobacco law.

But even as these strides thrill Nigerians, for the Ministry of Health, the need to be circumspect about the tobacco industry is instructive. This has become very important now that the tobacco industry is pulling stunts to obstruct or delay the passage of tobacco control policies across Africa.

Kenya is an example that readily comes to mind. Even after a 13-year legislative battle for the passage of her Tobacco Control Act which happened in 2007, British America Tobacco (BAT) petitioned a Kenyan court to stop the adoption of regulations that would facilitate implementation of Kenya’s Tobacco Control Act, claiming the Kenyan Ministry of Health violated due process procedures under the Constitution by not consulting with the tobacco industry in fashioning its Tobacco Control Act.

After several deliberate attempts to arm-twist the ministry, the Kenyan court ruled, among others, that, according to the documents presented to it, there were various meetings during the framing of the regulations that BAT was represented in, and consulted. The suit was thrown out.

For public health advocates the BAT lawsuit is a familiar one deliberately aimed at undermining, delaying and thwarting the strong tobacco control regulations. The company is also allegedly involved in coercing government officials to advocate on its behalf, interfering in policymaking through trade committees and third parties, and aggressively lobbying and bribing policymakers.

The recourse to litigation was as a result of the failure of the previous tactics even as the company is yet to extricate itself from allegations of systematic bribery which was exposed by Paul Hopkins, an employee-turned-whistleblower. In 2015, Hopkins revealed that BAT engaged in systematic bribery to thwart tobacco control laws throughout Central and East Africa.

Hopkins went into details to describe how BAT funded illegal corporate espionage and how its contractors bribed politicians and policymakers in countries like Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda.

Hopkins, former BAT personnel, shared hundreds of secret documents which revealed he started paying bribes after being told it was the cost of doing business in Africa. His job was to facilitate the payments.

Emails he shared revealed the company made illegal payments to two members and one former member of the FCTC. An FCTC representative from Burundi, Godefroid Kamwenubusa, and a representative from the Comoros Islands, Chaibou Bedja Abdou, were alleged to have also received $3,000 while former representative from Rwanda, Bonaventure Nzeyimana, was paid $20,000. In return for the illegal payment to Kamwenubusa, a Burundian senior civil servant, BAT also wanted a draft copy of the country’s Tobacco Control Bill with an e-mail to the government official asking to “accommodate any amendments before the president signs.”

In Uganda, the company is allegedly behind financial muscle to oppose a MPs private member’s bill aimed at curbing smoking in a country where cigarettes kill 13,500 people a year.

 

Learning Point

Nigeria’s health ministry must learn from an observed pattern of tobacco industry booby trap as it begins developing regulations for implementation of the Tobacco Control Act. The ministry must also have Article 5.3 of the WHO-FCTC at the back of its mind as the focal agency of government to implement the law as it alerts that industry interference poses the single greatest threat to tobacco control policies. It must guard against industry influence. Only such caution will save Nigerians from lifelong addiction to tobacco. The other alternative is to wait for the industry to begin a game it knows very well to our collective peril. God forbid!

By Uchenna Okafor (Public Health Consultant, Aba)

Investment flows signal shift towards cleaner energy

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Investment flows signal shift towards cleaner energy

A new IEA report – World Energy Investment 2016 – shows the electricity sector leading a broad reorientation of energy investment but warns more is needed to meet climate targets and address energy security concerns

IEA Executive Director, Fatih Birol. The new report shows the electricity sector leading a broad reorientation of energy investment
IEA Executive Director, Fatih Birol. The new report shows the electricity sector leading a broad reorientation of energy investment

In a first-ever detailed analysis of investment across the global energy system, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday in London that global energy investment fell by 8% in 2015, with a drop in oil and gas upstream spending outweighing continued robust investment in renewables, electricity networks and energy efficiency.

Total investment in the energy sector reached $1.8 trillion in 2015, down from $2.0 trillion in 2014, according to the World Energy Investment (WEI 2016).

The new annual report provides a comprehensive and detailed picture of the current investment landscape across fuels, technologies and countries. It shows that the energy system is undergoing a broad reorientation toward low-carbon energy and efficiency but investment in key clean energy technologies needs to be further ramped up to put the world economy on track for climate stabilisation.

“We see a broad shift of spending toward cleaner energy, often as a result of government policies,” said IEA Executive Director, Fatih Birol. “Our report clearly shows that such government measures can work, and are key to a successful energy transition. But while some progress has been achieved, investors need clarity and certainty from policy makers. Governments must not only maintain but heighten their commitment to achieve energy security and climate goals.”

With energy supply spending of $315 billion, China was once again the world’s largest energy investor last year thanks to robust efforts in building up low-carbon generation and electricity networks, as well as implementing energy efficiency policies.

Investment in the United States’ energy supply declined to about $280 billion in 2015, falling nearly $75 billion, due to low oil prices and cost deflation, representing half of the total decline in global energy spending. The Middle East and Russia emerged as the most resilient regions to spending cuts, thanks respectively to lower production costs and currency movements. As a result, national oil companies accounted for 44 percent of overall upstream investments, an all-time high.

Renewable energy investments of $313 billion accounted for nearly a fifth of total energy spending last year, establishing renewables as the largest source of power investment. While spending on renewable power capacity was flat between 2011 and 2015, electricity generation from the new capacity rose by one third, reflecting the steep cost declines in wind turbines and solar PV. The investment in renewable power capacity in 2015 generates more than enough to cover global electricity demand growth.

Technology innovations boosted investment in smart grids and storage, which are expected to play a crucial role in integrating large shares of wind and solar. While grid-scale battery storage investment expanded tenfold since 2010, their value is predominantly to complement the grid, which continues to absorb much larger investment.

Global gas-fired power generation investment declined by nearly 40%. Asian markets continued to favour investment in coal power. Investment activity in European gas power remained muted despite large retirements anticipated in the next decade.

With investment rising 6%, energy efficiency spending was robust in 2015 due to government policies such as minimum standards that cover a rising share of new buildings, appliances and motor vehicles. In certain countries, lower prices slowed the trend towards more fuel-efficient vehicles, most notably in the United States where the rate of improvement in efficiency was two-thirds lower than that in recent years

World takes stock, celebrates 22nd Ozone Day

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World takes stock, celebrates 22nd Ozone Day

As the world observes the 22nd International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on September 16, 2016, stakeholders have taken up an appraisal of efforts made in the past to protect the atmosphere and preserve man’s existence on earth.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He asks the world to commit to do more to protect the ozone layer. Photo credit: www.afrik.com
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He wants the world to commit to do more to protect the ozone layer. Photo credit: www.afrik.com

Themed: “Ozone and climate: Restored by a world united”, the 2016 International Ozone Day recognises the collective efforts of the parties to the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol towards the restoration of the ozone layer over the past three decades and the global commitment to combat climate change.

The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is a Multilateral Environmental Agreement that was agreed upon at the Vienna Conference of 1985 and entered into force in 1988. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, on the other hand, is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.

In a speech to commemorate the 2016 International Ozone Day, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, submitted: “On this International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, let us remember how much has already been accomplished, and commit to do more to protect our atmosphere. By working together, we can build a safer, healthier, more prosperous and resilient world for all people while protecting our planet, our only home.”

In 1994, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 16 September the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, commemorating the date of the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (resolution 49/114).

States were invited to devote the Day to promote activities in accordance with the objectives of the Protocol and its amendments. The ozone layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects the Earth from the harmful portion of the rays of the sun, thus helping preserve life on the planet.

The phaseout of controlled uses of ozone depleting substances and the related reductions have not only helped protect the ozone layer for this and future generations, but have also contributed significantly to global efforts to address climate change; furthermore, it has protected human health and ecosystems by limiting the harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the earth.

In a bid to completely phase-out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), an ozone-depleting substance (ODS) by 2040, Nigeria recently in Lagos took a major step towards realising the goal when stakeholders gathered to review and validate the findings of a survey, preparatory to the next stage of the initiative.

HCFCs are a group of man-made compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, chlorine and fluorine atoms considered to be destructive to the ozone layer, a region of the earth’s atmosphere that absorbs most of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. HCFCs are being phased out globally under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer to reduce their abundance and protect the fragile ozone layer.

Time to ban polluters from climate negotiations

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Time to ban polluters from climate negotiations

The word “fossil” is derived from Latin and primarily means, “dug up”. However, it is important we know that the old forests, which had been pressed into coal and the ocean life that was pressed into oil over millions of years back, are what is known as “fossil fuels” today.

Fossil fuel pollution: Ghana may join the league of polluters, what with its proposal to establish a coal-fired plant in Ekumfi Aboano
Fossil fuel pollution: Ghana may join the league of polluters, what with its proposal to establish a coal-fired plant in Ekumfi Aboano

Fossil fuel industry, on the other hand, specialises in the digging up of coal and oil deposits deep down the earth crust through developed refined methods. This activity is accountable for around 65 to 70 percent of present day global warming. The industry practitioners are thus major polluters.

Statistics has shown that climate change alone is responsible for the death of 300,000 people per year. Thus, it is now clear that the various impacts of climate change around the world ranging from sea level rise, flooding, drought, and desertification, amongst others, affirm that climate change is no longer a threat, but rather a reality.

Also, astounding billions of people will be kicked out of their homes if the world fails to agree on a global climate deal aimed at protecting the environment. Even if we find it difficult to kick fossil fuel industry out for the sake of the environment, we should consider doing so for the sake of the coming generations that will one day live to question our existence as to what we have done to them. There can’t be any better time the world bans fossil fuel industry from climate negotiations than now.

Countries of the world will be meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco between 7 and 18 of November, 2016, to deliberate on climate action, but our fear is that the negotiation should not be politicised like many others in the past. I continue to wonder why corporations like European Energy Giants Engie, Electricite de France (EDF), Shell and BNP Paribas that happens to be chief polluters will continue to sponsor climate talks.

Being the chief polluters, we should not expect them to agitate for a strong global climate deal, rather they would corner their ways to influence United Nations (UN) representatives and make them dance to their tune at a time we need to decide on the fate of humanity.

No wonder Hoda Baraka, Global Communications Manager for 350.org, stated, “The fossil fuel industry is actively lobbying climate action and standing in the way of progress. When you’re trying to burn the table down, you don’t deserve a seat at it. This process needs to hear the voices of the people not polluters”. It is crystal clear that if the fossil fuel industry continues to be part of climate talks, there will not be any significant change or progress in the outcomes of climate talks. For how long must we continue to make corporations set climate talks agenda and put profit making interests above humanity and planet earth?

We should not forget the fact that millions of people and countries will continue to suffer for the unrepentant act of these corporations. This is the time we need to be more active as world citizens to save the planet from collapsing. We must brace up to protect the environment, save the less privileged people from the vulnerabilities of climate change; safeguard animals from extinction, and lakes from drying up.

If we fail to meet the 1.5 0C global average temperatures, then some countries will be under water, more animals will be endangered and the unborn generations will live to curse us for not leaving a world worth living for them.

World leaders can only secure our future and protect the right of the least polluting countries and persons by banning the fossil fuel industry from caressing and cat walking the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) corridor. It is usually said that together we stand, divided we fall. Through our collective effort we can press the UNFCCC to kick fossil fuel industry out of climate negotiations.

We may think it will be hard to achieve, but it is possible through our collective will and determination. For a massive coalition of civil society groups from all works of life to come together and got the World Health Organisation (WHO) to kick the tobacco industry out of Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) because they know tobacco kills a million people yearly and the only way to make progress and preserve public health is by banning them,  then we can also achieve it with the UN banning the fossil fuel industry from climate negotiations through one voice. Let’s stand to defend ourselves from the tyranny of big polluters. We should all be advocates of Climate Justice.

By Alabede Surajdeen (environmentalist and SDGs Advocate; alabedekayode@gmail.com, @BabsSuraj)

Climate change poses risk to security, say military experts

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Climate change poses risk to security, say military experts

Prominent members of US national security community warn that higher temperatures and rising seas will inundate bases and fuel conflict

The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia. The Pentagon ordered its officials in January to start incorporateing climate change into every major military consideration, from weapons testing to preparing troops for war. Photo credit: Charles Dharapak/AP
The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia. The Pentagon ordered its officials in January to start incorporating climate change into every major military consideration, from weapons testing to preparing troops for war. Photo credit: Charles Dharapak/AP

A coalition of 25 military and national security experts, including former advisers to Ronald Reagan and George W Bush, has warned that climate change poses a “significant risk to US national security and international security” that requires more attention from the US federal government.

The prominent members of the US national security community warned that warming temperatures and rising seas will increasingly inundate military bases and fuel international conflict and mass migration, leading to “significant and direct risks to US military readiness, operations and strategy”.

In a report outlining climate risks, the group states: “The military has long had a tradition of parsing threats through a ‘Survive to Operate’ lens, meaning we cannot assume the best case scenario, but must prepare to be able to effectively operate even under attack. Dealing with climate risks to operational effectiveness must therefore be a core priority.”

Organised by the non-partisan Centre for Climate and Security, the group includes Geoffrey Kemp, former national security adviser to Reagan; Dov Zakheim, former under secretary of defense under Bush; and retired general Gordon Sullivan, a former army chief of staff.

Recommendations to the federal government include the creation of a cabinet-level official dedicated to climate change and security issues and the prioritisation of climate change in intelligence assessments.

Last year, the Department of Defense called climate change a “threat multiplier” which could demand greater humanitarian or military intervention and lead to more severe storms that threaten cities and military bases and heightened sea levels that could imperil island and coastal infrastructure. In January, the Pentagon ordered its officials to start incorporating climate change into every major consideration, from weapons testing to preparing troops for war.

This new focus has not been warmly welcomed by Republicans, with Colorado congressman Ken Buck proposing an amendment that would bar the Pentagon from spending money on adapting to climate change.

“When we distract our military with a radical climate change agenda, we detract from their main purpose of defending America from enemies like Isis,” Buck said in July. Meanwhile, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has labeled climate change a “hoax”.

But military figures are increasingly expressing concern over potential disruption to the 1,774 coastal military installations the US operates at home and abroad. A mass of military infrastructure in Virginia is at particular risk of being soaked, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warning that, by 2050, a majority of US coastal areas are likely to be threatened by 30 or more days of flooding each year due to “dramatically accelerating impacts from sea level rise”.

“The conclusions are clear: climate risks are accelerating in their likelihood and severity,” said retired rear admiral David Titley of the US navy. “The next administration, whomever is elected, has the duty and obligation as commander-in-chief to manage this risk in a comprehensive manner.”

Ronald Keys, former commander of Air Combat Command, told The Guardian of London that he was initially skeptical about climate change but was then convinced by the impacts he saw first hand when returning to Langley air force base in Virginia after an uneventful spell there in the 1980s.

“I came in as commander in 2005 and there were north-easters that came through and brought three or four feet of water outside where I was living,” he said. “You see that change and think ‘a ha.’ Before, a minor storm was a nuisance, now it is a danger to some of our operations.”

Keys said he hoped in a non-presidential election year that “cooler heads may prevail” over the rhetoric used by Trump and others.

“It’s hard to energise people now, but it’s too late when the water is around your ankles,” he said, “People can say the temperature hasn’t followed the models but I can read a thermometer and a flood gauge. We need to do this threat analysis now.”

By Oliver Milman (The Guardian)

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