A trio of blasts occurring within eight months at facilities operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC) has raised fresh concerns over safety procedures and status of the firm’s operation.
The scene of one of the explosions
Seventeen persons have lost their lives as a result of three explosions in NAOC fields, with the most recent being March 26, 2016. The first occurred July 9, 2015 followed by an incident on February 16, 2016 which did not result in any death.
The incident of July 9, 2015 at Azuzuama claimed 14 persons, while that of March 26, 2016, resulted in three casualties.
The unsavoury development has prompted Lagos-based environment watchdog, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), to demand a comprehensive audit of safety procedures at Agip oilfields in Bayelsa State. The group is also calling for a revocation of the company’s license if investigations show negligence led to the deaths.
The ERA/FoEN, in a statement issued in Lagos, said the frequent explosions in oil fields operated by NAOC indicated that the company may have breached safety procedures at the cost of the lives of Nigerians.
The ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Godwin Ojo, was quoted in the statement as saying: “This is totally unacceptable. We have noticed a systematic pattern of decimation in the way NAOC carries on with its activities in the Niger Delta communities that host its facilities. Not only is the negligence of Agip reprehensible, it has cost our people their lives and livelihoods and must be investigated.”
Dr Ojo recommended the setting up of an investigative panel of enquiry by the federal and Bayelsa state governments to get to the root of the matter with appropriate sanctions on NAOC if it is found wanting, and compensation for victims’ families.
“Community people in Southern Ijaw LGA are fed up with the usual rhetoric of Agip to evade responsibility. We demand that community representatives and the civil society be also given an opportunity to contribute towards such an effort to bring out the truth of the matter.
The ERA/FoEN boss further recommended that autopsy be carried out on the victims of the explosions to determine the actual cause of their deaths.
“The corporate impunity of NOAC should not be allowed to pass by the Federal Government. NAOC is liable to prosecution on environmental crime of ecocide and harm to Mother Earth. We demand an immediate revocation of NOAC license by these frequent deaths of our people in the oilfield almost on a daily basis,” he added.
Ghana’s Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Dr. Kwaku Agyemang Mensah, has noted that the quantity and quality of water can change lives and livelihoods of workers and even transform societies and economies.
Nii Oblempong Ababio addressing the gathering. Seated on his left hand side is Ghana’s Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing Dr. Kwaku Agyemang Mensah
On the occasion of the World Water Day (WWD) observed recently, the minister called for a strategic repositioning of water issues, noting that the way they are addressed “will affect the successful achievement of the country’s Medium Term and the Planned Long Term National Development Agenda.”
He stressed that WWD celebrations should “serve as enough inspiration for us to intensity our commitment and awareness drive at reversing the deterioration of our waters … developing a preventive based culture, involving our women, children and youth … in ways that they can contribute effectively to resolving the country’s issues.”
Mensah spoke at a stakeholders’ dialogue as part of events to mark the WWD, held at the palace premises of the James Town Mantse (Chief) at James Town in British Accra. The area boasts of some historic colonial structures including Ussher Fort, James Fort, the two light houses and the building of the Ghana Bible Society.
Speaking during the same occasion, the Managing Director of the Ghana Water Company Limited, Fredrick Lokko, expressed regret at how the firm loses significant volumes of water produced daily to illegal activities of some consumers.
“This,” he said, “impacts negatively on the capacity of the company to sustain the supply of this vital resource without which there is no life.” Mr. Lokko mentioned some of the illegal activities as connection to distribution lines; and perforation of pipe-lines by gardeners, farmers and cattle herdsmen.
He urged Ghanaians to be “patriotic and do the right things to support the Ghana Water Company to serve you better.”
The street procession of school children marking 2016 World Water Day in Ghana
These sentiments were also expressed by the Ashiedu Keteke Sub Metro District Environmental Health Officer, Rev. Chris Gawugbe. He said damage to pipelines expose treated water to communicable diseases, which affect the health and well-being of most of the people. The Vice Chairman of the Coalition of NGOs on Water and Sanitation (CONIWAS), Bishop Nathaniel Adams, said, “The issue of water in this country is about safety… we need to change strategies and bring in new methods to make our water safe…”
For his part, the Chief Executive of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), Clement Bugase, noted that “there is a cost and responsibility to safe water.” He said his agency currently has a huge challenge to provide about 450 thousand small and rural communities with safe water, saying, “the need is huge and it requires urgent measures to conserve our water resources.”
The James Town Mantse Nii Oblempong Ababio, who was chairman for the function, said, “It has been a lesson learning event,” and called on Ghanaians to protect water bodies and stop dumping refuse in them. He urged the children who participated in the event to educate their parents about the messages on water.
The durbar was preceded by a street procession of school children carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Water is life, save water save life,” and the “Health of our water is our responsibility.”
As part of the activities marking national World Water Day, a School’s Tree Planting Competition was launch at the Ayalolo Cluster of Schools in Accra. The Chairman of the Planning Committee for World Water Day, Mrs. Adwoa Dako, explained the rationale for the competition saying, “It is a way of involving school children in the celebration and educating them on the importance of trees as a buffer against erosion and storms.”
A Tree Validation Auditor of the Greater Accra Regional Forest Services Division, Frank Ankomah, reminded the children of the importance of trees for sustaining lives. The Ayalolo Circuit Supervisor, Mrs. Christiana Maclean, was hopeful that the children would take good care of the seedlings and nurture them into matured trees, so that the premises will become shady and beautiful.
The participating schools are Asia Mills Primary and Junior High, Ayalolo 1 & 2 Primary, Akoto Lante Junior High, and Central Mosque Basic Primary and Junior High. They will be evaluated and awarded at the next celebration of World Water Day.
Ahead of the sixth special session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) scheduled for the 16th-19th April 2016, civil society consultations on the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda began Friday morning in Cairo, the Egyptian capital.
A cross-section of delegates at the consultative workshop. Photo credit: PAMACC/Atayi Babs
Organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) in collaboration with Major Groups and Stakeholders Forums, the Post-Paris workshop aspires to interrogate the overall African performance in COP21, the Paris Agreement, and its implications for Africa in the short and long-term development agenda.
The consultative workshop also seeks to internalise the new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their implications for Africa with a view to identifying and defining the action agenda for different stakeholders towards COP22 in Morocco in November 2016.
The AMCEN, which consists of African Ministers of Environment from across Africa, will hold in Cairo, Egypt, from Saturday, 16 April to Tuesday, 19 April, 2016, in a conference that aims to reflect on the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the new set of SDGs.
The forum, coming just before the ceremonial signing of the Paris Agreement in New York on Friday, 22 April 2016, is said to be an opportunity to prepare African governments for the implementation of the Agreement. The meeting comes at a time when the preparatory process for the COP22 holding this November in Marrakech, Morocco, is gaining momentum.
The Pre-African Ministerial Conference on Environment (Pre-AMCEN) at the sidelines of this event serves as a platform for African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as well as other stakeholders to effectively contribute to the process. The Major Groups and Stakeholder Forum held in Nairobi from 15th – 19th February, 2016 will inform the AMCEN discussions. PACJA, in collaboration with UNEP/ROA, has organised the Pre-AMCEN Civil Society Consultative Workshop as a distinct activity aimed at contributing to the achievement of the continent’s environment and sustainable development agenda. AMCEN is an opportunity to contribute towards Africa’s development agenda.
This year’s Pre-AMCEN consultative workshop runs alongside the UNEP Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum and as usual, ahead of the main AMCEN sessions on 14 -15 April 2016. The workshop is organised by PACJA in partnership from UNEP- Regional Office for Africa- ROA and other Institutions with a shared vision. In attendance are representatives of civil society, parliamentarians, and governments, international development agencies, regional integration bodies and UN Agencies. The consultative workshop broadly reflects on COP21 outcomes, the SDGs and plan for the second United Nations Environmental Assembly scheduled 23 -27 May 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Dr. Khaled Fahmy, AMCEN Chair/ Minister for Environment, Egypt will present a keynote address at the official opening. Also in attendance are: Awudu Mbaya, Pan African Parliamentary Network on Climate Change; Dr. Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, Director & Regional Representative, UNEP- ROA; and Mithika Mwenda, Secretary General, PACJA.
At the end of the workshop, the group expects to achieve the following outcomes: sufficient understanding of the implications of COP21 outcome and Paris Agreement to Africa; an understanding of the role various blocs will play in the Post-Paris engagements, and an understanding of the SDGs and how they relate with the African development paradigm, such as Agenda 2063.
On the occasion of the Rio Tinto AGM on Thursday, 14 April 2016 in London, Re:Common and the World Rainforest Movement released a report titled: “Rio Tinto’s biodiversity offset in Madagascar: Double landgrab in the name of biodiversity?”
Industrial action at Rio Tinto
In recent years mining companies have become actively engaged in promoting “biodiversity offsetting” as a way of “greening” the mining sector. The claim is that biodiversity destruction in one place can be “compensated” through the promise of restoring or protecting biodiversity elsewhere. One offset project in particular, the Rio Tinto QMM biodiversity offset in the Anosy region of south-eastern Madagascar, has been widely advertised as a biodiversity offset model for the mining industry.
Rio Tinto and its partners from the conservation sector assert that the company’s biodiversity conservation strategy will not only compensate for biodiversity loss but that mining will even have a “Net Positive Impact” on biodiversity in the end.
However, a joint Re:Common and WRM field investigation in 2015 found that the reality appears different from the picture presented in the glossy brochures distributed internationally. The groups insist that little information has been made available to communities about what biodiversity offsets projects actually are and villagers had not been informed that what had been presented to them as a “conservation project” was actually designed to compensate for Rio Tinto QMM’s ilmenite mine destroying unique and rare littoral forest near the city of Fort Dauphin, some 50 km to the south of the Bemangidy-Ivohibe biodiversity offset site.
Luca Manes of Re:Common declared in a statement: “Villagers at this biodiversity offset site felt that restrictions had been imposed without negotiation and with little regard for their situation. Their subsistence livelihoods are made even more precarious so Rio Tinto can increase its profits. A meeting with a conservation NGO involved in implementation of the biodiversity offset revealed that ethically deplorable methods have been used to ensure compliance with these restrictions on forest use.
“Income-generating alternatives to alleviate the loss of access to the forest had been promised but have yet to materialise while severe restrictions on community forest use are already in place and the only place left for villagers to grow their staple food, maonic, are the sand dunes.”
An affected villager was quoted as saying: “We are really suffering now because we had to stop cultivating there. We moved our cultivation into the dunes, but it’s so sandy there that growing anything is difficult. Plus they took our land and did not even compensate us. They said they would, but they never did. They provided micro-credit projects to maybe 10 people, with 60,000 Ariary (18 euros) each, but this is nothing to make a sustainable project.”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has decided the strategy and timeline for its next series of reports, the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), and the special reports that will be prepared in the next few years.
The Panel responded positively to the invitation from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to provide a special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 ºC above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways.
It also agreed to prepare two other special reports: on climate change and oceans and the cryosphere; and on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. These will be produced as early as possible in the AR6 cycle.
“These issues are not only highly relevant to policymakers and our broader audiences; they are areas where the IPCC can bring clarity to the growing volumes of scientific research through its assessments,” said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee after the 43rd Session of the Panel in Nairobi, Kenya.
“We now have a clear roadmap for the production and delivery of AR6,” said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee.
The IPCC also decided to pay special attention, when the outlines of AR6 are drawn up, to the impacts of climate change on cities and their unique adaptation and mitigation challenges and opportunities.
Preparations for the main AR6 report, which is expected to be released in three working group contributions in 2020/2021 and a Synthesis Report in 2022, will start later this year.
Work on drawing up the outlines of the special report on 1.5 ºC will now start with a call for experts to scope the report.
The Panel was also informed that Mr Abdalah Mokssit had accepted an offer to become Secretary of the IPCC. Mr Mokssit is currently Director of the National Meteorological Service of Morocco and Third Vice-President of the WMO. He is a former Vice-Chair of IPCC Working Group I, which deals with the physical science basis of climate change.
Burkina Faso is phasing out the production of genetically modified cotton introduced by Monsanto Co., the world’s largest seed company, because growers are unhappy with the short length of its fibre.
Monsanto spokesman, Billy Brennan
Africa’s biggest cotton grower is reducing the acreage for genetically modified cotton this season until it’s completely phased out in 2018 and replaced by conventional cotton, the West African nation’s cabinet said in a statement published late on Wednesday.
The results of a pilot project with Monsanto that began in 2003 “aren’t favourable in the sense that the length of the fibre after ginning has degraded and no longer responds to the needs of the market,” according to the statement.
The decision may negatively impact Burkina Faso’s status as a top cotton exporter, hurt employment and increase farmers’ exposure to pesticides, Monsanto spokesman Billy Brennan said in an e-mailed statement. “We continue to have discussions” to “find a path towards mutual resolution” for genetically modified cotton in Burkina Faso, Brennan said.
The nation’s three cotton companies and the national cotton farmers’ union will seek 48 billion CFA francs ($82 million) in compensation for lost harvests from Monsanto, Helene Traore, a spokeswoman of Sofitex, one of the companies, said by phone. They’re scheduled to meet for talks with Monsanto next week, she added.
The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report earlier this month that Burkina Faso’s cotton producers had planned to meet with Monsanto in late March to try to solve the issue.
“We’ve lost years because of this cotton,” said Mana Denis, a cotton farmer in the western city of Dedougou who welcomed the announcement. “They imposed it on us, but it didn’t produce the desired effects,” he said Thursday.
The 2016-2017 crop is estimated at 700,000 tons, the government said in the statement. Neighbouring Mali is the region’s second-biggest producer, while Ivory Coast ranks third. Cotton is the nation’s second-biggest export after gold and accounts for 20 percent of shipments.
The first decade of the 21st century was ripe with discoveries and innovations in the animal kingdom. From 2001 to 2010, new species were found, ground-breaking animal research was published, and some species were brought back from the brink of extinction. But the past 10 years also saw some animals wiped from existence.
Here’s a look at the species that were declared extinct this decade, with the West African black rhino topping the list.
West African black rhino
West African black rhino
The rarest of the black rhino subspecies, the West African black rhinoceros, is now recognised by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as extinct. The species, Diceros bicornis longpipes, was once widespread in central Africa, but the population began a steep decline due to poaching. The rhino was listed as “critically endangered” in 2008, but a survey of the animal’s last remaining habitat in northern Cameroon failed to find any sign of the rhinos, either a true siting or even evidence of its presence, like feces or feeding signs. No West African black rhinos are known to be held in captivity.
Baiji dolphin
Baiji dolphin
The last documented sighting of China’s baiji dolphin, or Yantze River dolphin, was in 2002, and while the species is listed as critically endangered, scientists say it may already be extinct. In 2006, scientists from the Baiji Foundation travelled up the Yangtze River for more than 2,000 miles equipped with optical instruments and underwater microphones, but were unable to detect any surviving dolphins. The foundation published a report on the expedition and declared the animal functionally extinct, meaning too few potential breeding pairs remained to ensure the species’ survival.
The decline in the baiji dolphin population is attributed to a variety of factors including overfishing, boat traffic, habitat loss, pollution and poaching. Deemed “the goddess of the river,” the dolphin’s skin was highly valuable and used to make gloves and handbags.
Golden Toad
Golden toad
The golden toad, which is sometimes referred to as the Monteverde toad or the orange toad, was a species that lived only in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve in Costa Rica. It was once a common species, but no specimen has been seen since 1989. The toad’s breeding sites were well-known and closely watched — in 1988, only eight males and two females could be found, and in 1989, only a single male could be located. Extensive searches for the golden toad since then have failed to locate another specimen, and the species was declared extinct in August 2007. The amphibian disease chytridiomycosis, airborne pollution and global warming probably contributed to the species’ demise.
Hawaiian Crow
Hawaiian crow
This native Hawaiian bird was declared “extinct in the wild” in 2002 when the last two known wild individuals disappeared. Some birds remain in captivity, and between 1993 and 1999, more than 40 birds were hatched in a captive breeding program. The birds were released into a lightly managed habitat and closely monitored, but releases were abandoned in 1999 because of increasing mortality. A reintroduction plan is being developed, but about 75 Hawaiian crows would be needed for the plan to work. The reasons for the bird’s extinction is not fully understood, but researchers speculate that an introduced disease, such as avian malaria, might have played a significant role in the species’ decline.
An illustration of Pyrenean iIbex
Pyrenean ibex
The Pyrenean ibex is one of two extinct subspecies of the Spanish ibex. The species was once numerous and roamed across France and Spain, but by the early 1900s its numbers had fallen to fewer than 100. The last Pyrenean ibex, a female nicknamed Celia, was found dead in northern Spain on Jan. 6, 2000, killed by a falling tree. Scientists took skin cells from the animal’s ear and preserved them in liquid nitrogen, and in 2009 an ibex was cloned, making it the first species to become “unextinct.” However, the clone died just seven minutes later due to lung defects.
What caused the Pyrenean ibex’s extinction remains unknown, but some hypotheses include poaching, diseases and the inability to compete with other species for food.
Spixs macaw
Spix’s macaw
Although 71 Spix’s macaws exist in captivity (like the two pictures here), the last known bird in the wild disappeared in 2000 and no others are known to remain. The species is currently listed as “critically endangered” instead of “extinct in the wild” because not all areas of potential habitat have been thoroughly surveyed. The bird is native to northern Brazil and in 1987 the three known remaining birds were captured for trade. However, a single male bird was discovered in 1990 and paired with a female bird in captivity, but seven weeks after the female’s release, she collided with a power line and died.
The decline of the Spix’s macaw is attributed to hunting and trapping, habitat destruction and the introduction of Africanised bees, or “killer bees,” which compete for nesting sites.
Liverpool pigeon
Liverpool pigeon
The Liverpool pigeon, or spotted green pigeon, is an extinct bird species of unknown origin, although some researchers speculate it might have lived in Tahiti. The only remaining specimen of the bird resides in the Merseyside County Museum, and scientists say it’s likely that the species was close to extinction before European exploration began in the Pacific. The International Union for Conservation of Nature assessed the species in 2008 and declared it extinct, but the reasons for its extinction remain unknown.
Black faced honey creeper
Black-faced honeycreeper
The black-faced honeycreeper, or po’o-uli, is endemic to Hawaii’s island of Maui and is listed as “critically endangered/possibly extinct.” Of the three known birds discovered in 1998, one died in captivity in 2004 and the remaining two have not been seen since that year. Scientists say the species may already be extinct, but surveys in all areas of potential habitat are needed to confirm this. If any have survived, the population would be extremely small. Habitat destruction and the rapid spread of disease-carrying mosquitoes are thought to be responsible for the species’ decline.
An impression of Alaotra grebe
Alaotra grebe
The alaotra grebe, which is also known as a Delacour’s little grebe or a rusty grebe, was declared extinct in 2010, although it might have been extinct years earlier. Scientists were hesitant to write the small bird off too soon because it lived in Lake Alaotra, which is located in a remote part of Madagascar. Thorough surveys of the area in 1989, 2004 and 2009 failed to find any evidence of the species, and the last confirmed sighting of the bird was in 1982.
The alaotra grebe population began to decline in the 20th century because of habitat destruction and because the few remaining birds started mating with little grebes, creating a hybrid species. Considering the bird’s restricted range and lack of mobility, scientists declared it extinct, and today, only one photograph exists of an alotra grebe in the wild.
Holdridge’s toad
Holdridge’s toad
The Holdridge’s toad was a species endemic to the rainforests of Costa Rica. While it was declared extinct in 2004 because the animal has not been seen since 1986, surveys in 2012 resulted in the toad’s status being upgraded to critically endangered. Its population size is likely less than 50 individual toads. The main cause of the toad’s population decline and extinction is likely chytridiomycosis, an amphibian disease, perhaps in collaboration with the effects of climate change.
The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) has said that, during the last year, African farmers planted a total of 3.5 million hectares of Biotech/GM Crops. This was also during the 20th year of global GM crops commercialisation.
Dr. Margaret Karembu
Director of the Afri-Centre of ISAAA, Dr. Margaret Karembu, who presented Africa’s report during the launch of the 2015 Annual Report on Global Commercialisation of Biotech Crops, said that so much was achieved in the continent on biotechnology and biosafety during the year under review.
“For Africa, 2015 was the 18th year of successful commercialisation of biotech crops. The cumulative hectarage from 1998 to 2015 in Africa stood at 3.5 million hectares (Ha). Three countries, Burkina Faso (350,000 Ha), South Africa (2.3 million Ha) and Sudan (120,000 Ha) spearheaded the commercialisation of biotech crops. This production of biotech crops translated to an estimated economic benefit of approximately $2 billion,” Dr. Karembu said.
The exponential growth, according to her, was recorded in spite of severe drought that led to crop failure in many countries of the continent.
“For instance, a devastating drought in South Africa contributed to a 23% decline in hectarage, demonstrating the vulnerability of the continent to climate change. In 2015, South Africa approved the drought tolerant maize trait under WEMA – Water Efficient Maize for Africa project. This timely intervention will go a long way in mitigating the effects of climate change on food security.
“In Burkina Faso, the government in consultation with key players in the cotton industry decided to temporarily scale down the hectarage under insect resistant (Bt) cotton over the next two years. This will allow scientists to address the short-staple length issue observed in current varieties. The short-staple length issues are in no way related to the Bt technology, which continues to offer numerous benefits. By 2014, the farm income gains accrued by Burkinabe farmers amounted to $41 million,” she explained.
Karembu further said that Sudan’s 4th year of Bt cotton growing recorded an impressive 95% adoption rate for which hectarage under Bt cotton soared six-fold from 20,000 ha in 2012 to 120,000 ha in 2015. “Close to 45,000 farmers planted Bt cotton in 2015 compared to the initial 10,000 farmers in 2012 indicating satisfaction with the technology.”
The Director further said that, in the last 18 years, eight countries had conducted and are still conducting trials on crops that would address African challenges. “The research focuses on key food security crops such as banana, cassava, cowpea, sorghum, sweet potato, maize, potato and rice. As a result, Africa could contribute five new biotech crops to the global biotech basket in the coming years.”
In the biosafety regulatory landscape, she said that South Africa was the only country that had Biosafety Law by 1998. “After then, 19 other African countries have developed their biosafety legislation and, in 2015, Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, enacted its biosafety law in order to tap into the technology’s benefits. In the same year, Kenya’s National Biosafety Authority for the first time, received two applications for open field cultivation of genetically modified maize and cotton,” Karembu said, adding that initiatives to operationalise biosafety laws in other countries as well as the harmonisation of regional biosafety policies were ongoing.
Although during the period 1996 to 2015, biotech maize was successfully grown globally in about 15 countries by millions of farmers on 600 million hectares and benefitting $50 billion of increased revenues, “Except South Africa, farmers in Africa, where the need for improved maize is greatest, suffered a big opportunity cost because they were denied the chance to adopt biotech crops for lack of regulation and support in their respective countries.
“In addition to maize, biotech cotton gave enormous benefit to farmers especially in China and India. In 2014 and 2015, an impressive 95 percent of India’s cotton crop was planted with biotech seed while China’s adoption in 2015 was 96 percent. Between 1997 and 2014, biotech cotton varieties brought an estimated $17.5 billion worth of benefits to Chinese cotton farmers, and they realised $1.3 billion in 2014 alone,” Karembu further said.
She called on African governments to focus on accelerating adoption of those proven technologies that were appropriate in addressing Africa’s unique challenges and reposition itself towards being a global player in development and ownership of emerging technologies.
The last of the four scheduled Regional Meetings ahead of Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, will hold 18-20 April 2016 in Toluca, Mexico. Habitat III is billed to take place in Quito, Ecuador, from 17 to 20 October this year.
Toluca, Mexico
The three-day forum in Mexico represents that for the Latin America and the Caribbean region.
Previous Regional Meetings held in Jakarta, Indonesia 21-22 October 2015 (Asia-Pacific); Abuja, Nigeria 24-26 February 2016 (Africa); and Prague, Czech Republic 16-18 March 2016 (Europe/North America).
Similarly, Thematic Meetings have held as stakeholders countdown to Quito. These gatherings were at: Tel-Aviv, Israel 7 September 2015 (Civic Engagement); Montreal, Canada 6-7 October 2015 (Metropolitan Areas); Cuenca, Ecuador 9 – 11 Nov 2015 (Intermediate Cities); Abu Dhabi, UAE 20 January 2016 (Sustainable Energy and Cities); Mexico City, Mexico 9-11 March 2016 (Financing Sustainable Urban Development); Barcelona, Spain 4 – 5 April 2016 (Public Spaces); and Pretoria South Africa 7 – 8 April 2016 (Informal Settlements).
According to the organisers, the aim of the Toluca meeting is to exchange views and experiences, as well as to propose inputs to the formulation of a New Urban Agenda that should provide principles and tools for sustainable urban development.
Themed “Liveable and Inclusive Cities: The Global Challenge of Sustainable Development”, the conference will debate approaches and new paradigms that will constitute the future of cities in the region. Recognising the differences between countries, governments will meet to make commitments that will impact the definition of the New Urban Agenda.
Toluca, officially called Toluca de Lerdo, is the state capital of State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the centre of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico.
Indeed, in resolution 66/207 and in line with the bi-decennial cycle (1976, 1996 and 2016), the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the Habitat III Conference to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanisation, to focus on the implementation of a “New Urban Agenda”, building on the Habitat Agenda of Istanbul in 1996.
Member States of the General Assembly, in resolution 67/216, decided that the objectives of the Conference are to secure renewed political commitment to sustainable urban development, assess accomplishments to date, address poverty, and identify and address new and emerging challenges. The Conference will result in a concise, focused, forward-looking and action oriented outcome document. Habitat III is to play an important role in making cities and human settlements equitable, prosperous, sustainable, just, equal and safe.
Habitat III is one of the first major global conferences to be held after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Observers point out that it offers a unique opportunity to discuss the important challenge of how cities, towns and villages are planned and managed, in order to fulfil their role as drivers of sustainable development, and hence shape the implementation of new global development goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The final declarations from the Regional and Thematic Meetings are considered official inputs to the Habitat III process.
Peabody Energy Corporation, the world’s largest private-sector coal company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday (13 April 2016), spelling the end of coal and a bleak outlook for the entire fossil fuel industry.
Jenny Marienau, U.S. Divestment Campaign Manager with 350.org
Coal has been in a structural decline since 2013 and observers believe that the development highlights the need to create a comprehensive plan for a just transition away from fossil fuels.
“Peabody Energy’s bankruptcy is a harbinger of the end of the fossil fuel era,” said Jenny Marienau, U.S. Divestment Campaign Manager with 350.org. “Peabody is crashing because the company was unwilling to change with the times – they doubled down on the dirtiest of all fossil fuels, and investors backed their bet, as the world shifted toward renewable energy. They have consistently put profit over people, and now their profits have plummeted. Our world has no place for companies like Peabody.”
As oil prices plummet and renewable energy attracts record levels of investment, Peabody is the latest major United States-based coal corporation to file for bankruptcy. Peabody is the 50th coal company to declare bankruptcy since 2012, following announcements from Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Coal in the last few months.
In their 2014 SEC filings, Peabody citedthat the fossil fuel divestment movement “could significantly affect demand for our products or our securities.” During the Paris climate talks in December, 350.org and Divest-Invest announced that more than 500 institutions representing over $3.4 trillion had committed to some level of fossil fuel divestment.
“Peabody Energy has lost 95 cents on the dollar over the course of the last year. It’s more clear than ever that divestment is the morally and financially smart thing to do,” said 350.org’s Senior Global Analyst, Brett Fleishman. “The country’s largest pension systems urgently need to take a deep look at the fossil fuel companies on their books. This bankruptcy, in a series of others, will ripple through communities, leaving a wake of economic and environmental destruction. There is literally no reason every institutional investor shouldn’t divest from coal.”
In 2015, Peabody was found to have broken the law by providing false and misleading statements about the financial risks of climate change.
A coalition called on Peabody Energy’s President and CEO to take meaningful steps to protect the American public, the climate, public lands, and workers, calling on the company to withdraw pending coal lease applications, relinquish coal leases, and reclaim its mining operations.
“Institutions around the world are divesting from coal companies like Peabody because they see the writing on the wall: the fossil fuel age is coming to an end,” said May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director. “As we repower our economy with 100% renewable energy we must repower our communities, as well. That includes a just transition for Peabody’s employees and prioritizing workers in the fossil fuel industry. Peabody shouldn’t take these communities down with them.”
The groups also called on Peabody to ensure the needs of workers and retirees are fully met, and that communities – including the St. Louis community – are aided as they transition from coal.
“This is a company that wilfully and deliberately sought to delay, dismantle or destruct climate action. Perhaps if they had spent more time and money diversifying their business rather than on lobbying against climate action and sowing the seeds of doubt about the science, they might not have joined the long (and ever growing) list of bankrupt global coal companies,” said Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org.
This May, groups are coming together under an unprecedented mobilisation to Break Free from fossil fuels, targeting major fossil fuel projects around the world. Through this platform, the global fossil fuel resistance movement will join actions taking place across 6 continents which aim to stop dirty fossil fuels and speed up the just transition to 100% renewable energy.
“We are on the brink of a historic, global shift in our energy system,” said Marienau. “It’s high time that our governments invest in a just transition for the security of communities and workers rather than bail out destructive corporations like Peabody whose inherent business model depends on planetary destruction.”
