United States Special Envoy for Climate Change, Dr Jonathan Pershing, on Wednesday in Abuja met with Nigerian authorities lead by Environment Minister, Amina Mohammed, to discuss the importance of climate and clean energy cooperation in US-Nigeria relations.
Dr Pershing also discussed opportunities for leadership by Nigeria in the implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The visit, it was gathered, was a part of meetings with Nigerian interlocutors on climate and clean energy cooperation.
Besides Federal Government officials, the envoy also had sessions with businessmen and civil society members. He was likewise scheduled to undertake a tour of a solar energy project in the federal capital city.
Dr Jonathan Pershing in a handshake with Mallam Ibrahim Jibril, the Environment Minister of State, as Jibril and Environment Minister, Amina Mohammed, welcome the envoy to the ministry’s head offices in Abuja
The envoy chats with the ministers
The envoy meets with the ministers and directors, including the ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr Bukar Hassan. The smiles and laugh show the warm reception received by Dr. PershingThe envoy with Nigeria’s climate chief, Dr Peter TarfaThe envoy and his delegation with Nigerian officials in a group photographDr Pershing also met with Climate Change Advocates and Social Entrepreneurs at the US EmbassyThe envoy exchanges pleasantries with Ms Esther Agbarakwe, an aide to the Environment MinisterThe minister congratulates the US on the ratification of the Paris Agreement while calling for stronger partnership between both countries
The aftermath of over 72-hours of rain-fueled ocean surge that ravaged Okun Alfa (popularly known as Alfa Beach), a coastal community in the Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Lagos has left the residents melancholic and in turmoil.
Buildings destroyed by the surging ocean at Okun Alfa, Lagos
The ocean surge which happened around 9 p.m on September 2, flooded the community, demolished six buildings and destroyed properties worth millions of Naira.The impact of the incessant ocean surge has caused coastal erosion and destroyed the sea breakers at Okun Alfa.
On Monday, Sept. 5, the residents who had all fled when the incident occurred returned to behold the catastrophic effects of the sea that was still roaring menacingly a few metres away from the community.
Noticeable is a middle-aged woman simply referred to as “Iya Sheri”, narrating her ordeal to a group of women, while standing in the middle of the flooded Baale Street.
“Someone called me on the phone to enquire about my well-being and to know if my night was restful. I couldn’t respond.
“How can I have a restful night when I haven’t slept in days. I doubt if anyone can sleep in this community when Olokun (sea goddess) is angry. Everywhere was in chaos, we were running helter skelter towards safety and far from the approaching raging sea,” she said.
Indisputably, sustainability of many coastal communities in Lagos is threatened by incidence of ocean surge. The precarious situation of these communities is compounded as sea levels rise and extreme rainfall events become more frequent due to global temperature rise.
Sadly, Alfa Beach, previously a major tourist spot, has lost its appeal, land mass and on the brink of extinction just like Alaguntan, Morekete, Apese, Olukotun, Inupa, Alagbonkan, other coastal communities that have been destroyed.
Flooded Palace of Baale Okun Alfa, Chief Yusuf Elegushi Atewolara
Acknowledging the critical situation of the community, Chief Yusuf Elegushi Atewolara, the Baale of Okun Alfa community, stressed that government should salvage the situation by constructing embankment and reclaiming lost land space.
The traditional ruler noted that the situation had displaced many residents; caused relocation of some from the community and affected the livelihood of several others.
“Before, the population of this community was about 10, 000 but now it has reduced to about 1,500 people.
“This is the third place that we moved to because of ocean surge that constantly ravage our community. Our roads have been washed away and the source of livelihood of many residents have been lost.
“Our fishermen can no longer fish in the water; no more land to farm on, coconut trees in the community have been destroyed leaving the traders with nothing to depend on,” Atewolara said.
According to him, the occurrence and severity of the ocean surge had increased compared to previous years.
He said, “In the past, the ocean surge occurs maybe once in three years because our forefathers usually make sacrificial appeasement to the sea goddess to avert the incidence but now we experience it at least twice in a year.”
A resident, Mr Ifeanyi Sunday, lamented that he was stranded at the bus-stop for about 30 minutes thereby resorted to trek the distance.
He said, “Most commercial motorcyclists that usually navigate rough and flooded terrain refuse to venture into our streets because they said that the seawater that flooded the street will spoil their motorcycles.”
However, some of the residents criticised the ongoing Eko Atlantic City Project, saying that the construction had aggravated coastal erosion and ocean surges in the community and other coastal region around Lekki to Eti-Osa axis.
Notably, recognising the disastrous effects of incidence of ocean surge on its coastline, the Lagos State Government earmarked N36 billion to tackle the menace. The fund is for construction of 18 groynes (sea breakers), at intervals of 40 metres between Goshen Estate and Alpha Beach.
Meanwhile, Dr Ako Amadi, Executive Director, Community Conservation and Development Initiatives (CCDI), noted that before residents started settling, there should have been an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Alfa Beach, to ascertain if the area was suitable for human settlement considering the vulnerability of Nigeria’s shoreline to accelerated sea level rise and coastal erosion.
“For about 30 years, there has been warning concerning it but no one seems to be concerned.
“Very long ago, they should have put measures to stabilise the coastal areas through embankment, replenishing the areas with sand and through planting of vegetation to ensure the soil are compacted.
“Anytim, there’s ocean surge people run to government, this is nature and government cannot control it,” the marine biologist said.
On the speculation that the ongoing construction of Eko Atlantic City had worsened the ocean surge in other coastal communities, Amadi said, “It is possible but there is no scientific proof to back their claim for now.” However, he noted that construction of the Eko Atlantic City took place without an Environmental Impact Assessment.
The expert said, “What has been happening on the coast is a very messy situation. One person lives here and another there, everyone accusing each other.
“The thing is that they have all committed an environmental crime by not looking at the risk factor before settling where they decided to settle and now they are all paying for it.”
Corroborating Amadi, Dr Ibidun Adelekan, Lead Researcher, Coastal Cities at Risk (CCaR-Lagos), stressed that discouraging people from settling in coastal areas and enforcement of building control would reduce the destructive effects of ocean surge on residents.
She emphasised that the rising sea levels occasioned by climate change would make future impact of ocean surge more devastating in the state.
According to her, protecting the city by fast tracking investment in structural defences would safeguard not only the vulnerable poor residents in coastal rural communities but also the numerous estates along the coastal Eti-Osa axis.
Sequel to a media report that the Federal Government and a firm have flooded the Nigerian market with Genetically Modified (GM) rice purported to be poisonous, the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) has described the report as false, insisting that GM rice has neither been imported nor released into the country.
Rufus Ebegba, Director-General and CEO of the the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA). He claims that GM rice has neither been imported nor released into the country. Photo credit: climatereporters.com
Director-General of NBMA, Dr. Rufus Ebegba, who disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja, stated that there was no iota of truth in the report.
Ebegba noted that there was no where in the world where any genetically modified rice has been released commercially, while also recalling that the government had already banned the importation of rice into the country.
“The purpose of calling you to this press briefing is to inform you that the attention of the NBMA has been drawn to a certain spurious online post being circulated in the social media that a firm and government of Nigeria has flooded the Nigerian market with GM rice purported to be poisonous. This falsehood definitely is the product of the writer’s imagination who probably in using pseudo a name.
“It will suffice to note that there is no GM rice that has been commercially released anywhere in the world. It should also be recalled that government has banned the importation of rice in Nigeria. This ban was widely publicised in the media and there no indications that the ban has been lifted,” he said.
Ebegba stressed that, in a bid to cast aspersions on the modest efforts of the government towards adoption of safe biotechnology in Nigeria, the writer “craftily and maliciously laced his post with poison” to cause unnecessary public panic.
The Biosafety boss explained that the reason for the misinformation was best known to whoever is spreading it, but added that there is a trade war between agro-chemical and biotechnology companies as well as organic farmers.
He appealed to the general public not to be lured into this trade war, saying Nigeria will set its standards and deploy enough hands and human resources to ensure that these standards are met to serve the nation’s aspiration.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to disregard the report and join hands with the agency in its quest to ensure safety in the practice of modern technology in Nigeria in line with global beat practices.
Tackling climate change will take broad-based action – from towns and cities, the private sector, public and private organisations, even individuals. This fact is clear in the Paris Climate Change Agreement with its strong focus on action by “non-State actors”.
James Grabert, Director, Sustainable Development Mechanisms programme at the UNFCCC. He insists that the results of the regional dialogues are important
Reports just released from five regional meetings reveal the views of non-State actors in developing countries on the Paris Agreement’s provisions for (1) transferring mitigation outcomes, essentially emissions trading; (2) a new Sustainable Development Mechanism; and (3) a framework for non-market approaches. All three of the economic instruments are described in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
At the meetings, held to kick-start dialogue, representatives of regional bodies, organisations and think-tanks, consultants, academics, researchers, and project developers concluded, among other things and with varying levels of agreement, that:
The economic instruments under the Paris Agreement could help countries achieve their national plans (so-called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)) and/or allow countries to commit to greater ambition
Consideration of sustainable development benefits needs to be strengthened, especially in relation to poverty alleviation and adaptation co-benefits, perhaps by establishing a link with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
The economic instruments should enable transparency and ensure a robust monitoring, reporting and verification of results while being simple and user friendly
Quantified NDCs should be a prerequisite for transfers of emission reduction outcomes, but highlighted difficulties as NDCs might not be comparable
Transferred emission reduction outcomes should be quantifiable in similar units, such as tonnes of CO2-equivalent
Great similarity could exist between the Sustainable Development Mechanism under the Paris Agreement and the market-based mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol, which incentivise the private sector to develop emission reduction and development projects.
“Countries adopted the Paris Agreement, but it will be up to all of society to implement it,” said James Grabert, Director, Sustainable Development Mechanisms programme at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat. “The economic instruments described in the agreement have tremendous potential to spur action and ambition; that’s why the results of these regional dialogues are so important.”
Regional non-State actor dialogues on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement were held in in Bangkok, Thailand, on 9 June 2016, in St. George’s, Grenada, on 12 July, in Bogota, Colombia, on 14 July 2016, in Entebbe, Uganda, on 18 July and in Lomé, Togo, on 22 July. In total, 82 regional experts took part.
The dialogues formed the second stage of a project, started in 2015, funded by the governments of Germany and Norway, aimed at supporting developing countries in the use of economic instruments to achieve their NDCs.
Reports of the dialogue, including a synthesis report, are available at the links below and on the webpages of the UNFCCC Regional Collaboration Centres.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) may ban gillnet fishing in the bid to save the vaquita from extinction. Similarly, restrictions may be placed on trading pangolins.
Pangolins
A species of porpoise only found in the Gulf of California in Mexico, the vaquita, according to scientists, may become extinct by 2022 if harmful fishing practices such as the gillnetting continue.
The vaquita, the smallest of the seven species of porpoise, is considered the most endangered marine mammal in the world. Porpoises are small toothed whales that are very closely related to oceanic dolphins.
Gillnetting is a common fishing method used by commercial and artisanal fishermen of all the oceans and in some freshwater and estuary areas. The gill net is composed of mesh large enough for a fish to poke its head through but small enough to catch the fish behind its gill covers.
The vaquita porpoise
Pangolins are mammals that inhabit tropical forests, dry woodlands and the savannah. Conservationists have over time battled to save the critically endangered, scales-covered creature, which is believed to be the most illegally traded animal in the world.
But a ray of hope has emerged for these animals, thanks to the first global conservation priorities set on Tuesday by conservationists at the IUCN World Conservation Congress taking place in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, USA. Essentially, these priorities set out to limiting illegal trade in threatened species, promoting nature-based solutions to climate change and accounting for biodiversity conservation in the development of renewables are among
Some 85 motions were adopted by IUCN’s 1,300 government and civil society Members – following the first-ever electronic vote cast in August 2016. Another 14 global conservation issues will be debated and voted on over the next few days at the IUCN Congress, including advancing the conservation of the high seas, mitigating the impacts of oil palm expansion on biodiversity, protecting primary forests and closure of domestic markets to all ivory sales.
“The new electronic voting system has made the already democratic institution even more democratic,” says Enrique Lahmann, IUCN Congress Director. “By giving IUCN’s government and NGO Members time to reflect and arrive at convergence on critical issues such as illegal wildlife trade, we have used technology to boost the governance of nature.”
Members have urged for restrictions on trade in threatened pangolin species to exceptional cases only, as defined by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Despite current protection measures at the global and local levels, the species’ survival is at risk due to overexploitation, illegal trade and degradation of its habitat.
Unsustainable fisheries were the focus of another decision drawing attention to the imminent extinction threat facing the Critically Endangered vaquita in Mexico. IUCN’s government and NGO Members have urged for a permanent ban to gillnet fishing throughout the entire vaquita range in the Pacific Ocean. The vaquita is the bycatch of fishing of totoaba.
Members of IUCN have also defined nature-based solutions as actions that protect and manage ecosystems, while effectively addressing societal challenges, such as food and water security, climate change, disaster risk reduction, human health and economic well-being. The concept of nature-based solutions is particularly relevant to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Renewable energy has been the focus of two decisions adopted by IUCN Members, who have encouraged governments to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy plans, taking into account biodiversity conservation. IUCN Members also called for enhanced efforts to minimise the impacts of offshore renewable energy technologies on marine life.
IUCN Members have also called for attention to the increasing use of ‘synthetic biology’, whose implications on biodiversity and human well-being remain unclear. According to the decision, the international conservation community needs to assess this emerging field and its impacts.
Motions are proposed by IUCN Members every four years to set priorities for the work of IUCN – a unique membership union gathering 217 state and government agencies, 1, 066 NGOs, and networks of over 16,000 experts worldwide.
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has described Lagos State Government’s establishment of special courts to prosecute illegal water service providers as a cover for promoting water privatisation.
Dr Babatunde Adejare, Lagos State Commissioner for Environment. Government has reportedly established special courts to prosecute illegal water service providers. Photo credit: theeconomyng.com
The ERA/FoEN position is coming on the heels of media reports which indicated that Dr. Babatunde Adejare, the state Commissioner for Environment, announced the introduction of the courts at a two-day retreat organised for officials of the water sector, which had as theme: “Towards achieving a safe and sustainable water sector in Lagos State”.
Adejare, who was represented by Babatunde Hunpe, Special Adviser to the Governor on The Environment, dismissed reports that the state planned to privatise water but added that a “public-private partnership” was necessary. He also said government was not pleased with giving bail-outs to the Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC) because of non-payment of water bills by water consumers.
However, in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lagos, ERA/FoEN said the establishment of the water courts is an “unacceptable” violation of the rights of Lagos citizens to water and has no legal backing anywhere in the country.
ERA/FoEN Deputy Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, was quoted in the statement as saying: “We find this development totally absurd. Criminalising the right of people to source for water when government has consistently failed to live up to its responsibility is simply scape-goating and passing the buck. There is no edict existing or in the works that allows any state government to set up a court for punishing anyone who has decided to provide water to his neighbour free.
“In the layman’s understanding, what this means is that anybody in our communities that carries a jerry-can of water from one house to the other is going to be accused of violating the law and sent to jail. This is absolutely disturbing.”
Oluwafemi frowned at references to already budgeted and appropriated funds to the LSWC as bail-out, insisting that Adejare’s description of appropriated funds as rescue connotes that the state government has converted the Corporation into a private enterprise whose statutory due in the state budget is now called bail-out.
The ERA/FoEN boss described as offensive the act of Lagos State Government using its resources to establish a “special court” to apprehend people attempting to provide other people with an essential human need, and to prosecute them. He added that Lagosians are not the problem that needs to be solved.
“The proper move for the state government would be to invest financial resources in strengthening the public water system so more people can have access to water. After all, of what use is government if it is not protecting basic human rights, like water? What Adejare calls an undesirable ‘bail-out’ is in fact the proper role and responsibility of government.”
He stressed that the “Our Water, Our Right” campaigners who have staged various protests across the state to reject water privatisation reject the water courts and still remain resolute in rejecting all forms of water privatisation, semi-water privatisation or so called Public-Private Partnerships.
“What Lagos residents have consistently asked for and will not negotiate is informed and active participation in developing plans to achieve universal access to clean water. The solution remains within the realm of public control. We are unequivocal that the so-called water courts are a gross violation of our right to life,” he insisted.
IFAD president is honoured for mobilising institutional reforms, innovative policies and programmes, and increased resources to improve the lives of millions. His courageous leadership in fostering solidarity with the continent’s smallholder farmers is also acknowledged
Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD
Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), will be awarded the inaugural Africa Food Prize on Wednesday (September 7) at the African Green Revolution Forum in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Africa Food Prize Committee, chaired by Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, selected Dr. Nwanze, himself a Nigerian, for his outstanding leadership and passionate advocacy in putting Africa´s smallholder farmers at the centre of the global agricultural agenda.
“Dr Nwanze is a model for how a great leader can make a difference in the lives of people on the ground,” said Obasanjo. “Whether that leader is the head of a global institution, a head of state or a head of small organisation, Dr Nwanze’s accomplishments on behalf of African farmers are a reminder of what’s possible when you combine passion, good ideas, commitment, focus, hard work and dedication.”
Alongside his tireless advocacy, Dr. Nwanze is credited with reorienting IFAD´s work to focus more on making small-scale farming a viable business, as well as expanding IFAD’s presence in developing countries to increase the organisation’s effectiveness. The Prize also acknowledges Nwanze´s courage in reminding African leaders to go beyond promising development and change to delivering it.
“I would like to dedicate this award to the millions of African women who silently toil to feed their families,” said Dr. Nwanze. “No nation has been able to transform itself without giving women the same rights and opportunities as men. Our hope for future generations rests with African women who bear and raise our young people who will shape the African continent in the years to come.”
Congratulating the laureate, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), said that Dr. Nwanze’s achievements reflect extremely well the ideals the award represents, putting a bright spotlight on bold initiatives and technical innovations that can be replicated across the continent to create a new era of food security and economic opportunity for all Africans.
“By calling attention to the exemplary leadership of Kanayo Nwanze and to the compelling ideas that have guided him,” said Kalibata, “we wish to encourage many others to follow in his footsteps and boldly use the opportunities available to them to change the reality of African farming – from a struggle to survive to a business that thrives.”
“In honouring Kanayo Nwanze, the Africa Food Prize Committee could not have made a better choice as the former Yara Prize takes on its new and authentic African identity,” said Svein Tore Holsether, President and Chief Executive Officer of Yara International ASA (Yara). “Since its inception in 2005, the Yara Prize has honoured special people who have contributed in different ways to transform African agriculture. The first Africa Food Prize recognises an outstanding African leader who has dedicated his work to improve the lives for smallholder farmers. With 80 percent of farms run by smallholders, the key to transforming African agriculture lies in empowering the smallholder farmer, enabling rural value creation and providing jobs for rural youth.”
The Prize recognises Nwanze for his individual leadership, but also for the results of successful efforts at IFAD in the years he has been at the helm. IFAD, a specialised United Nations agency and International Financial Institution dedicated to eradicating rural poverty, is not the same organisation today that it was in 2009, when Nwanze took office as President, according to the organisation.
“Despite a major global economic downturn, he succeeded in growing the Fund´s overall resources, with significant increases in commitments from member states. As a result of this overall increase in IFAD´s portfolio of loans and grants, its ongoing investments in Africa more than doubled – from $1.3 billion at the start of Nwanze´s tenure to $2.7 billion in 2015 – benefiting more than 75 million rural people,” officials disclosed.
Nwanze, it was gathered, has also presided over far-reaching changes in the way IFAD approaches its work, with a focus on shifting activities from headquarters in Rome to offices in dozens of developing countries. “With only six country offices in Africa a decade ago, these now number 20 in Africa with a total of 40 globally. The local offices have been key in reshaping IFAD’s business model, increasing farmers’ access to resources and improving the deployment of funds to projects,” they added.
“I know the difference it makes to see first-hand the value that one’s work is adding to someone’s life,” said Nwanze. “The idea behind opening more country offices is to bring IFAD closer to the people it serves, not only to motivate our own staff, but to more effectively work with rural communities, learning from them and adapting our investments to transform the environment in which they live and work.”
Recent studies by IFAD’s Independent Office of Evaluation show that, where country offices are present, the IFAD-funded programmes and projects are generally more efficient and effective, with stronger partnerships and policy advocacy.
A project in Senegal started in 2008, for example, is helping wean consumers away from expensive, imported staples by supporting the production, processing, and preparation of local foods. Participating farmers now regularly supply their products to stores across the country and, to this end, have formed partnerships with private companies. IFAD’s on-the-ground presence has allowed for regular follow-ups and the project has now benefitted more than 250,000 people, mainly by creating jobs and boosting incomes.
Through other projects, IFAD has pioneered methods aimed at reversing gender inequity in more than 100,000 rural households in eight African countries. Development experts cite gender inequality as one of the greatest barriers to achieving agricultural innovation and food security in Africa and other regions of the developing world. The new methods help husbands and wives find ways to overcome poverty together, declaring a truce in the tug-of-war that usually prevails over ownership and control of productive resources.
Under Dr. Nwanze´s leadership, IFAD is also said to have taken up a more active role in the global policy dialogues. Together with its partners, it advocated for an emphasis on smallholder farmers in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted last year by world leaders, arguing successfully that these farmers have a central role to play in achieving a world free of hunger.
As an advocate for rural communities, Dr. Nwanze has consistently called on leaders to keep food security and agriculture at the centre of development and budgetary priorities. For example, through an open letter to the African Union Heads of State ahead of the 23rd African Union (AU) Summit in 2014, he reminded leaders of the importance of investing in smallholder family farms and challenged them to think about the legacy they want to leave for future generations.
He wrote, “Don’t just promise development, deliver it, make it happen now. Make real, concrete progress toward investment that reaches all Africans. Investments that prioritize rural people.”
By positioning IFAD as a major knowledge institution, Dr. Nwanze has also helped provide the development community with fresh ideas, evidence, and tools in support of policy dialogue aimed at identifying the best ways to transform rural livelihoods. On 14 September, IFAD will release its flagship publication, The Rural Development Report 2016, which offers guidance for policymakers in making policy choices and investments aimed at eradicating rural poverty.
In addition, IFAD has renewed and diversified sources of finance for agricultural development, gaining international recognition for its role in mobilising investment. The new global framework for development finance, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, explicitly highlights IFAD’s pivotal role in channeling investment for smallholder development.
The professional journey that led Dr. Nwanze to become a distinguished development leader started 40 years ago in agricultural research. He worked as an entomologist in two Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centres, eventually becoming the director general of a third one – the Africa Rice Centre. His research background has shaped his leadership of IFAD, where he sharpened its focus on a more rigorous evidence-based approach to project design, implementation and impact evaluation.
“It is now quite clear what must be done to transform Africa´s agriculture and feed this continent sustainably,” said Obasanjo. “But all of our carefully crafted strategies, plans, and programs will accomplish little without able and visionary leaders. Kanayo Nwanze is one such leader, whose shining example, I hope, will give rise to many others.”
Key leaders of climate vulnerable countries met from 11 to 15 August in the Philippine capital Manila for a series of events held by the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF).
Jessie Granadillos from Climate Analytics presenting Low Carbon Monitor Report during the CVF events
The seminar “Climate Diplomacy, Leadership and Negotiations,” held from 11 to 14 August and attended by ministers and officials, focused on enhancing the capacity of the CVF to collaborate and advance the collective agenda of countries highly vulnerable to climate change at international and domestic levels.
Dr James Fletcher, former Environment Minister of Saint Lucia, who played a key role in the inclusion of the 1.5°C temperature limit in the Paris Agreement, spoke of the crucial role that Small Island Developing States and other vulnerable countries played in securing this outcome.
Senior Legal Expert MJ Mace outlined recent research which shows stark differences in climate change impacts between 1.5°C and 2°C of warming and stressed the feasibility of the 1.5°C limit, while climate finance expert Mahlet Eyassu Melkie addressed financing ambitious climate action in vulnerable countries.
During the following high level event on 15 August, Climate Analytics Science Director Dr Michiel Schaeffer and researcher Jessie Granadillos presented the findings of a new report, the Low Carbon Monitor, which highlights the benefits of achieving the 1.5°C temperature limit of the Paris agreement.
The report emphasises that a difference of 0.5°C in global average temperature has enormous repercussions for the world’s physical environment and for the frequency and severity of climate change impacts.
Limiting the temperature increase to 1.5°C, compared with 2°C, would reduce expected heat wave spells for tropical developing countries worldwide by about one third. It would also lower the risks of reduced yields of key crops, and substantially reduce the forecasted increase in extreme rainfall downpours and associated flooding.
The research also indicates that limiting the rise to 1.5°C can help avoid a substantial loss to the global economy by 2050.
The Low Carbon Monitor report will be launched in September 2016.
The CVF is an international partnership of countries highly vulnerable to a warming planet. The Forum serves as a South-South cooperation platform for 43 governments to act together to deal with climate change. The CVF, previously chaired by the Philippines, is now led by Ethiopia.
The 11th summit of the Group of 20 major economies (G20) that took place in Hangzhou, China, on 4 and 5 September, reached a consensus on pursuing an “innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy”.
Participants at the 2016 11th summit of the Group of 20 major economies (G20) that took place in Hangzhou, China
To that end, the communique that concluded the meeting on Monday reaffirms the G20 Leaders’ determination to take into account the two major international and interlinked universal treaties clinched in 2015, namely the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.
The G20 reiterated their commitment to both sustainable development and fighting climate change. In order to do so, they committed to join the Paris Agreement as soon as possible and recognised the need for means of implementation for other countries, including financial resources, and the importance to assist them, namely through the Green Climate Fund.
“We reiterate our commitment to sustainable development and strong and effective support and actions to address climate change.
“We commit to complete our respective domestic procedures in order to join the Paris Agreement as soon as our national procedures allow.
“We welcome those G20 members who joined the Agreement and efforts to enable the Paris Agreement to enter into force by the end of 2016 and look forward to its timely implementation with all its aspects.
“We affirm the importance of fulfilling the UNFCCC commitment by developed countries in providing means of implementation including financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaptation actions in line with Paris outcomes.
“We reaffirm the importance of the support provided by the Green Climate Fund.
“We welcome the G20 Climate Finance Study Group report on ‘Promoting Efficient and Transparent Provision and Mobilisation of Climate Finance to Enhance Ambition of Mitigation and Adaptation Actions’.
“We look forward to successful outcomes in related multilateral fora, including the Montreal Protocol and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.”
Participants at the recently concluded Seoul Mayors Forum on Climate Change, which held recently in Seoul City Hall in Korea, presented an open letter to leaders at the G20 Summit that ended on Monday in Hangzhou, China. The mayors from the G20 country cities are calling on the leaders to build a low-carbon and non-violent world. Excerpts:
Makati Mayor Abby Binay presents the city’s initiatives on climate change mitigation and adaptation during the Seoul Mayors Forum on Climate Change. Photo credit: makati.gov.ph
We, mayors of the major cities within the G20, call on our national leaders to work with us to build a low carbon, climate safe world.
In December 2015, you showed vital leadership by adopting the ground-breaking Paris Agreement. This was an unprecedented display of global solidarity and commitment to action, and we commend your efforts in taking steps to ratify it as soon as possible, allowing its entry into force in the upcoming months.
However, this is only the first step along the road towards our low carbon, climate safe future. To limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, global greenhouse gas emissions need to peak by 2020. Achieving such a rapid shift is probably one of the greatest political, economic and practical challenges faced by every national leader, but you do have great allies in this task: we, the mayors of the megacities of the world.
As mayors, we are already dealing with the consequences of climate change on our cities, from floods to heat waves, and from water shortages to air pollution. Yet, we know that cities are a key part of the climate solution. From the rollout of fleets of electric buses in Chinese cities; the moves by European, South American and Indian cities to ban the most polluting cars from city centres; the retrofitting of tens of thousands of buildings across North American cities to deliver greater energy efficiency and dedicated low-carbon districts in cities worldwide, we are taking bold actions to cut emissions and prepare for the worst effects of a warming planet. In Paris, we collectively committed to deliver up to 3.7 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions reductions annually by 2030.
We have also seen first-hand that our climate action brings significant co-benefits to our communities, from improved public health, cleaner air, faster economic growth and more equity. There is no trade-off between climate action and development: delivering on the Paris Agreement will help us all implement the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and vice-versa.
Many of us are also committed to the Compact of Mayors and the newly formed Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy which captures the commitments of more than 7,100 cities in 119 countries representing more than 600 million residents. By aligning our efforts, the Global Covenant allows us to collaborate on a greater scale, bridging gaps and building connections. Quantifying the collective scale and potential for cities to cut emissions and deliver low carbon societies serves to increase our collective impact in the fight against climate change.
For the major cities of the world it is already clear that the faster we move to a low carbon economy, the greater will be the improvement in urban citizens’ standards of living, and the stronger and more sustained will be the economic development that makes that possible. That is why we are all making a commitment, as part of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), to set out concrete plans for how we will deliver the goals of the Paris Agreement in our cities. We want our citizens, markets and other political leaders to know that we are serious about making the Paris Agreement a reality. We call on the heads of states from our respective nation states to do the same.
As members of the C40 we understand the value of co-operation to drive ambition. Just as the G20 is the world’s premier forum for international economic cooperation, C40 has proven the power of the world’s megacities, both the Global North and Global South, working together to tackle the global threat of climate change.
Similarly, we must improve collaboration between national, regional and local governments, as we all work towards the shared objectives, of delivering a low carbon, sustainable world for the next generations. The ambition of the Paris Agreement, will require unprecedented collaboration and innovation. We stand ready for the challenge ahead.
Signatories:
Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro and Chair of C40
Steve Adler, Mayor of Austin
Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City
Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington D.C.
Robert Doyle, Mayor of Melbourne
Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago
Gustavo Fruet, Mayor of Curitiba
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles
Fumiko Hayashi, Mayor of Yokohama
Charlie Hales, Mayor of Portland
Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London
Yuriko Koike, Governor of Tokyo
Mitch Landrieu, Mayor of New Orleans
Ed Lee, Mayor of San Francisco
Patricia de Lille, Mayor of the City of Cape Town
Miguel Ángel Mancera, Mayor of Mexico City
Clover Moore, Lord Mayor of Sydney
Michael Müller, Governing Mayor of Berlin
Ed Murray, Mayor of Seattle
Antônio Neto, Mayor of Salvador
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Governor of Jakarta
Virginia Raggi, Mayor of Rome
Gregor Robertson, Mayor of Vancouver
Horacio Rodríguez-Larreta, Mayor of Buenos Aires
Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan
Wong Kam Sing, Secretary for the Environment of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government
