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US legislator cautions World Bank on role in water privatisation

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US legislator cautions World Bank on role in water privatisation

A United States lawmaker, Gwen Moore, has written the president of the World Bank Group (WBG), raising concerns about the international finance organisation’s role in the water sector. The House of Representatives legislator, in the correspondence, called on the Bank to stop funding and promoting water privatisation pending an independent review and congressional hearings on conflicts of interest created by its investments in water privatisers.

Rep. Gwen Moore
Rep. Gwen Moore

The World Bank is alleged to be complicit in a controversial water Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Lagos.

Rep. Moore particularly noted the role of the World Bank private arm – the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – as advisor to governments and marketer of PPPs which, claims the Lagos-based Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN), have proved disastrous in several countries including the Philippines and India.

The letter, released on Tuesday (April 12), was addressed to World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim, with copies to U.S. Secretary of Treasury Jacob Lew and newly appointed IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Philippe Le Houérou. It comes in the wake of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, where an anti-democratic model of governing led to a public health catastrophe. The inquiry focuses on the WBG’s conflict of interest resulting from its multiple roles as advisor to governments, worldwide marketer of privatisation models – such as PPPs – and investor in private water corporations that benefit from the very projects it facilitates.

Moore, who is the Ranking Member of the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee, has a key role overseeing the U.S.’s relationship with the WBG and other development institutions and has long been a champion of water access issues. Last year, the Congresswoman joined 22 other members of the Congressional Black Caucus in a letter of support to ERA/FoEN and other groups in Nigeria organising to block a planned water privatisation scheme in Lagos.

According to Moore: “Water access is a fundamental human right no matter where you live,” even as she added that, Dr. Kim and his team have the responsibility to put the World Bank’s mission – alleviating global poverty – above the pursuit of profits.

Shayda Naficy, a water privatisation expert at Corporate Accountability International, said: “The World Bank is stacking the deck, dealing the cards and placing all the bets, putting profits above human need. For years it has ignored the concerns of those most affected by this blind pursuit, but with Congress asking questions, it can no longer pursue this path with impunity.”

Moore’s letter comes as ERA/FoEN asked Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State to make a public statement declaring his stance on a controversial PPP in the water sector in Lagos which the Bank said it cancelled after pressure from civil society and labour groups.

ERA/FoEN Deputy Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, was quoted in a statement released on Wednesday as saying: “Rep. Moore’s correspondence is not only timely, it also captures the very questionable role played by the World Bank in denying the largest segment of society which cannot pay the fundamental right to a free gift of nature.

“It is shameful how the World Bank has for years been promoting a toxic PPP water privatisation scheme across the globe as success story. This wicked scheme was also sold to the Lagos government through an IFC advisory contract which civil society and labour rejected. While we still see the Lagos government tinkering with the idea, we make bold to say that access to water is a fundamental human right which is not negotiable.”

Oluwafemi pointed out that the Ambode administration must not shy away from its responsibility through a conspiracy of silence, even as he added that the state cannot be an exception in the march towards ensuring every citizen of the world is not denied the basic human right that water represents.

“We insist that the Lagos government reject contracts designed by, involving, or influenced by the IFC, which operates to maximize private profit and develop a comprehensive plan for achieving universal access to clean water in the state. This must be done in concert and with the full consent of the people. PPPs are not democratically designed. They are unacceptable,” insists the activist.

Gwen Moore is the U.S. Representative for Wisconsin’s 4th congressional district, serving since 2005. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Biotechnology: Be open, transparent, Mohammed advises agencies

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Biotechnology: Be open, transparent, Mohammed advises agencies

Minister of Environment, Amina J. Mohammed, has said that Nigeria is ready to deploy biotechnology to boost the nation’s economy.

A group photograph featuring, among others, Environment Minister, Mrs Amina Mohammed; Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril; Director-General of NABDA, Professor Lucy Ogbadu; DG/CEO of NBMA, Mr. Rufus Ebegba; and Dr. Rose Maxwell Gidado, Country Coordinator of OFAB
A group photograph featuring, among others, Environment Minister, Mrs Amina Mohammed; Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril; Director-General of NABDA, Professor Lucy Ogbadu; DG/CEO of NBMA, Mr. Rufus Ebegba; and Dr. Rose Maxwell Gidado, Country Coordinator of OFAB

She told media executives at the close of a courtesy visit to her office in Abuja on Tuesday by a delegation of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) in Africa Programming Committee (PC) that Nigeria is blessed with experts in biotechnology, and that the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) is there to ensure safety application of the technology.

In a statement endorsed by Dr. Rose Maxwell Gidado, Country Coordinator of OFAB, the minister reportedly revealed that biotechnology has a big role to play in the Great Green Wall project, “which has started and has an agency that is at the forefront to ensure that it is line with AU initiative.”

“We have 1,500 kilometers across and 15 kilometers deep, what we need to do is to make that corridor, an economic one, not just trees but economic trees, jobs for people, how we can deal with energy solutions, connecting services within agriculture, not just stopping the desert but reclaiming the desert,” Mrs. Mohammed was quoted as saying.

“The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) can come in the area of economic trees. The gestation period for trees used to last for three, four years but today we are looking at eighteen months or less, that is biotechnology, this is where we need collaboration to ensure that we are able to do things quicker than usual, but we have to ensure safety and transparency in what we do. There are always good and bad sides, and we must take care of the bad side,” she adds.

Speaking on safety issues, the minister discloses, “We need more research and we need to listen to people where they have concerns, we have to answer those frequently asked questions because without responding to people’s concerns, we are leaving perception of not caring or not doing our homework. We have to be more open to people and transparent to everyone, also hear everyone’s concern and address them, with Biosafety Agency in place; we can begin to do that.”

Cautioning the Biosafety Agency, she underlined the need for education, saying: “Education is key; ignorance brings fear, opposition and pushes back things that are good for us. But with education, it is taken care off. Those involved in carrying people forward in the world of science forget and leave many behind and which becomes a challenge.

“I am grateful you are all here, helping us understand GMOs better. The administration under (President Muhammadu) Buhari is clear on diversification. NABDA is key, and has a role to play in the agricultural sector, that is why the agency needs to educate the public. We all need to collaborate to make every Nigerian feel comfortable about the technology. Many people need to be carried along. At the moment, there is drought in Ethiopia, which could also affect other African countries and that’s why the technology is being considered for use to overcome this drought challenge. Nigeria needs to prepare ahead. Nigeria needs to button up but safety must be ensured,” she enthuses.

In her remarks, the Director-General of NABDA, Professor Lucy Ogbadu, highlights the challenges facing the country in the area of agricultural food production, which she stresses is characterised by low productivity due to pest and insects’ infestation; desertification, gully erosion, flood, micronutrient deficiency, and coupled with population increase.

Nigeria needs to adopt and embrace biotechnology, she declares, adding that transgenic varieties of crops are more productive, precise in gene transfer, as they overcome the limitations of traditional breeding and allow scientists to use new traits from many kinds of plants and other living things.

Prof. Ogbadu lists the secondary benefits to include: reduction of carbon emission, soil degradation reduction, water conservation, nitrogen fertilizer usage, enhanced bio-fuel production, and reduced use of pesticides.

Concluding her presentation, she reports that Nigerian scientists have waited for 14 years to have a Biosafety law to operate fully like their counterparts in other countries.

The DG/CEO of NBMA, Mr. Rufus Ebegba, reaffirms his commitment to ensure the safety of modern biotechnology practice in Nigeria and its contribution to the economic growth.

“Nigerians should be re-assured that NBMA will do her best in making sure that any GMO released for commercialisation is safe for consumption and possess no threat to human or environment,” he assures.

Kenyan court rejects BAT petition, group lauds ruling

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Kenyan court rejects BAT petition, group lauds ruling

A Kenyan court ruling has rejected a petition by the British American Tobacco (BAT) to stop the adoption of regulations that would facilitate implementation of Kenya’s Tobacco Control Act 2007.

Health officials say tobacco smoking is dangerous to health
Health officials say tobacco smoking is dangerous to health

BAT Kenya Limited last year April filed a petition at the Constitutional Court in the High Court of Kenya, Nairobi asking it to declare that the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014 developed by the Ministry of Health to facilitate the implementation of Tobacco Control Act 2007 is null and void.

The tobacco company had argued that the due process was not followed in the making of the regulations and that particular sections of the regulations contravened their rights as outlined in the Bill of Rights and other Articles of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and that they were therefore unconstitutional.

The regulations had been tabled in Parliament on 5th December 2014 and gazetted as required and were to take effect on 5 June 2015. Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance (KETCA) and the Consumer Information Network (CIN) were joined in the case as interested parties. On 4th June 2015, a day before the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014 could take effect, the Judge issued conservatory orders suspending the implementation of the regulations (at the request of BAT) until the case is heard and determined.

The court however 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. Reports of public forums and other consultations were shared and the regulations were presented to Parliament which offered another platform for public participation through the Parliamentary process.  It noted that, in effect, there was sufficient public participation, hence, the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014 cannot be declared null and void on the basis of lack of sufficient public participation, among others.

This ruling comes at a time when a BAT employee-turned-whistleblower, Paul Hopkins, recently revealed that BAT has engaged in “systematic bribery” to thwart tobacco control laws throughout Central and East Africa. Already, Kenya has launched an investigation into this alleged bribery and authorities in the U.S. and the U.K. are considering investigating BAT’s bribery.

In a reaction to the ruling, the Lagos-based Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has hailed the development, saying that Nigeria’s Ministry of Health and that of other countries on the continent must be on their guard.

The ERA/FoEN Deputy Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, disclosed in a statement: “This ruling is victory for the Kenyan people and an indication that they refuse to be intimidated by the tobacco industry. Despite BAT arm-twisting through the suit, the Kenyan Ministry of Health and tobacco control advocates such as the Consumer Information Network have demonstrated doggedness and determination to push through life-saving laws which other countries of the continent must emulate.”

According to him, as Nigeria’s health ministry begins the establishment of regulations for implementation of the National Tobacco Control Act, it must note and learn from the Kenyan example which has become an observed pattern that BAT is replicating across Africa.

Oluwafemi added: “BAT aversion to the life-saving laws is not new. It only adds to a woeful list of the company’s antics aimed at continuing the marketing its deadly wares on the continent unchallenged. While we continue to anticipate the findings of current and pending investigations into BAT’s alleged bribery of officials in neighboring countries, we remind Nigerian authorities that BAT acts the same in Nigeria as it does in Kenya. We must be watchful for similar activities in Nigeria.

“While we are yet to get over the recent revelations of BAT employee-turned-whistleblower, Paul Hopkins, that BAT has engaged in systematic bribery, to thwart tobacco control laws throughout Central and East Africa, including Kenya, the corporation is at it again.”

He advised that Kenyans must not go to sleep with the ruling and instead anticipate appeals and other clogs thrown in the way of implementation of the Tobacco Control Act 2007, even as he urged speedy implementation of the regulations to save Kenyans from lifelong addiction to tobacco.

“For Nigeria which is BAT largest market on the African continent, we anticipate that the health ministry must be watchful and refuse BAT presence on the table or its suggestions through bodies that it may be affiliated with. The Kenyan litigation should serve as eye-opener for the sort of tobacco industry tactics we could face in Nigeria. We must be prepared to protect our recently-passed act to ensure it reaches its lifesaving potential,” Oluwafemi noted.

How Ghanaian media contribute to World Water Day celebrations

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How Ghanaian media contribute to World Water Day celebrations

Every year, the world marks Water Day on Mach 22. In this article, a founding member of WaterSan Perspective, Ama Kudom-Agyemang, who is based in Accra, Ghana, wonders if there is a reason to celebrate water in Ghana

Access to potable water remains a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. Photo credit: vanguardngr.com
Access to potable water remains a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. Photo credit: vanguardngr.com

To some Ghanaian media persons who hosted radio and television discussions in relation to celebration of World Water Day, there is absolutely no reason to do so. Their contention is that some Ghanaians still lack access to safe water.

One of the television discussions was done against the background of a news story from a community in the Volta region, where the people are just fetching water from a filthy stream, because there is no other source of water. In some instances, the water source is just a murky pond that community members share with cattle. Besides, the periodic outbreaks of cholera and other diarrhoea-related diseases, which are all water related are blemishes in the country’s water status.

To these media personalities, as long as a cross section of Ghanaians still lack access to safe water, there is no cause for celebration.

But upon sober reflection, these bothersome water related issues also provide the basis for Ghanaians and the world at large to celebrate water. In 1992, the United Nations instituted March 22nd as World Water Day, to draw global attention to the importance of water as a vital resource to life. The celebration is also used to remind people everywhere that scarcity and misuse of fresh water, pose a serious and growing threat to sustainable livelihoods and development. Furthermore, the celebration is an opportunity to learn more about water related challenges and be inspired to take action to make a difference.

Consequently, since 1993, World Water Day has been celebrated annually to highlight an aspect of water that requires urgent attention. Themes such as water for life, water for the future, coping with water scarcity, clean water for a healthy world, water and food security, the world’s water is there enough, and women and water, have been the focus for past celebrations.

The international celebration for this year’s World Water Day focused on “Water and Jobs,” while the Ghana national theme was, “Improved Safe Water Access for Sustainable Livelihoods.” Both themes highlighted the two-way relationship between water and the decent work agenda in the quest for sustainable development.

The celebration made water the subject of media reportage and debates throughout the country. The media engagement brought to the fore, the issue of how water scarcity and shortages in supply are undermining job sustainability, livelihood opportunities and socio-economic development in some parts of the country.

If you consider that Ghana is an agrarian nation with significant number of people engaged in agriculture, then, the issue of sustainable water availability becomes crucial. Water availability for agriculture becomes urgent especially in the face of dwindling farm lands, competing land uses, soil erosion and degradation, and climate change impacts. So, improved safe water access for sustainable livelihoods is not just about water for domestic use, but also water for agriculture, industry and the environment.

Therefore, we celebrate water because it is about the – 1.5 billion people – including farmers and all other workers whose jobs depend on the availability of freshwater.

In his statement to commemorate the Day, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon noted that “all workers can be harmed by poor water and sanitation.” The statement said “of two million work-related deaths every year, nearly one-in-five are caused by poor quality drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.”

According to the statement, the Secretary General was concerned about the fact that people with the least access to water and sanitation often also lack access to health care and stable jobs, thereby perpetuating the cycle of poverty. The statement said the Secretary General was convinced that “the basic provision of adequate water, sanitation and hygiene services at home, at school and in the workplace enables a robust economy by contributing to a healthy and productive population and workforce.”

Mexico urges early ratification of Nagoya Protocol

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Mexico urges early ratification of Nagoya Protocol

Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico, as the incoming president of the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in a joint letter with Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary, has urged his global counterparts to ratify the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity as soon as possible.

Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico
Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico

Reiterating that the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol at COP 12 was a significant achievement for the international community, Minister Pacchiano and Dr. Dias highlighted their common goal of reaching 100 ratifications before the CBD meetings being held later this year in Cancun, Mexico. They said that, by ratifying or acceding to the Nagoya Protocol, Parties will contribute to maintaining the diversity of genetic resources and their associated traditional knowledge for improving livelihoods and for the development of new products and services.

Nigeria is yet to ratify the international treaty.

The letter (https://www.cbd.int/doc/agreements/agmt-mexico-2016-04-01-en.pdf) highlights the contribution of access and benefit-sharing (ABS) to the global agenda on sustainable development and in particular the relevance of ABS in light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015.

The Nagoya Protocol entered into force on 12 October 2014 and has now been ratified by 73 countries. It was gathered that ratifying the Nagoya Protocol prior to the Second meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing will also enable countries to participate in decision-making at this meeting and to further advance the global implementation of this landmark treaty.
The Protocol was adopted at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) in 2010, in Nagoya, Japan, and entered into force on four years later. The Protocol significantly advances the objective of the Convention on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge by providing greater legal certainty and transparency for both providers and users of genetic resources.

By promoting the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and by strengthening the opportunities for fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their use, the Protocol will create incentives to conserve biodiversity, sustainably use its components, and further enhance the contribution of biodiversity to sustainable development and human well-being.

Oil and power: Groundwater pollution in South Sudan

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Oil and power: Groundwater pollution in South Sudan

“Oil, Power and A Sign of Hope” is a book about oil, speed, corporate power and death. It is not about the oil pollution in the Niger Delta. It is rather about the severe pollution of the groundwater in the oil field communities of South Sudan. And the pollution is from the contamination of the water bodies by produced water that is generated during crude oil extraction.

Children play at a water pump where the water is undrinkable because of contamination from a nearby oilfield in South Sudan
Children play at a water pump where the water is undrinkable because of contamination from a nearby oilfield in South Sudan

It may well be true as has been asserted by some observers that the Sudan was split in two by oil. The fact that oil is at the centre of geopolitics, of global dominance and control is indisputable. It is also a fact that crude oil’s footprint on climate change cannot be denied. In fact, analysts have concluded that the world has to completely halt the burning of fossil fuels by 2030 if the target of keeping to a 1.5-degree Celsius temperature increase above pre-industrial level, a highlight of the Paris Agreement, is to be met. The control of global policy on climate change by the fossil fuels industry is so strong that this known villain is not mentioned even once in the Paris Agreement that the politicians have applauded and are getting ready to sign in a few days.

Written by Klaus Stieglitz (with Sabine Pamperrien) and published by Ruffer & Rub, the book, Oil, Power and a Sign of Hope, raises very strong issues regarding the linkage between oil corporations (in this case Petronas), automobile corporations (in this case Mercedes) and the destruction of lives in the oil fields of South Sudan. Mercedes and Petronas are partners in the Grand Prix events with their logos announcing their wedlock.

Written with deep compassion after spending many years providing humanitarian service in the polluted communities, the writer exposes the misery and harm that oil field communities are exposed to while corporations enjoy extreme wealth while feeding the world’s insatiable thirst for energy, speed and profit. It shows that produced water and drilling fluids are key sources of contamination of the water communities depend on.

An excerpt from the book is in order here:

The extremely great potential dangers emanating from the use of chemicals in drill drilling fluids cause it to be strictly regulated by internationally-applicable guidelines. Augmenting this peril is another technique employed when extracting oil. Highly-concentrated salts-containing solutions are injected into the oil deposits, so as to increase the pressure in them. The crude oil and the previously-injected salts-containing solutions are pumped to the surface, where the crude oil is separated from the so-called “produced water”. The extraction of each litre of crude oil requires the employment of from 3 to 9.5 litres of produced water – an incredible amount. This produced water often has a higher content of salt than does ocean water. The produced water also often contains noxious metals and radioactive materials. The general practice is to inject the produced water – via another injection hole – deep enough into the ground, with this meaning its being transported to layers of rocks that are far away from potable water. Should, however, the produced water be disposed of via in-feeds into surface waters, or via shallow drilling into layers containing ground water, the risk arises that this polluted water will – via wells – be incorporated into humans’ food cycle. (Page 58)

Although oil companies claim otherwise, researches have shown that produced water dumped into the Niger Delta environment have contaminants at levels far above acceptable standards. Lax regulation compounds the problem. Hundreds of thousands of barrels of produced water are dumped into the Niger Delta environment daily. Since the amount of water used in oil extraction increases as the wells age, more produced water is being dumped into our water ways as the years go by.

Oil, Power and a Sign of Hope is a wakeup call, not only for South Sudan, but for all African nations where crude oil is extracted or is set to be extracted. While oil spills and gas flares take the headlines, little is said about the produced water that finds its way into our food cycles and silently breeds disease and clips off life expectancy in our communities. This book is not written to make us moan and sigh. It is a clarion call for us all to wake up, reject mindless exploitation, demand justice and fight for the right to potable water, and for the right of all peoples to live in dignity and in healthy environments. The water we drink should quench our thirst and not snuff out our lives.

By Nnimmo Bassey (Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation – HOMEF)

REDD+: Nigeria formulates forest monitoring systems plan

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REDD+: Nigeria formulates forest monitoring systems plan

Nigeria is putting finishing touches to its National Forest Monitoring Systems (NFMSs) blueprint as it relates to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Participants at the gathering
Participants at the gathering

At a two-day forum last week in Abuja, the federal capital city, stakeholders attempted to tidy up a 68-page plan to implement the NFMS, which is a key element of the REDD+ mechanism.

Essentially, REDD+ implies an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.

REDD+ covers five activities, which were operationalised in 2010 during the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC in Cancun, Mexico. These include: Reducing emissions from deforestation, Reducing emissions from forest degradation, Conservation of forest carbon stocks, Sustainable management of forests, and Enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

Towards devising and implementing the NFMS, countries are requested to establish, according to national circumstances and capabilities, robust and transparent national forest monitoring systems that:

  • Use a combination of remote sensing and ground‐based forest carbon inventory approaches for estimating, anthropogenic forest‐related greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks, forest carbon stocks and forest area changes; and,
  • Provide estimates that are transparent, consistent, as far as possible accurate, and that reduce uncertainties, taking into account national capabilities.

The Nigerian NFMS action plan document comprises eight chapters, which include: Introduction, Action plan development methodology, National circumstances, Capacity assessment, Implementation of the national system of monitoring forest, Risk assessment, Budget and work plan, and Annexes.

The action plan to implement a NFMS for REDD+ under the UNFCCC is an operational document with a standard list of activities that a country can implement to develop its NFMS. The document sets out for Nigeria a potential approach for the implementation of the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) based on the guidance and principles by the UN-REDD Programme.

According to a source, the REDD+ mechanism represents a valuable opportunity for Nigeria to contribute to climate change mitigation through improved forest conservation and enhancing sustainable community livelihoods. The objective is to build the REDD+ mechanism in Nigeria, using Cross River State (CRS) as a demonstration model.

“The NFMS represents a key element of the REDD+ mechanism by which reliable information on the forest-related GHG emissions and removals are provided and communicated to the UNFCCC,” said the source.

The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations collaborative initiative on REDD+ in developing countries. The Programme was launched in 2008 and builds on the convening role and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The UN-REDD Programme supports nationally-led REDD+ processes and promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities, in national and international REDD+ implementation.

Similarly, the NFMS action plan is intended to inform the government of Nigeria’s National REDD+ Strategy, and follows the National REDD+ Roadmap, as a guide for the implementation of the technical elements of REDD+ required for monitoring, measuring and reporting the outcomes of REDD+ activities and their performance in mitigating climate change.

One of the requirements of the NFMS is that it must be implemented in phases.

“There are three phases, starting with a readiness phase, followed by a second phase where result based activities will be implemented by predictable funding and finally the full MRV system in phase three with payments for verified performance,” he said.

How Nigeria’s proposed coal-fired plants negate Paris Agreement

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How Nigeria’s proposed coal-fired plants negate Paris Agreement

Obviously, Nigeria’s power generation challenges still persist – the country’s current output has far fallen below the 5,000 megawatts peak. As pressure mounts on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of 11 months to revitalise the ailing sector, rather than adopting abundant harmless renewable alternative energy sources, plan is fully set to augment the dwindling power by investing heavily in coal-fired power plants. A move that sadly betrays the 2015 Paris universal legally binding climate agreements – which involved Nigeria’ active participation.

A coal-fired power plant
A coal-fired power plant

“The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development is collaborating the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to ensure that huge coal deposit in the country is explored to meet some of its energy needs,” Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, was quoted as saying.

At the Economic Summit held recently in Lagos, he further said, “I know there are people who are worried about climate change and the implication of coal on that. But even coal can achieve clean coal environmental standard and we believe that about 1000 megawatts of electricity can be generated from coal by the year 2020.”

This is regarded as a deliberate pranks and an attempt to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that coal is environment friendly. At a crucial time when other committed countries are halting new coal projects, and busy closing down existing coal plants while strategising and threading feasible sustainable renewables paths, Nigeria is totally pursuing a contrary devastating archaic project.

It should be noted that, as a result of alarming air pollution in China and India, over 1.6 million deaths are recorded annually. In addressing China’s air pollution, Chris Wright (Climate Tracker activist) stated: “(China has decided) to close up to 2,000 coal-fired power plants. It also plans to shut down 1,000 coal mines this year…”

Despite these facts, if the coal-fired plant is constructed due to government’s recalcitrance, past influences on aforementioned countries speak volume of its likely adverse consequences on vast majority of Nigerians, future generations and our dear planet. Nigeria’s estimated average life expectancy which currently stands at 53 years could further be reduced. Conscious citizens should be aware of this proposed dangerous adventure that could rob them of quality lives.

Rather, the Federal Government should consider massively diverting funds to be channelled in fossil fuels projects into the renewables; hydro, wind, solar and biomass are wide eco-friendly alternatives. Many hydro power projects are abandoned while immense renewables remain unexploited.

Ikere George hydro dam situated at Iseyin was built 33 years ago and is a glaring example out of many alternatives. It has the capacity to generate 3750 MW (3/4 of Nigeria’s current total output). Unfortunately, it was never completed and is now a shadow of itself. Several abandoned hydro-power projects are languishing and littering every nook and cranny of the nation, while Africa’s most populous country of estimated 170 million inhabitants grapples with dilemma of satisfying its ever increasing power demands.

One then begins to wonder why Nigeria’s power output currently remains at the lowest ebb in 21st century. Positive influence of humongous funds allegedly spent on power over the years by past administrations failed to have meaningful impacts. The failure can unarguably be attributed to financial recklessness and mismanagement of resources by the past anchors.

If Nigeria sincerely desires change in the power sector, there is a compelling need for the current administration to radically defy all odds in challenging and addressing the status quo. This is an unconditional choice that may warrant stepping on cartels and corrupt powerful toes.

It is high time the Ministry of Environment headed by Mrs. Amina Mohammed synergised with the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and Solid Minerals Development. This to be geared towards working out modalities for initiating projects having harmless long term effects on Nigerian populace while running it in consonance with UN climate agreements. Fruition of sustainable environment requires unrelenting coordinated concerted efforts of various actors and stakeholders.

Reneging on COP21 agreements – adopted by over 193 world leaders – is tantamount to burning the planet, like a tick time bomb that urgently needs to be defused. For sustainable and habitable planet for future generations, Nigeria’s proposed coal-fired plant deserves to be unconditionally halted, while shifting focus to utilisation of harmless andefficient renewables – in respect of the Paris climate agreement.

By Odewale Abayomi Joseph (@ODEWALEAbayomi)

Mysterious planet may destroy Earth this month, says scientist

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Mysterious planet may destroy Earth this month, says scientist

A mysterious planet that wiped out life on Earth millions of years ago could do it again, according to a top space scientist. Some scientists believe that the apocalyptic event could happen as early as this month.

This artistic rendering shows the distant view from Planet Nine back towards the sun. The planet is thought to be gaseous, similar to Uranus and Neptune. Hypothetical lightning lights up the night side. Photo credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
This artistic rendering shows the distant view from Planet Nine back towards the sun. The planet is thought to be gaseous, similar to Uranus and Neptune. Hypothetical lightning lights up the night side. Photo credit: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

Planet Nine, a new planet reportedly discovered at the edge of the solar system in January, is said to have the potential to trigger comet showers that can bomb the Earth’s surface, killing all life, says Daniel Whitmire, of the University of Louisiana.

Planet Nine is a hypothetical large planet in the far outer Solar System, whose presence, scientists believe, would explain the unusual orbital configuration of a group of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) that orbit mostly beyond the Kuiper belt.

The astrophysicist says the planet has a 20,000-year orbit around the sun and, at its closest to us, it knocks asteroids and comets toward Earth.

Fossil evidence has suggested most life on Earth is mysteriously wiped out every 26 million to 27 million years.

Whitmire claims that Planet Nine’s passage through a rock-laden area called the Kuiper Belt is responsible for the “extinction events.”

Conspiracy theorists in the ’80s and ’90s previously claimed a red dwarf planet called Nibiru or Nemesis, which orbits too close to Earth every 36,000 years, was behind the events.

Now some are convinced there will be a collision or a near miss before the end of April.

Nemesis or Nibiru was widely dismissed as crackpot pseudo-science — until Planet Nine was identified in January by the California Institute of Technology.

News reports suggesting that humanity is about to be wiped out by a mysterious planet are almost certainly incorrect, according to certain quarters, who insist that there is no clear reason to think that destruction is coming. They stress that the planet hasn’t even been confirmed as real, yet, let alone suggestions that it could cause doomsday.

To this group, Planet Nine is an as yet unconfirmed planet that could sit on the edge of our solar system, and astronomers are currently hunting for it. It is thought to be 10 times the size of Earth and sits 600 times as far away from the sun — but has as yet only been hypothesised based on the unusual motion of other objects at the far end of our solar system, writes Andrew Griffin in Independent of London.

“But that has not kept some people from proclaiming that it is real and is about to destroy all life on Earth,” he adds.

Mike Brown, one of the two main people involved in the claims about Planet Nine, tweeted to confirm that there is no reason to think that Earth is about to be destroyed.

“Hey, so, fun fact? Planet Nine is not going to cause the earth’s destruction,” he wrote on Twitter. “If you read that it will, you have discovered idiotic writing!”

“The idea appears to have come about because of a combination of ideas about Nibiru or Planet X, a planet that some believe has not yet been found or has been wilfully covered up and will crash into Earth and destroy it. That belief has been widely discredited,” Griffin insists, adding:

“It seems to have combined with an idea suggested by scientists last week that Planet Nine’s strange orbit was involved in the periodic mass extinction events that some believe can be seen on Earth. The planet might trigger comet showers that hit the Earth and wipe out life, proposed a new paper by retired astrophysics professor Daniel Whitmire – but there is no reason to believe that such an event is going to happen this month, or any time soon.”

BASIC countries commit to sign Paris Agreement

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BASIC countries commit to sign Paris Agreement

The BASIC countries, a bloc of four newly industrialised nations comprising Brazil, South Africa, India and China, have committed to signing the Paris climate change agreement on 22 April in New York.

Indian Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar, who played host to the gathering
Indian Environment Minister, Prakash Javadekar, who played host to the gathering

The bloc, formed by an agreement on 28 November 2009, made the submission on Thursday (7 April 2016) at a Joint Statement issued at the close of the two-day 22nd BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change held in New Delhi, India.

The meeting was attended by Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India, Mr. Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative for Climate Change of China, Ambassador Antonio Marcondes, Under Secretary-General for the Environment, Energy, Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil and Mr. Maesela Kekana, Chief Director, International Climate Change Relations and Negotiations of South Africa.

The ministers welcomed the adoption of the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and acknowledged that the 21st Conference of Parties (COP-21) held in Paris in December 2015 marked a milestone in global climate cooperation. They underlined that the Paris Agreement is meant to enhance the implementation of the Convention and is comprehensive, balanced and ambitious. It also reiterates the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR & RC).

The ministers appreciated the role of the French Presidency in carrying all Parties together and ensuring the successful adoption of the Paris Agreement at COP-21. They also commended the role of BASIC and G-77 & China groups in negotiating the Paris outcomes and securing interests of the developing countries. They reaffirmed the commitment of BASIC countries to G-77 & China and expressed their appreciation of South Africa’s chairing of the group.

The ministers underlined that the Paris Agreement recognises the imperatives of sustainable patterns of consumption and production, with developed countries taking the lead, and the importance of climate justice, in strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change.

The ministers commended the efforts by BASIC countries and other developing countries in tackling climate change, both pre- and post-2020, and emphasised that these represent far more ambitious efforts compared to their respective responsibilities and capabilities.

The BASIC countries look forward to signing the Paris Agreement on 22 April 2016 during the High-Level Signature Ceremony convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. They expressed their will to initiate necessary domestic processes for ratification, acceptance or approval as soon as possible with a view to facilitate the timely entry into force of the Agreement, and urged other countries to do so as well.

The ministers reiterated the importance of pre-2020 actions in building trust amongst the Parties and noted with concern the pending ratification by many Annex I Parties of the Doha Amendment, which establishes the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. They urged Annex I Parties to both ratify and revisit pledges of Quantified Emission Limitation and Reduction Objectives (QELROs) to close the emission gap. They also emphasized that raising pre-2020 ambition on other pillars of the Convention (viz. adaptation, finance and technology and capacity building support) will pave the way for the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The ministers reiterated that Parties’ contributions, termed as “Nationally Determined Contributions” (NDCs), are to be country driven and comprehensive. The ministers reflected on the importance of adaptation and means of implementation as key elements of Parties efforts under the Agreement.

The ministers stressed the differentiated obligations in mitigation actions of developed and developing countries, as well as for the provision of support, and emphasised that developed countries should continue to take the lead. They also recalled that the Paris Agreement specifically mentions that the time frame for peaking will be longer for developing countries. The ministers felt that proper anchoring of differentiation in contributions of developed and developing countries is a sound basis for ambitious actions.

The ministers also underscored the need for financial support to developing countries for effective implementation of their mitigation and adaptation actions through accelerating the work on the new Technology Framework and the Technology Mechanism including its assessment for a meaningful and tangible dissemination, transfer and deployment of technology from developed to developing countries. They also emphasised on the role of innovation and international cooperation in enhancing global actions.

The ministers welcomed the setting up of the Paris Committee, a new institutional mechanism for enhancing capacity building activities in developing countries, and urged developed countries to provide financial support for capacity building in developing countries.

The ministers emphasised the importance of building on the existing transparency framework under the Convention, for effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and reiterated the importance of providing support and flexibility to developing countries, including through the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency, in fulfilling their obligations under the proposed enhanced transparency framework. The ministers further underlined that transparency of support is a fundamental aspect of the implementation of the Paris Agreement and that the consideration of this issue should not be outsourced to other entities. They also reflected on the need to focus on the qualitative aspects of climate finance on transparency of support.

The ministers identified means of implementation in the context of provision of finance, technology transfer and capacity building support as the most important enablers of action for developing countries. The ministers expressed their concern over the lack of adequate support in this respect and urged developed countries to honour their obligations under the Convention.

The ministers also urged developed countries to scale up their level of financial support with a complete road map to achieve the goal of jointly providing $100 billion per year by 2020. Reiterating the role of public finance, the ministers called upon developed countries to fulfil their pledges to the Green Climate Fund.

The ministers noted that the next session of the SBI, SBSTA and Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement will be deliberating on a number of issues related to the Paris Agreement. In this regard, the ministers hoped that issues under these bodies will receive balanced treatment and pledged their support to the incoming COP Presidency of Morocco to ensure a successful COP-22.

The BASIC countries expressed concern that the draft proposal on Global Market Based Measures (GMBM) under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) may impose inappropriate economic burden on developing countries, where the international aviation market is still maturing. They urged the ICAO to develop climate change measures in a manner that is consistent with the principles of CBDR & RC, and to align the GMBM with the relevant provisions of the Paris Agreement.

The ministers agreed to further strengthen the cooperation and solidarity among the BASIC countries.

South Africa will host the 23rd BASIC Ministerial meeting.

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