The need for Nigeria to eliminate impediments to trade facilitation on major highways was the plea by stakeholders at the Road Governance Caravan organised by the United States Agency for International Development in Nigeria (USAID NIGERIA) for states on the Lagos-Kano-Jibiya (LAKAJI) Corridor.
The forum wants impediments removed for trade facilitation to reduce the cost and time of moving goods and services in order to reduce poverty on the corridor and the country
Development of LAKAJI Corridor as a multimodal major trade route in Nigeria is an initiative of USAID NIGERIA through the Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport (NEXTT) project which is designed to promote inclusive economic growth through an integrated approach to trade and transport competitiveness.
Speaking at the caravan in Abeokuta, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works in Ogun State, Kayode Ademolake, noted that “impediments must be removed for trade facilitation to reduce the cost and time of moving goods and services. This will impact positively on reducing poverty on the corridor and the country.”
“Economic development of Nigeria is expansive and all challenges and encumbrances must be removed to improve trade,” he added.
In 2013, USAID conducted a baseline study on the LAKAJI corridor, which revealed that it costs over $3,000 and takes approximately 12.5 days to send a 20-foot container from Jibiya (border town in Katsina State) to Lagos, while it costs nearly $5,000 and takes approximately 19.5 days to move a 20-foot container from the Lagos port to Jibiya. The cost and time was the highest when compared with similar corridors between two different countries in West Africa and states in the US. The high cost to transport goods along the corridor is largely due to the lengthy clearance time and associated costs at the port with series of bottlenecks and fines along the express way.
A transport specialist from West Africa Borderless Alliance (another USAID initiative), Mr Noel Kosonu, noted that the preponderance of non-trade barriers is responsible for the low level of economic development and integration in Africa. Economic integration in Africa is at less than 11% when compared with over 71% in Europe and 53% in Asia.
According to Mr Kosonu, Nigeria is losing out from serving neighboring landlocked countries in West Africa due to its high cost and time of moving goods. Describing the Lome-Ouagadougou corridor as the most competitive corridor in the West Africa sub-region, the transport specialist stated that “landlocked countries like Niger and Burkina Faso are routing their goods to be moved through Togo because the country has drastically reduced the number of checkpoints, hence movement of goods through the country is faster and at a lower cost.”
“Nigeria can become a lot more competitive for trading in West Africa by the removal of barriers to trade and transport with harmonisation of procedure,” he added.
The Deputy Chief of Party of the NEXTT project notes that about 90% of Nigeria’s population reside along the LAKAJI Corridor, “hence the need to transform this corridor into an economic corridor because the economic development of the corridor which host the two most populated states in Nigeria will trigger the nation’s economy.”
The week-long road governance caravan is an advocacy platform by USAID NIGERIA, which aims to remove non-tariff barriers to enhance the competitiveness of the LAKAJI corridor for necessary investments. The caravan began in Lagos on Monday and it will run along the Southern LAKAJI Corridor states from Lagos to Abeokuta, Ibadan and Ilorin.
Leading agricultural producers, traders, transporters, officials from Federal Road Safety Corp, Nigeria Customs Service and financiers at the caravan proposed and advocated for systemic and practical improvements to the movement of goods, transport, capital, and services across the country.
Deputy Director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) Akinbode Oluwafemi calls on Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to make a public statement on an alleged Public Private Partnership (PPP) water privatisation scheme in the state
Amid water shortage in Lagos, government is believed to be favourably disposed to the idea of privatising the production of the resource
The failure of the Lagos State Government to open up on the controversial water PPP gives room for us to suspect that something is in the offing and the people are deliberately being kept in the dark.
We cannot stop demanding that the rights of Lagos citizens to a free gift of nature must not be subject to the dictates of privatisers whose only interest is profit. Worse is the fact that the Lagos government is toying with a failed model of PPP that the World Bank private arm – International Finance Corporation (IFC) advised it to embark upon even with documented failures in Manila and Nagpur, in the Philippines and India respectively.
After our water summit last year which was preceded by a rally which drew huge civil society and labour participation we had anticipated that the state government will come public with a clear action-plan that will involve the people in democratic decision taking in the water sector. Alas! This has not been the case as we have instead witnessed systematic backdoor attempt to foist the failed PPP model on the citizenry of the state.
For us it was good news that immediate past Group Managing Director of the Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC), Shayo Holloway, was forced to resign on Friday 16 October 2015 following a strongly-worded query issued by the office of the Head of Service demanding he explain the parlous state of water infrastructure in all Lagos even after receiving huge sums in the last 16 years.
Apart from budgetary allocations, the LSWC attracted loans from the World Bank and international donor agencies to fund water supply expansion schemes such as the Iju, Adiyan, and Ishasi Waterworks, as well as expansion of distribution networks. These loans, running into billions of naira have not translated into improved water supply for residents. Over 18 million Lagos residents representing about 90 percent still lack daily access to clean and safe water, exposing citizens to water-borne diseases like cholera.
We are however surprised that, after failing to manage the expansion of water supply and infrastructure, Holloway is still advising the Lagos government to toe the PPP line which Lagosians refused to accept.
We are even more perplexed that, with allegations against Holloway during his tenure at the LSWC, the Lagos state government is yet to demand accountability of the 16 years of his stewardship. The media reported that Holloway said last week that $3.5 billion will be needed to guarantee every Lagos citizen has water.
But our question to him is: How much did the LSWC receive throughout his 16 years as helmsman of the corporation and how did that translate to more water for Lagos residents? We are still surprised that the Lagos government has not hearkened to the call by civil society for a scrutiny of the time of Holloway as the MD of LSWC. We will not relent in asking for this.
We have also observed systematic non-release of funds meant for procurement of chemicals for water treatment by the current administration in the state. For us, this happening has become regular in the last seven months and fits into our belief that there is a grand ploy to make Lagosians believe that indeed the public sector workers cannot manage water infrastructure. The ultimate aim of the brains behind this development is to goad Lagosians into believing the solution is in private hands.
The question that should naturally follow is: What magic wand will the privatisers apply that public democratically-controlled water infrastructure managers cannot apply?
We reiterate again that a water PPP regime in Lagos will be a replication of the electricity sector privatisation, which has unleashed skyrocketing electricity bills on the citizenry without delivering improved service. If the Lagos project sails through, the average Lagosian already crushed by the huge costs of procuring water for drinking and other uses will be further levied while those who cannot pay will be cut off from a basic human right.
At this point we would have expected the state government to clear the air on the controversy surrounding the PPP advisory contract that the IFC was pressured by civil society and labour to cancel last year. But, alas, Lagosians are getting confused by the day as officials of the Lagos State Government say one thing one day and another the next day.
Late last year, in a memo to the LSWC, a copy of which we have, the Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, said the PPP is “null and void”. At a rally organised by the Africa Women Water Hygiene and Sanitation Network (AWWASHNET) in Lagos, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Chief of Staff, Governor’s Office, Mr. Biodun Bamgboye, debunked the PPP plans, saying the governor had no plans to privatise water. That was March 17 this year.
Surprisingly, Governor Ambode was quoted as saying PPP was the way to go just two days after. We are disturbed at these conflicting statements. In all this we see a lot of so-called reorganisation at the LSWC which is evidently paving way for a PPP. These activities are carried out without due process and unknown companies are springing up to grab slices of our water resources.
Last week, precisely on April 12, US Representative Gwen Moore, a ranking member of the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, tasked with oversight of the World Bank Group (WBG) sent a letter to World Bank President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim. The letter, copied new Executive Vice President and CEO of the IFC, Philippe Le Houérou and the US Treasury Secretary, Jacob Lew, lays bare the immense conflict of interest inherent in the IFC’s practices in the water sector.
Rep Moore calls for the World Bank Group, including the IFC, to cease funding and promoting water privatisation pending an independent review and congressional hearings.
Representative Moore explicitly includes so-called “public private partnerships” as a concerning form of water privatization promoted and funded by the World Bank.
Specifically, Moore calls for an in-depth outside investigation of the IFC’s conflicts of interest policies as well as congressional hearings.
Moore expresses her deep concern for the World Bank Group (WBG): “As a strong believer in the mission of the World Bank, I have become increasingly concerned that its role as advisor and investor in the MWC deal may now be creating reputational risk for the World Bank Group.”
To give you a bigger picture of what Moore is talking about, you might want to know that, in 1956, when the IFC was founded, it was prohibited from making equity investments. That policy changed in 1961 when the group’s Articles of Agreement were amended to allow the practice.
In the early 2000’s the IFC advised on, and facilitated a water privatisation project in Manila. The project led to two corporations running the city’s water system: Manila Water (MWC) and Maynilad.
The IFC -brokered arrangement favoured MWC, as that corporation took only 10% of the pre-existing utility’s debt (90% went to Maynilad) and assumed the service area with better existing infrastructure. The IFC then took an equity stake in MWC which raised rates by 845 percent.
When a further rate increase was blocked by the regulator, MWC responded by bringing the Manila regulator into arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The ICC arbitration panel rejected MWC’s rate hike, but MWC filed another arbitration case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore and petitioned the Philippines Ministry of Finance for financial remediation for lost profits.
As part owner of MWC, the IFC is now aligned with MWC and its aggressive campaign to protect its profits and continue to raising rates.
The failed Manila model is being promoted by the IFC as a flagship model to be emulated around the world, including in Africa, where it has led to IFC advisory contracts in Benin and Mozambique and informed a widely-opposed privatisation scheme in Lagos.
Recently, the World Bank abandoned its multi-million-dollar effort to secure a water treatment PPP in Lagos, Nigeria. This reversal came after a year of protests from civil society and labour groups, including a summit in Lagos last August to chart the course for the city’s public water management.
As stated many a time, Lagos may become the emblem of corporate water grab promoted by the World Bank through the IFC. Though Lagos has since 1979 obtained loans from several institutions and governments, the secrecy surrounding the planned privatisation of water necessitated an alarm we raised early October that the state government may have appointed the IFC to design a PPP water privatisation scheme.
Our aversion to the plan is linked to the fact that, around the world, the IFC has been in the centre of controversial water projects that entangle governments in a web of loans that are tied to various anti-people conditions.
The IFC advises governments, conducts corporate bidding processes, designs complex and lopsided water privatisation contracts, dictates arbitration terms, and is part-owner of water corporations that win the contracts it designs and recommends. In all this, it aggressively markets its model to be replicated around the world. These activities continue to undermine democratic water governance, and constitute an inherent conflict of interest within the IFC’s activities in the water sector, as seen in parts of Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia.
The World Bank in December 2015 opened up that it has withdrawn support for PPPs in Lagos and Nigeria. Quoting the Bank, it said “the PPP for the operation of the Lagos treatment works is not going to be possible under this project…. (it is) not the intention of this project to continue with it anymore.”
Going by this public announcement by the World Bank we expect the Lagos State government to now take a more pro-active step in ensuring the management of our water resources is democratically implemented. We have said it time and again that all people have a fundamental human right to water and Lagos citizens are no exception.
We are therefore demanding the following:
That Governor Ambode publicly declare his stance on the controversial PPP
The Lagos government guarantee the protection of the rights of Lagosians to water by ensuring full disclosure of the PPP with the World Bank, and a halt to the project as the double-speak of the World Bank has already shown there is something being hidden from all of us.
That Governor Ambode Halts the secret concessions of Lagos water infrastructure
Governor Ambode should provide necessary financial and other resources needed to run existing water infrastructure in the state
Come out with a masterplan of incremental overhaul of the entire water infrastructure in the state
Global Muslim leaders will on Friday, 22 April, 2016 present the Islamic Climate Declaration to the United Nations at the Paris Agreement signing ceremony.
Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid, Vice-President for the North American Muslim Alliance
The presentation will be made to the President of the UN General Assembly, Mr Mogens Lykketoft, in his office at the UN Headquarters in New York.
The leaders will also officially launch the Global Muslim Climate Network as support for climate action from the world’s second largest faith group continues to grow.
The handing-in delegation is comprised faith and civil society leaders from around the world such as:
Imam Al-Hajj Talib ‘Abdur-Rashid, Vice-President for the Muslim Alliance (USA and Canada)
Imam Saffet Catovic, Chaplain at Drew University & Founder of Green Muslims of New Jersey (USA)
Lamia El-Amri and Mohamed Amr Attawia, MD Islamic Relief Worldwide Board of Trustees (Sweden & USA)
Nana Firman, Greenfaith Fellow and White House Champion of Change (Indonesia)
Wael Hmaidan, Director at Climate Action Network International (Lebanon)
The presentation takes place even as the Paris Agreement is set to make history as about 155 countries turn up for what is expected to be the largest UN treaty signing ceremony ever. National representatives and leaders will reaffirm their commitment to the ground-breaking international climate deal that puts nations on track to limit global warming to 1.5C degrees – requiring a rapid acceleration of the transition to 100% renewable energy.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has declared its resolve to eliminate energy poverty in the continent of Africa.
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank. Photo credit: res.cloudinary.com
Addressing a high-level panel comprising African ministers of the environment and heads of country delegations at the ongoing 6th Special Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Cairo, the AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, revealed that over 645 million Africans have no access to electricity and have become accustomed to living in darkness.
Represented by Prof. Anthony Nyong, the AfDB president decried the fact that over 600,000 women and children in Africa die each year from indoor smoke inhalations while trying to prepare meals for their families. According to him, the brakes being applied on Africa’s development by the obvious lack of energy leaves the AfDB with no choice than to declare an all-out war against energy poverty in Africa.
Revealing aspects of the bank’s strategic onslaught against energy poverty, Dr. Adesina declared that, in addition to the New Deal on Energy for Africa, “the light up and power Africa” initiative will achieve universal access to energy in Africa by 2025.
The New Deal is built on five inter-related and mutually reinforcing principles which include raising aspirations to solve Africa’s energy challenges; establishing a Transformative Partnership on Energy for Africa; and mobilising domestic and international capital for innovative financing in Africa’s energy sector.
Other aspects of the New Deal are supporting African governments in strengthening energy policy, regulation and sector governance; and increasing the African Development Bank’s investments in energy and climate financing.
In its all-out war on energy poverty, the development bank is ensuring that the vulnerable and poorest groups in Africa are not by-passed in the drive for universal energy access with the establishment of the “Bottom of the Pyramid Financing Facility for Africa” and the $300 million “Affirmative Financing Facility for Women in Africa.
“Once we can get our energy right, we can get all the other SDGs right,” the President added.
In recognition of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) as a major building block in wiping out poor access to energy, Dr Adesina called on all development partners to strongly support the AREI to reduce Africa’s reliance on polluting energy technologies.
“I call on our regional member countries to create the enabling environment to facilitate massive investments in renewable energy on the continent,” the AfDB President said.
Civil society concerns
Meanwhile, the African civil society under the auspices of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) says it received the recent launch of the AREI with interest as the initiative carries the prospects of facilitating successful transition to the inevitable low-carbon, climate-resilient development trajectory, in addition to reducing energy poverty and mobilising substantial financial resources if it is implemented well.
However, the Alliance cautioned that AREI and other renewable energy initiatives dotting the African continent should put in place comprehensive safeguards and holistic frameworks to address both social and environmental dimensions of human development, including the rights of indigenous peoples and gender disaggregation.
According to PACJA’s Mithika Mwenda, AREI should have a governance structure that is African-led, African-controlled, and providing space for civil society representation.
It was in furtherance of this inclusive and people-centred imperative that the Alliance facilitated consultations among an array of partners at the ongoing Cairo AMCEN meeting which led to the establishment of a Non-State Actors platform (African Coalition for Sustainable Energy and Access – AC/SEA).
The new platform aspires to engage on AREI and other energy transformation initiatives in the African continent.
The civil society platform which comprises small holder African farmers, traders, pastoralists, women and youth groups from the five regions in Africa urged African leaders to ensure that AREI runs its own governing framework, fully independent of the Trustee, the AfDB’s organisational structure.
Having endorsed the importance of AREI, PACJA believes AfDB’s New Deal for Africa should over time, inspire it to redirect its priorities overall so that its energy investments shift incrementally to renewable energy in the spirit of AREI.
The AREI Initiative
The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) is a transformative, Africa-owned and Africa-led inclusive effort to accelerate and scale up the harnessing of the continent’s huge renewable energy potential.
Under the mandate of the African Union, and endorsed by African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC), the Initiative is set to achieve at least 10 GW of new and additional renewable energy generation capacity by 2020, and mobilise the African potential to generate at least 300 GW by 2030.
The AREI is firmly anchored in the context of sustainable development and climate change. It shows how low to zero carbon development strategies can be achieved in African countries through climate finance and means of implementation according to the principles of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
It recognises the critical importance of rapid expansion of energy access for enhanced well-being, economic development and the fulfilment of all Sustainable Development Goals.
The Ogun State Government has advised residents to always channel their enquiries on land acquisition particularly as it relates to its validity to relevant agencies.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing Development and General Manager, Ogun State Housing Corporation, Jumoke Akinwunmi
Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing Development and General Manager, Ogun State Housing Corporation, Jumoke Akinwunmi, while speaking on the achievements of the corporation in the last 40 years in Abeokuta, said that the rate at which some unscrupulous members of the public encroach on government-owned land particularly that of the State Housing Corporation was worrisome, noting that the situation had hampered the smooth operation of the agency.
The General Manager said: “The issue of land encroachment by some people on land belonging to the corporation has remained a major challenge and for us to deliver our mandate on housing development and housing needs of the people. Such illegal act must be stopped.”
Akinwunmi said efforts are in top gear to continually re-establish government land boundaries, dialogue with Community Development Associations (CDAs) of the host communities to curb activities of land grabbers popularly called “Omo Onile” and set up a monitoring committee to regularly inspect the boundaries in order to curb unlawful encroachment on government land.
She urged anyone interested in acquiring land to approach the Ogun State Geographical Information System (OGIS) of the Bureau of Lands and Survey for charting of such Land.
Akinwunmi pointed out that the agency has recorded tremendous and landmark achievements in the provision of residential and industrial estates in the state since its establishment, saying that these had contributed in no small measure to reducing the challenge of housing deficit in the country.
“Our 40 years of existence is a milestone in the history of housing development in the state and we want to assure the good people of the state that the corporation will continue to leave up to its responsibilities to ensure that affordable home ownership, land acquisition amongst others are within the people’s reach without compromising quality and global standards,” Akinwunmi stated.
South Africa’s top five retailers (Pick n Pay, Massmart, Spar, Woolworths and Shoprite) have a major role to play in shaping sustainable growth in the energy sector and need to champion South Africa’s transition to 100% renewable energy, according to a report launched on Tuesday by Greenpeace Africa.
Shoprite received the lowest ranking because of its lack of transparency with regard to the company’s energy information
The report, titled “Shopping Clean – Retailers and Renewable Energy”, marks the launch of a new Greenpeace campaign “Renewable Energy Champions” initially aimed at getting the country’s top five retailers to show solar energy some love. The report outlines how retail companies in South Africa have made a start in the transition to 100% renewable energy. It also details the current status of renewable energy investments and commitments from each of the top five retailers in South Africa. The retailers are ranked against one another on four key criteria – energy transparency, commitment to renewable energy, greenhouse gas mitigation and lobbying for clean renewable energy.
In the report, Woolworths ranks highest with an overall score of four out of 10. Woolworths and Pick n Pay currently have solar PV installations that contribute a small percentage of renewable energy to their overall operations. Massmart and Woolworths have both identified pilot solar PV projects for distribution centres and stores respectively that will be rolled out in 2016. Shoprite received the lowest ranking because of its lack of transparency with regard to the company’s energy information.
“Ranking the five retailers against one another makes it clear that none of them are doing particularly well when it comes to a commitment to a 100% renewable energy vision. Also, none of the retailers are engaged in active lobbying for the barriers to renewable energy to be removed, which is an essential step if a 100% vision is to be achieved, and this has heavily impacted on their scores,” stated Penny-Jane Cooke, Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace Africa.
If the annual electricity consumption for each of the top five retailers is compared to the average electricity consumption of households in South Africa, Pick and Pay, for example, could liberate enough electricity to supply 65,000 households in South Africa by switching to 100% renewable energy. Woolworth’s electricity consumption is enough to power 55,000 households whilst Massmart could power 53,000 households. Collectively, the retailers can free up enough energy to power at least 178 400 households.
“This campaign provides an opportunity for Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Spar, Woolworths and Massmart to take the lead and show the millions of South Africans who support them that they really care about the future of this country. Renewable energy provides a real opportunity for South Africa to move away from a developmental path based on polluting coal and expensive nuclear power. The five leading South African retailers have begun to take steps towards a renewable-powered future, but the current levels of ambition are clearly inadequate, which means that there is significant room to improve,” added Cooke.
By switching to a 100% renewable energy, stated Greenpeace, retailers will reduce their current electricity consumption, thus decreasing pressure on the grid and reducing the need for load shedding. Possibly most importantly of all, retailers will be opening up the space for millions of South Africans to generate their own power through lobbying government for better renewable energy legislation.
“Greenpeace believes that Pick n Pay, Massmart, Spar, Woolworths and Shoprite can lead South Africa to a clean energy future by making a commitment to 100% renewable energy. They also need to articulate how they will achieve this vision in the short and long term, make the required investments and take the next step by lobbying government to remove the barriers to renewable energy for the benefit of their loyal consumers and the country,” ended Cooke.
Nigeria’s aspiration for the vice presidency of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) received a major boost on Monday as the sixth session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) got underway.
Nigeria’s Environment Minister, Mrs Amina Mohammed, is hoping to be one of the two UNEA vice-presidents from Africa. Photo credit: i.vimeocdn.com
Speaking to over 40 ministers of the environment and heads of country delegations at the forum, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Environment, who represented the senior minister, expressed the country’s delight to present Mrs. Amina Mohammed for nomination as one of the two Vice Presidents from Africa on the bureau of the UNEA 2.
Alhaji Jibril hinged his senior minister’s nomination on her eminent status as one of the architects of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and her focal commitment to the African cause in the global effort to achieve sustainable development as well as the environmental dimension of Agenda 2063.
The Minister of State further expressed Nigeria’s support for the AMCEN process aimed at presenting a unified African position at the forthcoming UNEA2, May 2016 year in Nairobi, Kenya.
Nigeria, according to him, believes that the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) and the African Adaptation initiative (AAI) are veritable tools for sustainable development on the continent in the near future.
“Nigeria considers building capacity and retooling the youths of Africa through education and employment as a necessary and urgent requirement for sustainable development in Africa. The continent is well endowed with enormous human resources and is still growing. We should invest in this precious resource for Africa’s renaissance,” he said.
Welcoming the Paris Agreement and encouraging its implementation especially as it relates to African realities taking into account respective nationally determined contributions, Nigeria called for investments in Africa’s green growth as a catalyst to achieving the climate SDGs and the Agenda 2063.
On their own part, the African Civil Society Coalition under the aegis of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) believes that UNEA should be the rallying point for Africa’s environmental consciousness, and called for all stakeholders to continue supporting UNEP-RoA which hosts the AMCEN Secretariat.
Over time, UNEP RoA has distinguished itself as the centre of action in environmental discourses in Africa.
UNEA was formed following a call by world leaders at the UN conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil in June 2012. The aim of the UNEA is to strengthen and upgrade UNEP as the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda and by establishing universal membership in its Governing Council – a 58-member governing body of UNEP in place since 1972.
Subsequently, at the first universal session of the UNEP Governing Council held in February 2013, member states recommended to the UN General Assembly that the Governing Council be renamed the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme with universal membership.
In March 2013, the General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/67/251 that formally changed the name of the Governing Council to the United Nations Environment Assembly.
Now all 193 UN member states, observer states and other stakeholders participate in discussions and decision-making on issues that affect the state of the environment and global sustainability.
As the new governing body of UNEP, UNEA has the mandate to make strategic decisions, provide political guidance in the work of UNEP and promote a strong science-policy interface.
While controversy rages in Nigeria over the proposed construction of a Cross River State-sponsored 260km, six-lane highway that threatens a pristine community forest as well as a National Park, the Kenyan government has abandoned a contentious blueprint of the standard gauge railway (SGR) that cut deep into the Nairobi National Park.
This December 2015 proposed route of the SGR has been abandoned. The railway will still cut through the park on a raised platform without making the deep cut into the park.
A committee that included some board members of the Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Railways had approved the design last December, which would have led to the destruction of about 20% of the park.
Environment Cabinet Secretary, Judi Wakhungu, said the ministry was not involved and demanded it be dropped. “It is the ministry that went to Kenya Railways to protest the design, saying it will destroy biodiversity. So it was shelved,” she told The Star recently. Wakhungu said the transport ministry is drawing another route.
The controversial drawing carved deep into the park for about 50km, before exiting near the KWS main gate on Lang’ata Road. This would compromise about 20% of the park, destroying key habitats and animal breeding grounds. A public hearing conducted after The Star reported the proposal last December nearly turned chaotic as the public opposed the design. KWS director Kitili Mbathi, who was installed as the service boss in February, confirmed the controversial design has been abandoned.
“There was an earlier design but it was rejected. The ministry is working on the new plan but it has not come to us,” he said. Kenya Railways MD Atanas Maina did not disclose what the new outline looks like.
“We are still looking at other projects across the world to see the best practices,” he said. The Star learnt the railway is likely to follow an earlier draft and still cut through the park on raised platforms, but without making the 50km detour. An Environmental Impact Assessment done for Kenya Railways last May showed this would still destroy 46ha of the park.
“The SGR realignment will make some park areas unusable by wildlife. The total area of wildlife habitat to be lost through this proposed realignment as land use will be about 46.7ha,” said Eston Murithi, the lead EIA specialist contracted by KR last year.
There is growing global momentum to put a price on carbon pollution. About 40 national and 23 subnational governments have put in place carbon pricing mechanisms, covering 12 percent of global emissions.
Nearly half of the national pledges submitted in the run-up to the Paris COP21 climate conference reference carbon pricing, and new approaches are being rolled out in China, France, Canada and other countries.
The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, which brings together more than 20 governments and 90 companies, is holding its first High Level Assembly in Washington this week, where it will push for greater global support for stronger carbon pricing policies.
The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition. Photo credit: World Bank Group/Jeff Martin
The Paris climate talks in December 2015 delivered a breakthrough consensus after decades of negotiations: the collective commitment of more than 190 countries to hold planetary warming to 2 degrees Celsius or less.
Less noticed, but just as important, was how the Paris Agreement accelerated action on carbon pricing – a key tool for accelerating economic transformation away from fossil fuels and toward cleaner production, improved lifestyles and reduced poverty.
Carbon pricing is not new – in 1991, Sweden implemented one of the world’s first carbon taxes to make pollution that causes climate change part of the economic equation. More than two decades later, Sweden has managed to use the tax to help decouple economic growth from emissions.
The Canadian province of British Columbia introduced its carbon tax in 2008, helping spawn a clean technology sector. To offset the burden on poorer families, the B.C. carbon tax includes a credit for low-income households.
Companies are also increasingly using carbon pricing. Brazilian chemical giant Braskem is using an internal carbon price of $37 to stress-test its business model. And – together with 20 other major Brazilian companies – Braskem is conducting a simulation of emissions trading before the government puts a program in place. Braskem joins a growing number of companies that are using carbon pricing to gain a competitive edge as the world economy moves onto a low carbon trajectory.
Now the coalition, bringing together more than 20 national and state governments along with more than 90 businesses, is holding its first High Level Assembly to build on the momentum of the Paris agreement by demonstrating and promoting the effectiveness of putting a price on carbon pollution.
The Assembly, held in Washington during the World Bank-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, will introduce new partners into the CPLC – including governments like Côte d’Ivoire, Colombia, Finland and the United Kingdom; and companies including Iberdrola, Rusal, and Tata Group; and Yale University.
With the High-Level Assembly, the CPLC will step up its work of promoting and sharing evidence of successful carbon pricing mechanisms, through the new Principles for Successful Carbon Pricing and other tools. It will also push for greater business support of carbon pricing policies, and organize regional summits and other leadership dialogues to advance the use of carbon pricing systems.
Countries are demonstrating the growing momentum. France recently introducing a new carbon tax. China has seven regional carbon market pilots in place and has announced a national emissions trading system to begin in 2017. At a sub-national level, Quebec has linked its emissions trading systems to California’s.
Nearly half of the national plans submitted in Paris reference carbon pricing, and the agreement included language in Article 6 for turning these plans into investment blueprints for low carbon development.
In Paris, heads of state including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet stood on stage together to call accelerated action on carbon pricing.
At its assembly, CPLC partners are taking on the role of monitoring global progress in designing and using carbon pricing systems. They will also pledge to provide support to countries that want to use carbon pricing as a way to implement the pledges they made in Paris.
That includes sharing lessons learned and emerging best practices, such as those provided by Sweden, British Columbia, Braskem and other carbon-pricing pioneers.
There are indications that Nigeria will not participate in the Signature Ceremony of the Paris Agreement scheduled to hold this week in New York. However, the nation’s representatives will grace the occasion.
President Buhari addressing the UN Climate Change Conference COP 21, in Paris, France on 30th Nov 2015
The Paris Agreement will be open for signature by the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 22 April and will remain open for signature for one year.
Already, a record number of countries have said they intend to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change at a high-level ceremony at the United Nations headquarters on Friday, on Mother Earth Day.
“The number of countries that have indicated their intentions to attend and sign the Paris Agreement on 22 April is now up to 155,” said UN Secretary General’s spokesperson, Farhan Haq, last Friday.
This, he added, would be a landmark in international law, as the number of signatories of the Paris Agreement would then surpass the previous record of 119 signatures for an opening day signing for an international agreement, set by the Law of the Sea in Montego Bay in 1982.
But Nigeria is not among the 155 listed countries and Acting Director, Department of Climate Change in the Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr Peter Tarfa, confirmed on Monday that the nation would not endorse the international treaty for now.
He said: “Nigeria will be at the (signature) ceremony to grace the event, but will not sign the Paris Agreement that day. In fact, we have no plan to do so for now. We still have a year-long window of opportunity to sign the Agreement.
“We are not signing for now because we need to conduct and conclude an internal consultation process so as to get the buy-in from every one of us. Stakeholders need to know and examine the situation.”
But a source disclosed that the internal consultation process may be concluded before September, when President Muhammadu Buhari, while attending the 71st Regular Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 71) at the UN Headquarters, will likely sign the treaty.
The list of States that will participate in the Signature Ceremony on 22 April and is subject to change:
Afghanistan*
Albania*
Algeria*
Andorra*
Antigua and Barbuda*
Argentina*
Australia*
Austria*
Bahamas*
Bahrain
Bangladesh*
Barbados**
Belarus*
Belize**
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Bosnia and Herzegovina*
Brazil*
Brunei Darussalam*
Bulgaria*
Burkina Faso*
Burundi*
Cabo Verde*
Cambodia*
Cameroon*
Canada*
Central African Republic*
Chile*
China*
Colombia*
Congo*
Costa Rica*
Cote d’Ivoire*
Croatia*
Cuba*
Cyprus*
Czech Republic*
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea*
Democratic Republic of Congo*
Denmark*
Djibouti
Dominica*
Dominican Republic*
Eritrea*
Estonia
European Union
Fiji**
Finland*
France*
Gabon*
Georgia*
Germany*
Ghana
Greece
Grenada*
Guatemala*
Guinea
Guyana*
Haiti*
Honduras*
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia*
Iran (Islamic Republic of) *
Israel*
Italy*
Jamaica*
Japan
Kenya*
Kiribati*
Kuwait*
Lao People’s Democratic Republic*
Latvia*
Lebanon*
Libya*
Liechtenstein*
Lithuania*
Luxembourg*
Madagascar*
Malaysia*
Maldives**
Mali*
Malta*
Marshall Islands*
Mauritius*
Mexico
Micronesia (Federated States of) *
Monaco*
Mongolia
Montenegro*
Morocco*
Mozambique
Myanmar*
Namibia*
Nauru**
Nepal
New Zealand*
Niger*
Norway*
Oman*
Pakistan*
Palau*
Panama*
Papua New Guinea*
Paraguay*
Peru*
Philippines*
Poland*
Portugal*
Republic of Korea
Romania
Rwanda*
Saint Kitts and Nevis*
Saint Lucia**
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines*
Samoa**
San Marino*
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal*
Serbia*
Sierra Leone*
Singapore*
Slovakia*
Slovenia*
Solomon Islands*
Somalia*
South Africa*
South Sudan*
Spain*
Sri Lanka*
State of Palestine*
Sudan*
Suriname
Swaziland*
Sweden*
Switzerland*
Tajikistan
Thailand
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*
Timor-Leste*
Togo*
Tonga*
Tunisia*
Turkey
Tuvalu**
Uganda*
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom*
United Republic of Tanzania*
United States of America*
Uruguay*
Vanuatu*
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) *
Viet Nam*
Zimbabwe*
(*) States that have indicated that they intend to sign the Paris Agreement at the Ceremony for the Opening for Signature, on 22 April 2016.
(**) States that have indicated that they intend to sign the Paris Agreement and deposit their instrument of ratification at the Ceremony for the Opening for Signature, on 22 April 2016.
No asterisk indicates that informal confirmation has been received.
