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Lagos coastal community resists controversial refinery project

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Lagos coastal community resists controversial refinery project

Due to increasing house rent in Apapa coupled with the unending gridlock, Tosan Ugeje decided to relocate to Irede community, an island close to Apapa in Lagos, home to Nigeria’s premier seaport.

A building bearing a structural failure on the island
A building bearing a structural failure on the island

But after five years of residing in Irede, Ugeje is contemplating relocating again. Neither escalating rent nor traffic congestion has informed this decision, but a proposed project he believes potentially endangers the lives and livelihood of residents.

His source of worry – and that of other residents in the community – is an ongoing property development initiative involving dredging activities by Integrated Oil and Gas Limited on a piece of land bordering Irede. Residents say the dredging activity is negatively impacting the environment, leading to cracks in their buildings and extensive erosion along the shoreline.

Irede community is an island bordering the Apapa wharf within Amuwo-Odofin Local Government Area. A community of fishermen, artisans and business men/women of about 2,000 residents, it can be accessed by boat in less than 15 minutes from Creek Road in Apapa.

The community was developed by community effort through the Irede Community Developers Association. But it lacks basic amenities like schools, health centre, power supply and water, except those privately owned.

And the dredging activities of Integrated Oil and Gas Limited on land bordering the community looks set to compound the woes of residents, who fear that the project has no approved Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) from the appropriate authority.

Floor and wall failure in a building at Irede
Floor and wall failure in a building at Irede

According to the spokesperson of Irede Community Developers Association, Chief Raymond Gold, in 2014 the Executive Chairman of Integrated Oil and Gas Limited, Captain Emmanuel Ihenancho, in a meeting told the community leaders that he intended to build a mini-refinery and jetty on the land.

He said: “Captain Ihenancho said the proposed project would create jobs and boost economic activities in the area. He started building a fence and the fence encroached on our pedestrian road with other neighbouring community. We complained and he created a gate for us to connect with other communities.

“But, as time went on, we expected to hear about or see the EIA of his proposed projects. Instead, dredging started in earnest and this has started to impact on buildings in our community.

“We appreciate his desire to invest in a project that will create jobs especially for our teeming unemployed youths. But we want to see or know if he has done an EIA. How will this massive project affect us now and in the long run? We are not asking for too much by demanding for the EIA. Are we not a stakeholder if this project impacts negatively?”

A member of the team that drafted Nigeria’s EIA law and a professor of Environmental Chemistry, Prof. Oladele Osibanjo, said an EIA, as an environmental tool, helps in ensuring the sustainability of any project.

“An EIA is indispensable if a project is to be undertaken and it is done before a project commences. It is a transparent process that involves the full participation of all stakeholders. Most especially the host community. They are the first group of people to benefit both negatively and positively from any project,” he said, adding:

“If an investor wants the success and sustainability of his/her investment, the community must be carried along in all steps of an EIA process.”

Professor Oladele said the citing of a mini-refinery in a delicate ecosystem like a coastal community must have a comprehensive EIA.

“This will help the community to know the impact of the project on them now and in the future. They have a right to participate in the EIA process to avoid and reduce conflict in the long run,” he explained.

When Captain Ihenancho was contacted to clarify some of the allegations against his operations close to Irede community, he described those complaining as blackmailers.

“When we want to create jobs for our people because we know how it will benefit them, some other people will be trying to blackmail you. I will not tolerate any form of blackmail,” he stressed.

Asked about the EIA of the project he is undertaking, he said the community people are not the authority and are not in a position to ask about the EIA.

He described the allegation that dredging activities by his company was impacting negatively on Irede community as “stupid and mischievous.”

He declined to answer questions about his operations and details of what he plans doing on site. In fact, he threatened that any story published about his project’s operations would “not be pleasant with all parties involved.” He also warned our correspondent not to ever contact him again and stay off the issues at Irede community, if she doesn’t want to put herself “in the firing line.”

Meanwhile, a visit to the Lagos State Ministry of the Environment revealed that the ministry has not issued an EIA in the last three years. Also, officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Waterfront Office that grants approval for dredging or land reclamation activities after an EIA has been undertaken said they were not aware such a project was ongoing.

The Director of EIA at the Federal Ministry of the Environment in Abuja, Mr. John Alonge, confirmed that an EIA was neither received nor approved on behalf of Integrated Oil and Gas for the dredging that started in 2015 on the land bought near Irede community.

“Captain Ihenancho only visited and informed us he intends building a modular refinery and mini-jetty on a land in Lagos. No approval for EIA has been issued to Integrated Oil and Gas Limited. Also according to them they have not started any work on their site,” said Alonge.

Global impact of climate change has been reported to increase through human activities termed Anthropogenic Factors by the Inter-govermental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report of 2010.

It is believed that when a project lacks the appropriate EIA, it impacts negatively on the sustainable development of a society. This further endangers the environment, destroying livelihood and increasing poverty.

By Augustina Armstrong-Ogbonna

Lai Mohammed to present 1st SAFFGLIA African Leadership Lecture

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Lai Mohammed to present 1st SAFFGLIA African Leadership Lecture

All is set for the launch of Segun Adeleye Foundation For Good Leadership In Africa (SAFFGLIA) at an African Leadership Lecture to be presented by Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at the University of Lagos,Akoka on March 10, 2016.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed
Alhaji Lai Mohammed

Mohammed, a lawyer and former National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), will be  speaking on the topic: “Setting Agenda For Good Leadership In Africa” at the event where a book, “So Long Too Long Nigeria” authored by Segun Adeleye, President/CEO World Stage Limited, will also be launched.

Adeleye, a journalist, author, media entrepreneur and founder of SAFFGLIA, said the lecture, aimed at addressing leadership failure in Africa, is conceived to be presented at an intellectual setting in the presence of top business executives, government officials including ministers, governors, scholars, future leaders, and the media.

He said SAFFGLIA was founded to leverage on his experience over the years to help in whichever way possible in the development of leadership culture in Africa, as his way of giving back to the society henceforth.

“From my exposure over the years through interactions with business organisations and top government officials both at home and abroad, I’m concerned about how the issues of leadership failure and lack of corporate governance robbed our country and the continent the opportunity to be great,” he said

He listed the objectives of SAFFGLIA to include: To carry out activities and projects that will encourage governments across Africa to embrace good governance in order to uplift the standard of living of the people; To draw attention to activities of governments from local to national levels and encourage/compel them to do things in best interest of the people; To engage in leadership training programmes that will raise new generation of positive leaders who will champion the spirit of development of their societies in Nigeria and Africa; To provide scholarships in higher institution level to youths with leadership quality in Nigeria and other African countries.

Others include: To promote research into good leadership in Africa; To engage in research into alternative policies to existing government policies that are not working; To provide counselling, support and care for people that are unjustifiably victimised by bad governments in Africa; To organise Annual SAFFGLIA African Leadership Lecture, seminars, briefings, workshops and interventional programmes on issues of good leadership; To engage in opinion moulding, empowerment, and building confidence of people on how to make their governments accountable; To develop SAFFGLIA Good Leadership Africa Index (SGLAI) as a barometer for measuring performances of leaders across Africa; To encourage/recognise leaders that are doing well through The African Man Award; and, To establish the African Hall of Fame for distinguished leaders both in the public and private sectors.

Four billion people face severe water scarcity, study finds

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Four billion people face severe water scarcity, study finds

The water scarcity crises is fast unfolding. Along with climate change, this can pose a grave threat to global peace and stability. According to a new study, water shortages are affecting two-thirds of world’s population for a month every year and the crisis is far worse than previously thought. Damia Carrington writes in The Guardian of London

London, the capital of England, is said to be living unsustainably on water. Photo credit: visitlondon.com
London, the capital of England, is said to be living unsustainably on water. Photo credit: visitlondon.com

At least two-thirds of the global population, over four billion people, live with severe water scarcity for at least one month every year, according to a major new analysis.

The revelation shows water shortages, one of the most dangerous challenges the world faces, is far worse previously than thought.

The new research also reveals that 500 million people live in places where water consumption is double the amount replenished by rain for the entire year, leaving them extremely vulnerable as underground aquifers run down.

Many of those living with fragile water resources are in India and China, but other regions highlighted are the central and western US, Australia and even the city of London.

These water problems are set to worsen, according to the researchers, as population growth and increasing water use – particularly through eating meat – continues to rise.

In January, water crises were rated as one of three greatest risks of harm to people and economies in the next decade by the World Economic Forum, alongside climate change and mass migration. In places, such as Syria, the three risks come together: a recent study found that climate change made the severe 2007-2010 drought much more likely and the drought led to mass migration of farming families into cities.

“If you look at environmental problems, (water scarcity) is certainly the top problem,” said Prof Arjen Hoekstra, at the University of Twente in the Netherlands and who led the new research. “One place where it is very, very acute is in Yemen.”

Yemen could run out of water within a few years, but many other places are living on borrowed time as aquifers are continuously depleted, including Pakistan, Iran, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia.

Hoekstra also highlights the Murray-Darling basin in Australia and the midwest of the US. “There you have the huge Ogallala acquifer, which is being depleted.” He said even rich cities like London in the UK were living unsustainably: “You don’t have the water in the surrounding area to sustain the water flows” to London in the long term.

The new study, published in the journal Science Advances on Friday, is the first to examine global water scarcity on a monthly basis and at a resolution of 31 miles or less. It analysed data from 1996-2005 and found severe water scarcity – defined as water use being more than twice the amount being replenished – affected four billion people for at least one month a year.

“The results imply the global water situation is much worse than suggested by previous studies, which estimated such scarcity impacts between 1.7 billion and 3.1 billion people,” the researchers concluded. The new work also showed 1.8 billion people suffer severe water scarcity for at least half of every year.

Farming is the biggest user of water and the growing global population requires more food. Furthermore, changing diets are having a major impact, as people with rising incomes eat more meat.

“Taking a shorter shower is not the answer” to the global problem, said Hoekstra, because just 1-4% of a person’s water footprint is in the home, while 25% is via meat consumption. It takes over 15,000 litres of water to make 1kg of beef, with almost all of that used to irrigate the crops fed to the cattle.

Another unique aspect of the new research was that it included environmental water requirements, that is the water needed to ensure that life survives in the rivers and lakes. Fish can be important sources of food for people, who also use waterways for transport.

Even just one month of severe water scarcity can have a devastating impact on the health of a river, said Hoekstra: “An empty river is not a river.” Rivers that run dry before they reach the end of their course, or come close to doing so, include the Colorado River in the western US and the Yellow River in China.

David Tickner, chief freshwater adviser at WWF-UK, said: “This paper is another pointer to the urgency of this challenge. Billions of people, and many economies, are increasingly suffering because of water-related risks which could be better managed. The same risks are causing a collapse in aquatic wildlife around the globe.”

Hoekstra said caps on water use should be put in place for all river basins, companies should be transparent about how much water is needed to make their products and look to reduce it while investors should incorporate water sustainability into their decision-making.

Ogun apprehends illicit timber merchants

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Ogun apprehends illicit timber merchants

In efforts aimed at curbing illegal felling of trees in state-owned forest reserves, the Ogun State Government has impounded three timber lorries and six trailers loaded with round logs and flitches, also known as ‘‘Alamole’’.

Timber merchandising
Timber merchandising

State Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal, who made this known at the weekend in Abeokuta, the state capital, described the menace of illegal loggers in the state as worrisome, adding that and frantic efforts are needed to curb the situation.

‘’Our effort is to ensure that all illegal activities in our forest reserves are curbed. If we cannot stop them completely now, we must ensure that they are reduced to the barest minimum to increase our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) drive in the state,” he said.

The Commissioner revealed that the lorries and trailers were impounded at Omo forest reserve areas at Ajebandele, Ogbere, Ijebu-Igbo and Osun gate while perpetrating the illegal acts.

Chief Lawal said the culprits had been exploiting economic trees in the forest reserves without paying into government purse which has been hindering the regeneration effort of the Ministry.

He maintained that any illegal timber merchant arrested would have his vehicle impounded with the logs, made to pay fine and probably arraigned before the court of law in accordance with the forestry law.

In a similar vein, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Forestry, Engineer (or Engr.) Lanre Bisiriyu, said the nefarious activities of the illegal loggers are having negative effects on the plan of the Ministry.

He stated that the Ministry is planning to ensure that economic activities in the saw-mills are brought to life but illegal loggers who transport round logs from the state to neighbouring states are sabotaging the efforts of the Ministry to achieve the purpose.

“If this illegality in the forest reserves area can be curbed totally, it will transform the state’s economy and create much needed employment driven by rural communities which at risk of being left behind,” Engr. Bisiriyu said.

Director of Forestry Regulation and Utilisation, Mr Alamu Adeleke, said that the State forest restoration would help to bring economic revival to forest dependent rural communities, adding that it would support the co-existence of both traditional nomadic cattle herding communities and larger scale agro industry.

He appealed to illegal timber merchants in the state to desist from act of illegal felling of trees in reserve areas and follow due process if any one is interested to operate in the State owned forest reserves.

How Paris Agreement empowers women to act on climate

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How Paris Agreement empowers women to act on climate

Governments, institutions and agencies are increasingly considering ways in which women and gender considerations can be better integrated into climate action planning. The Paris Agreement and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals agreed last year are said to be accelerating this trend, according to a IUCN Global Gender Office Analysis

Women sell mango and sweet potato jam at the food processing shop in Bantantinnting, Senegal. They produced the jam with a Multifunctional Platform Project (MFP) introduced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), helping women and girls to no longer spend several hours a day gathering firewood or collecting water. MFP is a diesel engine to which a variety of end-use equipment can be attached, including grinding mills, battery chargers, vegetable or nut oil presses, welding machines and carpentry tools. Bantantinnting, Senegal, Photo courtesy of the United Nations Photo Gallery
Women sell mango and sweet potato jam at the food processing shop in Bantantinnting, Senegal. They produced the jam with a Multifunctional Platform Project (MFP) introduced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), helping women and girls to no longer spend several hours a day gathering firewood or collecting water. MFP is a diesel engine to which a variety of end-use equipment can be attached, including grinding mills, battery chargers, vegetable or nut oil presses, welding machines and carpentry tools. Bantantinnting, Senegal, Photo credit: United Nations Photo Gallery

Women around the world, particularly rural woman, experience energy poverty more acutely than men. Women expend extensive time and labor on fuel collection and are often exposed to the health risks of unsafe use of biomass fuels for cooking and other household duties. Good policies and initiatives can improve their plight.

Research by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) shows that of the 160 national climate action plans (“Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” or “INDCs”), 38% explicitly mention “women” or “gender” in the context of national ambitions. Thirty-one INDCs reference a gender dimension for both mitigation (efforts to curb emissions) and adaptation components of their commitments and four countries specifically address gender in mitigation.

The IUCN’s Global Gender Office says 44% of the “Low-Emission Development Strategies” (LEDS) developed by governments require either a commitment to integrate gender into national policies or a linkage between gender inequality and vulnerability to climate change.

This trend is even more evident in the eight detailed Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) design documents available. NAMAs refer to any action that reduces emissions in developing countries and is prepared under the umbrella of a national governmental initiative. They can be policies directed at transformational change within an economic sector, or actions across sectors for a broader national focus. Seven of these documents include mentions of “women” or “gender” in the proposed objectives or outcomes.

 

National Climate Action Plans Vary from Country to Country

Gender considerations within national climate action plans (INDCs) pair national climate priorities with women’s circumstances and are therefore diverse. For example, in the mitigation component of Senegal’s INDC, the country recognizes that bettering the access of households to improved energy sources will alleviate women’s domestic workloads. The Dominican Republic acknowledges the role of woman as agents of change towards a low-carbon future. Jordan’s INDC proposes a comprehensive approach to gender equality across all development sectors and calls for gender-equitable benefits from climate finance mechanism.

Senegal, the Dominican Republic and Jordan are responsible for very little of the world’s GHG emissions, compared to countries such as the United States and China, yet are demonstrating leadership in gender equality.

However, the 61 INDCs that mention “women” and/or “gender” only account for 18% of the world’s GHG emissions (according to 2012 data). This statistic perhaps reflects an international consciousness of the gender and climate change inter-linkages within development.

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), more than two-thirds of people lack access to modern energy sources, thus gender-responsive INDCs and other mitigation activities provide crucial opportunities to improve women’s livelihoods, and engage women in and engage mitigation activities in the region. Seventy-five percent of the INDC submissions from SSA countries have a gender/women keyword mention, outperforming all other regional groupings.

 

Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)

Given that releasing information regarding NAMAs is voluntary and at the discretion of governments and project sponsors, it is difficult to make a comprehensive assessment of NAMA documents. Yet, with access to only eight detailed NAMA design documents, seven include mentions of “women” or “gender” in the proposed objectives or outcomes.

 

Cameroon’s NAMA Promotes Clean Cook Stoves

Given that releasing information regarding NAMAs is voluntary and at the discretion of governments and project sponsors, it is difficult to make a comprehensive assessment of NAMA documents. One of the seven detailed NAMA design documents analysed by GGO and that mentions of “women” or “gender” in the proposed objectives or outcomes is from Cameroon.

In that country, nearly 80% of the population relies on biomass energy for household cooking, which contributes to both deforestation and an increased exposure to indoor air pollution – with women among the most affected. Cameroon is developing a NAMA focused on promoting access to improved cook stoves to improve women’s health outcomes while simultaneously reducing pressure on forests.

 

Vanuatu’s NAMA Focuses on Rural Electrification

Oceans away, on the small island nation of Vanuatu – one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change – only one-third of households have access to electricity. Innovative gender-responsive approaches in mitigation actions are critical for this region to alleviate the interconnected development challenges posed by energy poverty, gender inequality and climate change.

Thus, Vanuatu’s energy-sector NAMA is focused on rural electrification also includes an intervention towards increasing private sector involvement in rural electrification and encourages fostering women-run enterprises.

 

Low Emissions and Gender Equity Go Hand in Hand in Bhutan

Of the 27 Low-Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) the Global Gender Office analysed, 12 either commit to integrating gender into national policies or the linkage between gender inequality and vulnerability to climate change. As an example of a best practice LEDS, Bhutan developed a Rapid Gender Capacity Needs Assessment to identify gendered needs in climate policy development and to provide sex-disaggregated data to inform decision making. Activities listed in the gender strategy include a stakeholder engagement and capacity training activities to increase women’s participation in the transport, waste and housing sector economies.

Rivers community deserted as Agip flow station burns

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Rivers community deserted as Agip flow station burns

Akalaolu is a small, sleepy and somewhat peaceful town in Ahoada Local Government Council of Rivers State. It could have passed unnoticed in the map but for the abundant petroleum resources the community is endowed with. There is, however, distress in paradise. If current developments are anything to go by, residents are lately abandoning their homes in droves as a mysterious fire burns endlessly.

Fire burning at the flow station
Fire burning at the flow station

The fire, which is burning at Agip’s Oshie Flow Station (Oshie Well 5), was said to have started when the station was blown up by unknown persons following the firm’s refusal to accede to their request.

According to a source close to a security firm working for Agip, trouble started following the arrest of one Mr Emma, an Agip contract community worker, for unspecified crimes. A local cult group was said to have written to Agip demanding for his release, among other demands.

IMG-20160214-WA0006Joy Anthony, a resident of the community, gave an insight into the incident. She said: “The fire started at about 12 am on Sunday 7th February 2016. The fire started to burn from an oil well.”

In response to the fire, Agip threatened to retaliate, she alleged. “The next day some boys were arrested and taken to the Agip Flow Station at Oshie. The boys made it clear that they knew nothing about the fire. But the security men saw a note at the burning oil well where the boys wrote their demands.”

When asked if she knew their demands, she said: “I don’t know their demands, because l have not read the letter. But l know that they wrote a letter to Agip.”

The letter is believed to have been written by a group called Winchmens, which wants Agip not only to release Emma, but to offer its members employment slots in the company, as well as money. The group has threatened further actions if its demands are not met.

A deserted community
A deserted community

Investigations revealed that the streets of Akalaolu community are deserted and indeed the entire community seem empty. Scores of security men comprising the Police, Civil Defense and Army were seen patrolling the streets and manning check points along the only road leading into the town.

Pastor Adepoju Michael of Trinity Baptist Church in Akalaolu said: “The fire is still burning till this morning and they have been unable to put it out.” He expressed concern over the fact that “many innocent people have been arrested.” According to him “even women are hiding themselves because of fear of arrest.”

One Ms Rejoice, a pregnant woman whose home is less than 50 meters from the burning, expressed fears about the safety of her home. “I don’t sleep here any more,” she said.

A woman bathing her child in a large, deserted compound, Mrs Adunwo Ameshi, said in response to a question: “As soon as l finish bathing my son we will leave this community.” Asked why she is leaving, she replied, irritated: “Did you see people as you dey come?”

But Joy Anthony seems to sum up the feelings of the community when she said: “We too no have good road, no hospital, no schools, no good drinking water for community.” But she still proclaimed the innocence of the community, saying: “We no sabi anything about the fire, l can swear for the community.”

Attempts to get Agip’s views have met a brickwall. When EnviroNews Nigeria visited the Oshie Flow Station on the 10th of February 2016, it met a safety worker who led the team fighting the fire at the well. He declined to comment, claiming not to have the authority to do so. He then directed the medium to one Mr Nwabueze, the supervisor in charge of the Flow Station, who also declined to speak on the matter. He suggested that the manager at the OB/OB Gas Plant in Omoku might be able to comment on the matter.

By Dandy Mgbenwa

WHO: Climate change may have helped spread Zika virus

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WHO: Climate change may have helped spread Zika virus

Warmer and wetter conditions facilitate transmission of mosquito-borne diseases, which may have added to spread, says lead climate change scientist. Oliver Milman writes in The Guardian of London

Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, lead scientist on climate change at WHO. Photo credit: graduateinstitute.ch
Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, lead scientist on climate change at WHO. Photo credit: graduateinstitute.ch

The outbreak of Zika virus in Central and South America is of immediate concern to pregnant women in the region, but for some experts the situation is a glimpse of the sort of public health threats that will unfold due to climate change.

“Zika is the kind of thing we’ve been ranting about for 20 years,” said Daniel Brooks, a biologist at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “We should’ve anticipated it. Whenever the planet has faced a major climate change event, man-made or not, species have moved around and their pathogens have come into contact with species with no resistance.”

It’s still not clear what role rising temperatures and altered rainfall patterns have had on the spread of Zika, which is mainly spread by mosquitoes; the increased global movement of people is probably as great an influence as climate change for the spread of infectious diseases. But the World Health Organisation (WHO), which declared a public health emergency over the birth defects linked to Zika, is clear that changes in climate mean a redrawn landscape for vector and water-borne diseases.

According to WHO, a global temperature rise of 2-3C will increase the number of people at risk of malaria by around 3-5%, which equates to several hundred million. In areas where malaria is already endemic, the seasonal duration of malaria is likely to lengthen. Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that carries Zika and other diseases, is expected to thrive in warmer conditions.

As climate change reaches almost every corner of the Earth’s ecology, different diseases could be unleashed. Increased precipitation will create more pools of standing water for mosquitos, risking malaria and rift valley fever. Deforestation and agricultural intensification also heightens malaria risk while ocean warming, driven by the vast amounts of heat being sucked up by the oceans, can cause toxic algal blooms that can lead to infections in humans.

“We know that warmer and wetter conditions facilitate the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases so it’s plausible that climate conditions have added the spread of Zika,” said Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, a lead scientist on climate change at WHO.

“Infectious agents in water will proliferate with more flooding. It’s clear that we need to strengthen our surveillance and response to a range of diseases. Globalisation, the movement of people, is an important factor too. In a world where we are disrupting the climate system we’ll have to pay the price for that.”

WHO estimates that an additional 250,000 people will die due to climate change impacts – ranging from heat stress to disease – by 2050, but Campbell-Lendrum said this is a “conservative estimate”.

“It is based on optimistic assumptions that the world will get richer and we’ll get better at treating these diseases,” he said. “We do need to get better at controlling diseases at their source and we do need to drive down greenhouse gases because there is a limit to our adaption. By moving to cleaner energy sources we will also help relieve one of the largest health burdens we have, which is the air pollution that kills seven million people a year.”

Until now, efforts to push back the threat of infectious diseases has been successful. Malaria, for example, used to be found in the New York area – and there is evidence to suggest it was once present in southern England; much earlier, the Romans used to retreat to the hills at certain times of the year to avoid mosquitos carrying the disease. Vaccines have been developed for a range of diseases including, belatedly, Ebola.

The eradication of threats like these makes wealthy western countries fret over outbreaks like Zika. As the world warms, there may be a lack of preparation for other diseases not currently considered threats.

“This is likely to become an equal opportunity crisis,” said Brooks. “The developing, poorer countries are impacted disproportionately but they deal with these diseases all the time, they are not surprised by them. But in Europe and North America, people have lived in a bubble where we think our wealth and technology can protect us from climate change. And that’s not true.

“The thing that worries me most is a death by a thousand cuts. I don’t think an Andromeda strain will wipe out all humans. But the amount of time, money and effort needed to combat these many different problems can overwhelm a healthcare system.”

So which climate-fueled diseases are likely to pop up next? Some experts believe that water-borne diseases could escalate, which would have significant consequences for countries such as Bangladesh – a low-lying nation with plenty of rivers that has a public health system already struggling to meet its population’s current needs.

“There’s not nearly enough attention paid to diseases that cause diarrhea, crypto spiridium, Hepatitis A,” said Aaron Bernstein, a pediatrician at Harvard Medical School.

“We’ve seen outbreaks of these diseases in the past due to extreme precipitation. The build environment we live in wasn’t designed for the climate we will soon be living in; when you consider half the world’s waterways have been engineered by man, they won’t be able to contain the extra water that will flood them.

“Flooding will certainly lead to mosquito-borne diseases but also cause water-borne diseases and also a lack of drinking water. People in Asia and Africa, particularly those living on the coast, will be very vulnerable, climate change could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in terms of public health.”

UNFCCC boss, Christiana Figueres, bows out

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UNFCCC boss, Christiana Figueres, bows out

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, will serve out her term that ends in July. She has chosen not to seek an extension of her appointment.

In a correspondent on Friday to non-party stakeholders, Ms. Figueres wrote: “I write to confirm that I will serve out my term as the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC which finishes July 6, 2016 and not accept an extension of my appointment. As you well know, the Paris Agreement is a historical achievement, built on years of increasing willingness to construct bridges of  collaboration and solidarity across all boundaries.

“Governments deserve much credit for the remarkable outcomes of Paris, but so do you, the wider participants in the UNFCCC process. During many years you held the torch of the imperative high for all of us to see. Your support and your determination were unswerving. Your patience and your urgency were compelling.

“Much remains to be done, especially in the next five years, to ensure we turn good intentions to the reality we all want. I know you will continue to inject the energy, passion and perseverance into the process. You can count on me to do the same.”

Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen is a Costa Rican diplomat. She was appointed executive secretary of the UNFCCC on May 17, 2010, succeeding Yvo de Boer.

Aged 59, she was educated at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Christiana Figueres of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Christiana Figueres of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Temperatures may go beyond threshold for human survival, study warns

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Temperatures may go beyond threshold for human survival, study warns
Heatwave in Bangalore
Heatwave in Bangalore

If we don’t cut greenhouse gases, it’s not just storms and rising seas we’d have to worry about. The heat alone could kill a lot of us, warns Cheryl Katz in the National Geographic

If greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, rising temperatures and humidity wrought by global warming could expose hundreds of millions of people worldwide to potentially lethal heat stress by 2060, a new report suggests.

The greatest exposure will occur in populous, tropical regions such as India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. But even in the northeastern United States, as many as 30 million people might be exposed at least once a year to heat that could be lethal to children, the elderly, and the sick, according to the new study.

It’s the first study to look at future heat stress on a global basis, says Ethan Coffel, a PhD candidate in atmospheric sciences at Columbia University, who presented the results on Monday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. Coffel and his colleagues used climate models and population projections to estimate how many people could face dangerous heat in 2060—assuming that greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise sharply on a “business-as-usual” course.

The findings are based on forecasts of “wet bulb” temperatures, in which a wet cloth is wrapped around a thermometer bulb. Whereas standard thermometer readings measure air temperature, a wet bulb measures the temperature of a moist surface that has been cooled as much as possible by evaporation.

That reading depends on both the heat and the humidity of the surrounding air. It’s generally much lower than the dry-bulb temperature, and it’s a better indicator of the humid heat that humans and other large mammals find hardest to deal with.

The normal temperature inside the human body is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37 degrees Celsius. Human skin is typically at 35°C. When the wet-bulb temperature of the air exceeds that level, it becomes physically impossible for the body to shed its own metabolic heat and cool itself, especially by evaporating sweat. Even a fit individual would be expected to die from such heat within six hours.

Today, even in Earth’s hottest, muggiest spots, the wet-bulb temperature does not rise above 31°C. (The highest dry-bulb temperature ever recorded is 56.7°C, or 134°F.)

But a study published in October by MIT researchers found that by 2100, in Persian Gulf cities such as Abu Dhabi or Dubai, the 35°C threshold of human survival may occasionally be exceeded—again, assuming that greenhouse emissions continue to rise unabated.

Where Heat, Humidity, and People Intersect

In practice, wet-bulb temperatures below the 35°C threshold are dangerous for children, the elderly, people with heart or lung problems—or anybody actively working outside. By the 2060s, according to Coffel and his colleagues, 250 million people could be experiencing 33°C at least once a year. As many as 700 million could be exposed to 32°C. For many people, those conditions could be lethal.

“You have a large portion of the world that’s very densely populated and potentially at risk,” says Coffel. “Populations which right now work primarily outdoors and have very little access to air conditioning. It’s hard to function outdoors in those kinds of temperatures.”

The MIT study concluded that wet-bulb temperatures of 32°C or 33°C could be expected to arise later this century in Mecca, for example, where they might sometimes coincide with the Hajj, when millions of pilgrims pray outdoors all day long.

But as rising temperatures push more moisture into the atmosphere, particularly near warming oceans, spells of extreme heat and humidity will become more frequent and intense in many parts of the world. Even residents of cities like New York and London could encounter future temperatures that are near the limits of what their bodies can tolerate, according to the Columbia researchers.

“Local ocean temperatures can be a really big driver for the extent of these high heat and humidity events,” says co-author Radley Horton of Columbia. “How far inland away from the coasts will we see some of these really deadly high heat and humidity events penetrate? Will this impact where people are able to live?”

Bryan Jones, a postdoctoral fellow at the City University of New York who also studies future heat exposures but was not part of the Columbia study, said its “projections of exposure to extreme heat stress seem very reasonable. In fact, they may even be conservative, depending on how populations in West Africa, India, and Southeast Asia are distributed in the coming decades.”

Heat Is Already a Big Killer

Heat already kills more people than any other form of extreme weather. In the past decade, heat waves that featured wet-bulb temperatures between 29°C and 31°C have caused tens of thousands of deaths in Europe, Russia, and the Middle East.

Last summer more than 2,300 died from extreme heat in India, where air temperatures reached 122°F. High humidity and temperatures topping 116°F also proved deadly in Egypt this year. And work stopped for several summer days in Iraq while thermometers hovered around 120°F.

Air conditioning protects those who have access to it and can afford it. The spread of high-heat-stress events is likely to produce a surge in demand, says Horton. Air conditioners don’t function as efficiently in humid conditions, however—and as long as the electricity for them is generated with fossil fuels, they add to the underlying problem.

The other approach to coping with dangerous heat, Coffel says, is “reorganising your society, like when you work outside, like giving people the day off when it’s hot.”

Neither air-conditioning nor staying inside is an option for other large mammals, which are affected by climbing heat and humidity in much the same way as humans. The impact on them is a “wild card,” says Horton. Little research has been done.

King of Morocco approves COP22 Steering Committee

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King of Morocco approves COP22 Steering Committee

King Mohammed VI of Morocco has approved the appointment of the COP22 steering committee members, chaired by Salaheddine Mezouar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation said on Thursday.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco
King Mohammed VI of Morocco

“On Thursday February 11, 2016, HM King Mohammed VI appointed Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar as the chair of the COP22 Steering Committee. The Sovereign also approved the appointment of the 11 members of this committee, which will be in charge of the preparation and organisation of the 22nd United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP22), scheduled on November 7-18 in Marrakech”, the Foreign Affairs and Cooperation ministry pointed out in a statement.

Besides Mezouar, the committee will be composed of Abdelâdim Lhafi (commissioner), Aziz Mekouar (ambassador for multilateral negotiations), Nizar Baraka (president of scientific committee), Hakima Haité (special envoy for mobilisation), Driss El Yazami (in charge of civil society pole), Faouzi Lekjaa (in charge of financial pole), Samira Sitaïl (in charge of communication pole), Abdeslam Bikrate (in charge of logistics and security pole), Said Mouline (in charge of public/private partnership pole) and Mohammed Benyahia (in charge of side-events pole).

The same source noted that upon high royal instructions, an inter-ministerial committee has been created in order to accompany the organisation of this important international event.

The committee is composed of the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Interior, Agriculture and Fisheries, Industry, Commerce, Investment and Digital Economy, Energy, Mining, Water and Environment, and Economy and Finance.

The King also provided guidelines to ensure the full involvement of the government, State, non-State, public and private stakeholders to guarantee the success of this landmark event to combat climate change, the statement added.

The leader also gave guidelines to reaffirm the different commitments of the Kingdom regarding the protection of the environment, development of renewable energies and the fight against climate change, and the defense of the interests of developing countries, especially African and small island States.

He further gave guidelines to coordinate different actions with the French presidency of the 21st United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in conformity with the “Tangier Call”, the statement concluded.

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