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New York State creates $5 billion clean energy fund

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New York State creates $5 billion clean energy fund

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced the New York State Public Service Commission’s approval of a 10-year, $5 billion Clean Energy Fund to accelerate the growth of New York’s clean energy economy, address climate change, strengthen resiliency in the face of extreme weather and lower energy bills for New Yorkers starting this year.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York

Additionally, the fund will attract and leverage third-party capital to support the Governor’s aggressive Clean Energy Standard, one of the nation’s most ambitious goals to meet 50 percent of our electricity needs with renewable resources by 2030.

“New York is a national leader in combating climate change and growing the clean energy economy – and today we are taking the next big step forward,” Governor Cuomo said.”This unparalleled $5 billion investment will leverage more than $29 billion in private sector funding and open the door to new clean energy opportunities for years to come. We are raising the bar when it comes to increasing the use of renewable energy and reducing harmful carbon emissions, and I am proud that the Empire State is continuing to set the example for the future.”

The $5 billion Clean Energy Fund, to be administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, builds on the progress the state is already making in developing a robust clean tech sector. The fund is projected to result in more than $39 billion in customer bill savings over the next 10 years through innovative projects and private-public partnerships focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, making energy more affordable through energy efficiency and renewable energy, and mobilising private-sector capital. In addition to the $39 billion in overall customer savings, as a result of this Public Service Commission action, consumers and businesses are expected to see lower costs of $1.5 billion over the next 10 years, including an immediate reduction of $91 million from 2016 electric and gas costs compared to 2015.

Consumers and businesses can expect to see lower utility costs this year.

The fund will operate four major portfolios:

  • Market Development ($2.7 billion): NYSERDA will undertake a variety of activities to stimulate consumer demand for clean energy alternatives, energy efficiency while helping to build clean energy supply chains to meet that growing customer demand. At least $234.5 million must be invested in initiatives that benefit low-to-moderate income New Yorkers during the first three years of the fund;
  • NY-Sun ($961 million): The fund finalises the funding and confirms the long-term commitment for NY-Sun and for the growing solar electric market and industry in New York State, by supporting rapid and continued cost reduction. This will continue to make solar energy more affordable and accessible for residential and commercial solar customers, and will drive the growth of the solar industry in New York, which currently employs more than 7,000 people across 538 solar companies in the state;
  • NY Green Bank ($782 million): To leverage private sector investment, expand the availability of capital and increase confidence in lending for clean energy projects, the fund will complete the capitalisation of the innovative NY Green Bank. The fund will increase NY Green Bank’s total investment to $1 billion and will leverage an estimated $8 billion in private investment;
  • Innovation and Research ($717 million): As New York State moves to a cleaner, more efficient, and more widely distributed energy system, the Clean Energy Fund will help spur innovations through research and technology development that will drive clean-tech business growth and job creation while providing more energy choices to residential and business customers.

New York State Chairman of Energy and Finance Richard Kauffman said, “The Clean Energy Fund will achieve greater customer savings and stimulate more demand for — and private investment in — renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, furthering the Governor’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy. By acting today and not tomorrow, we ensure our grid will be modernised and strengthened as we also lower New Yorker’s electricity rates by implementing the most cost-effective solutions to meet our challenges.”

At a recent State of the State address, Governor Cuomo officially proposed the creation of a Clean Energy Standard and directed the Public Service Commission to establish enforceable mandates for renewable power by June. The Commission approved a public process to adopt a Clean Energy Standard that will also include a separate support mechanism for upstate nuclear power plants. Since nuclear facilities do not produce greenhouse gas emissions, they will help the State transition to a future under the Clean Energy Standard without losing ground on emission reductions statewide, it was gathered.

The Commission also took other steps to advance Governor Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision Strategy, or REV, by directing major electric and gas utilities to develop new, cutting-edge energy efficiency programmes, on both a regional and statewide basis. It also established a benefit-cost analysis framework for evaluating new energy proposals, such as smaller, cleaner power plants, to determine whether they meet the energy- and cost-saving goals of REV.

The Clean Energy Fund supports the environmental goals of both REV and the Clean Energy Standard by reducing an estimated 133 million tons of carbon emissions (the equivalent of removing 1.8 million cars from the road). Energy efficiency and other priority initiatives of the fund are also expected to save 10.6 million MWh of electricity and 13.4 million MMBtu of fuel consumption overall.

New York State Public Service Commission Chair Audrey Zibelman said, “Under the Clean Energy Fund, every dollar of clean energy spending will achieve greater savings and enhance private investment, spurring innovation and new technologies that will bring more choices and value to New York consumers. We will build on the success of previous energy-development programmes in a way that meets evolving customer and market needs and transition away from approaches that rely almost exclusively on ratepayer subsidies, which is unsustainable if we are to meet our ambitious goals in the long-run.”

NYSERDA President and CEO John B. Rhodes said, “The Clean Energy Fund allows the State to make faster and greater progress towards Governor Cuomo’s State Energy Plan and Clean Energy Standard goals, while reducing ratepayer collections. It also creates the demand for clean energy and the certainty we need to accelerate the growth of a dynamic clean tech economy that stimulates private investment and job creation.”

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos said, “Through Governor Cuomo’s leadership, New York State is a national model in investing in renewable energy and addressing climate change. The Clean Energy Fund will allow New York to build a clean tech industry while furthering its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide utility savings for New Yorkers.”

In the Clean Energy Fund order, the Commission also allocated $150 million for the development of new Large Scale Renewables power projects in 2016. As the Commission develops a Clean Energy Standard, it will create new incentives for large scale renewables and a new mechanism to prevent the premature retirement of safe, upstate nuclear power plants during this transition.

In addition, the Commission ruled that the Clean Energy Standard should include non-emitting generation resources, like the nuclear power facilities in upstate New York. Without these plants, the state would lose some of the emission reductions already achieved by the state and possibly lead to an increase of more than 12 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

To complement further programmes supported by the Clean Energy Fund, the Commission is directing that each investor-owned utility seeks to improve their own energy-efficiency programmes to better engage customers and meet the overall goals of the Clean Energy Standard and the State Energy Plan. Energy-efficiency programmes offered by major utilities are poised to offer greater value and new, cost-saving services to consumers under streamlined rules approved. Along with NYSERDA’s 10-year, $5 billion Clean Energy Fund, utilities will now develop energy-efficiency programmes that will achieve greater market-wide efficiency savings, target specific needs in the state and depend less on direct ratepayer support.

NYSERDA will continue to offer energy-efficiency programmes designed for low-income customers. However, the utilities and NYSERDA are directed to actively evaluate and develop innovative programmes that reach deeper into low-income communities.

Reforming the Energy Vision is New York Governor Cuomo’s strategy to build a cleaner, more resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers. REV places clean, locally produced power at the core of New York’s energy system which protects the environment and supports the State’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent while generating 50 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030. Successful initiatives already launched as part of REV include NY-Sun, NY Green Bank, NY Prize, K-Solar, and includes a commitment to improve energy affordability for low-income communities.

Nepal submits climate action plan

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Nepal submits climate action plan

The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal on Thursday submitted its new climate action plan to the Bonn, Germany-based UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Khadga Prasad Oli, prime minister of Nepal
Khadga Prasad Oli, prime minister of Nepal

Nepal’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) comes shortly after the adoption of a new universal climate change agreement in Paris last December.

Including Nepal, 189 parties to the UNFCCC have formally submitted their INDCs.

The Paris Agreement will enter into force on the 30th day after the date on which at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55% of total global greenhouse gas emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession

It will empower all countries to act to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels, and to reap the many opportunities that arise from a necessary global transformation to clean and sustainable development.

New INDCs submitted by Parties signal that countries are honoring the Paris Agreement.

All information such as documentation on designing and preparing INDCs as well as on sources of support for INDC preparation, is available here.

The COP invited Parties to communicate their first nationally determined contribution (NDC) no later than when the Party submits its respective instrument of ratification, accession or approval of the Paris Agreement. The UN Secretary-General is convening a high-level signature ceremony for the Paris Agreement on 22 April, 2016 and is inviting all Parties to the Convention to sign the agreement at this ceremony, or at their earliest opportunity.

Shipowners’ role in Paris Agreement, by Ban Ki-moon

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Shipowners’ role in Paris Agreement, by Ban Ki-moon

Secretary-general of the United Nations (UN), Ban Ki-moon, has told the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) it has an important role to play in translating landmark agreements such as the Paris climate agreement into tangible improvements in people’s lives.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, right, meets IMO secretary-general Kitack Lim during his visit to IMO headquarters in London
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, right, meets IMO secretary-general Kitack Lim during his visit to IMO headquarters in London

The UN secretary-general on Wednesday met with the newly appointed IMO secretary-general Kitack Lim, as well as other IMO secretariat staff, at the IMO’s headquarters in London.

The Paris Agreement was the culmination of recent work by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is an agreement by UN member states on the efforts they intend to make to keep the global temperature rise to below two degrees centigrade.

The Paris Agreement has been criticised by both shipowners’ groups and lobby groups for not including any mention of the roles that the IMO or shipping should play in helping reach the targets implied in the agreement.

While he pointed out the role the IMO should play in the future, Mr Ban also commended the work the IMO has already achieved in creating mandatory energy efficiency measures.

The two regulations currently in force are those for the energy efficiency design index and the ship energy efficiency management plan.

A third measure, one based on either a fuel levy or emissions trading scheme, has proven to be too controversial, with IMO member states possibly agreeing this year on a global CO2 reporting scheme as a less controversial first step.

While at the IMO, Mr Ban also praised the shipping industry for the efforts being made in saving hundreds of thousands of lives in the Mediterranean Sea, in what he referred to as the biggest crisis of forced displacement since the Second World War.

By Craig Eason (Lloyd’s List)

Coal plants close as US electricity industry’s consumption drops 34%

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Coal plants close as US electricity industry’s consumption drops 34%

The biggest source of climate pollution dropped to 34% of US electricity generation and co-author of a new report says: ‘These are permanent changes’

Republicans in Congress and the mining industry have blamed Obama for the fossil fuel’s decline, accusing him of waging a “war on coal”
Republicans in Congress and the mining industry have blamed Obama for the fossil fuel’s decline, accusing him of waging a “war on coal”

America’s use of coal for electricity dropped to its lowest point in the historical record in 2015, delivering a new blow to an industry already in painful decline.

The dirtiest of fossil fuels and America’s biggest single source of climate pollution, coal accounted for just 34% of US electricity generation last year, according to the Sustainable Energy in America handbook on Thursday.

It was the smallest share for coal in the electricity mix since 1949, the first year in which Energy Information Administration records were kept.

“It was a really big year,” said Colleen Regan, a power analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, who was co-author of the report for the Business Council on Sustainable Energy. “It was a landmark year with a long-term trajectory that we saw as the US decarbonising its power fleet.”

Coal made up 39% of electricity supply in 2014, the annual report said.

The changes in the US electricity system last year also produced milestone benefits for the climate, the report found.

Greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector – the largest single source of climate pollution and the target of Barack Obama’s clean power plan – fell 18% below 2005 levels last year, the report found.

That was halfway to Obama’s goal of a 32% cut in greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector by 2030, and on a relatively short time frame.

The drop in coal use for electricity appeared set to seal the fuel’s long and slow decline in the US, with crashing prices, thousands of miners laid off work, and big coal mining companies forced into bankruptcy.

Last month, Arch Coal, the second biggest coal mining company in the US, filed for bankruptcy to help shed some $4.5 billion in debt. Two smaller firms. Alpha Natural Resources and Patriot Call, filed for bankruptcy in 2015.

Republicans in Congress and the mining industry have blamed Obama for the fossil fuel’s decline, accusing him of waging a “war on coal”.

But the report found the biggest threat to coal last year remained cheap natural gas. There was also a spike in new wind and solar power. By the end of last year, wind and solar accounted for 5.4% of the energy mix, up slightly on 2014, the report found.

Some power companies opted to shut down old, coal-fired power plants, in advance of the clean power plant rules.

Those shutdowns, representing about 5% of the entire fleet, meant that there was no coming back for coal, said Colleen Regan, co-author of the report and a power analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“The retirement of these plants means that a lot of the numbers that we saw in 2015 are permanent. They are structural changes,” she said. “These are not things that happened just because it was a mild year, which was what happened in 2012, or because natural gas prices were artificially low. These are permanent changes.”

Regan went on: “Those coal plants that are lost are not going to be turning back on ever again.”

She expected more coal-fired plants to go off-line in 2016 – although probably not at the rate of last year – but it would be premature to declare the death of coal in the US, she said.

Coal was expected to remain a significant part of the US power mix for some years.

West Virginia and Kentucky, which have been hit hardest by the decline in coal prices, are projected to continue burning coal. Other states close to the vast reserves of cheap coal in the Powder river basin are expected to remain on coal as well.

According to BNEF forecasts, coal would still account for about 24% of electricity use in 2030.

“I don’t want to say that it’s the death of coal or even a slow death but we are definitely tapering,” Regan said.

By Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian of London)

China’s new wind power jumps 60% in 2015

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China’s new wind power jumps 60% in 2015

Promoting non-fossil energy such as wind power, China appears to be in the middle of an energy revolution to power its economy in a sustainable manner

China’s newly installed wind power capacity reached a record high in 2015 amid increasing efforts from the government to boost clean energy.

The Dabancheng wind farm in China's Xinjiang province
The Dabancheng wind farm in China’s Xinjiang province

The new wind power capacity jumped to 32.97 gigawatts last year, more than 60 percent higher than 2014, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Tuesday.

Wind power generated 186.3 terawatt hour of electricity in 2015, or 3.3 percent of the country’s total electric energy production, data showed.

Promoting non-fossil energy including wind power, China is in the middle of an energy revolution to power its economy in a cleaner and sustainable manner. The government aims to lift the proportion of non-fossil fuels in energy consumption to 20 percent by 2030 from present around 11 percent.

China’s energy mix is currently dominated by coal.

However, the NEA warned of the suspension of wind farms in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Jilin. The phenomenon occurs in the early stage of wind power capacity construction due to the mismatching of new installation and local power grid.

Morocco launches initial phase of world’s largest solar plant

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Morocco launches initial phase of world’s largest solar plant

King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Thursday in the south-central town of Ouarzazate officially launched the first phase of the solar plant “Noor I”, believed to be the largest Concentrated Solar Power(CSP) plant in the world.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco
King Mohammed VI of Morocco

This phase will be the first of three for the plant, which began construction in 2013, and by 2018 is predicted to supply 1.1 million Moroccans with 500 megawatts of energy. The plant will also reduce carbon emissions by 760,000 tons per year.

Noor I is regarded by many as a huge leap towards a more energy-independent and sustainable Morocco. By 2030, the country aims to utilise renewable resource for over half of its energy use. It is also possible that Morocco will have the capacity to “export energy to European countries,” according to the World Bank.

Speaking about the plant in December, Minister Delegate in Charge of Environment, Hakima El Haiti, discussed the use of highly advanced CSP plants and how they work by using “mirrors to focus the sun’s light and heat up a liquid, which is mixed with water and reaches a temperature close to 400 degrees Celsius.” She explained that “this produces steam, which in turn drives a turbine to generate electrical power.”

She added that the system allows for “the storage of energy for nights and cloudy days.”

Climate Investment Funds (CIF) have funded the $435 million plant via the African Development Bank and the World Bank. CIF has operated in 72 developing nations worldwide and is the largest multinational climate finance vehicle in the world, with an overall value of $8.1 billion. The stated aim of CIF is to transform countries like Morocco into world leaders in renewable energy, climate resilience and forest protection.

By Jonathan Walsh

Kofi Annan backs new global Fisheries Transparency Initiative

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Kofi Annan backs new global Fisheries Transparency Initiative

“Massive plunder” of the world’s fisheries is “destroying entire fishing communities”, Kofi Annan said on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland at the launch of a new global initiative aimed at stemming illegal fishing.

Kofi Annan, chair of the Africa Progress Panel
Kofi Annan, chair of the Africa Progress Panel

In a video message to the first International Conference of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI), Mr Annan, the chair of the Africa Progress Panel, welcomed the initiative and underlined the importance of “global collective action” to halt shadowy practices in ocean fishing across the globe.

The Fisheries Transparency Initiative is a high-level response to calls by the Africa Progress Panel and other influential voices for greater impetus to be given to tackle illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, which Mr. Annan says has reached “epidemic proportions” in Africa. The initiative aims to increase political will and international cooperation to improve the governance, transparency and accountability of the fisheries sector.

The 2014 Africa Progress Report, Grain, Fish, Money: Financing Africa’s Green and Blue Revolutions found that Africa is losing billions due to illegal fishing. West Africa alone is estimated to lose at least US$1.3 billion a year.

This activity by trawlers from all over the world operating in African waters, is according to Mr. Annan, “organised theft disguised as commerce” that “demands a strong, long-term international effort” to combat it.

Fisheries are among the most vital resources on the planet. The ocean off West Africa is one of the world’s richest fishing grounds, providing as much as a quarter of West Africans with their livelihoods.

The Africa Progress Panel calls for a multilateral fisheries regime that applies sanctions to fishing vessels that do not register and report their catches.

It also calls on governments around to world to ratify the Port State Measures Agreement, a treaty that seeks to thwart the poachers in port from unloading their ill-gotten gains.

The Panel also recommends regulatory reforms including processes to make fishing permits more transparent.

Above all, Mr Annan says, international coordination is essential: “This challenge is far greater than any single country can handle effectively on its own. It is also much more than just a problem for Africa. Global collective action is especially needed to nurture transparency and accountability. Better fisheries management could increase the global catch by 20 percent, bringing more jobs, better food and nutrition security, and more social and political stability too”.

Paris Agreement and implications for Congo Basin forest communities

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Paris Agreement and implications for Congo Basin forest communities

Yaounde, Cameroon-based agro-socio-economist, Samuel Nnah Ndobe, attempts a brief assessment of the Paris Agreement and its implications for Congo Basin communities

The Paris Agreement and the financial incentives and initiatives it has spurred can help put indigenous and community rights at the heart of forest policies in Congo Basin countries
The Paris Agreement and the financial incentives and initiatives it has spurred can help put indigenous and community rights at the heart of forest policies in Congo Basin countries

The negotiators who came to Paris from all corners of the earth for the climate change talks in December 2015 have long since dispersed. The colourful throngs of protestors are a distant memory. The world’s media have moved on to the next big story.

Now that the dust has settled on the latest international effort to prevent catastrophic rises in global temperatures, we can take stock of what the Paris Agreement, which was signed on December 12, really means for those who are already feeling climate change’s devastating effects – specifically the forest communities of the Congo Basin, home to the second largest tropical forests in the world, after the Amazon’s.

Many of them depend entirely on forests for their survival, but have been marginalised by the influx of logging and mining companies, and are now witnessing climate change threaten their food security, as wild fruits ripen prematurely, rivers dry up and subsistence hunting becomes more difficult.

Their plight has invariably been ignored in global efforts to halt emissions. Paris was a chance to rectify that. But to what extent did it succeed?

Among the large groupings at the climate talks were civil society members and delegates from the Congo Basin, with the countries negotiating under the auspices of the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) and the Economic Commission of Central African States (ECCAS).

One of their central goals was spelled out by the DRC’s minister of environment: “We foresee the end of deforestation between 2020 and 2030. But someone has to pay the DRC’s efforts to re-establish its forests.”

This objective was broadly met, particularly in getting financial support for efforts to reduce deforestation in Congo Basin countries through the REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) financial mechanism.

The Paris Agreement includes forests and REDD+ prominently with a specific provision, Article 5. This article calls on countries to conserve and maintain forests as sinks. It also recognised results based payments to forested countries, and sets a long-term goal of net zero emissions by 2050, acknowledging the importance of removals of greenhouse gases by forests.

In most Congo Basin countries REDD+ Readiness Preparation Proposals (RPPs), which set out plans, budgets and schedules for implementing the programme, clearly identify forest communities as the key drivers of deforestation, whereas in reality, the biggest threat in the Congo Basin comes from the countries’ desire to become emerging markets and industrialise their economies through large scale land acquisition activities, such as industrial agriculture,  huge infrastructure construction projects, including dams, roads, ports and railway, mining and logging.

These have huge impacts on the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples, especially on their rights to their land. So to curb this, Congo Basin countries have to develop and respect social and environmental safeguards when implementing REDD+ and they must be monitored, reported and verified.

The Paris Agreement does recognise indigenous peoples’ rights, calling for “knowledge, technologies, practices and efforts of local communities and indigenous peoples related to addressing and responding to climate change” to be strengthened.

As welcome as this is however, a note of caution is needed, since this – and other references to indigenous’ rights – are in the non-binding section of the text and therefore carry no legal weight. It’s been suggested this is because the EU, the US and Norway were uneasy about the legal liability of any binding recognition of rights.

The Norwegian government announced during the COP that it was making $100 million available for initiatives respecting the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples, while Sweden has committed 11.5 million EUR to the tenure facility initiative, aimed at facilitating land and forest tenure for local communities and indigenous peoples in four countries, including Cameroon.

In a side event at the talks, the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI), called for more countries to sign its joint declaration to tackle the causes of deforestation in Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo (RoC). CAFI is made up of these six countries and various donors, including the European Union (EU) and World Bank, and aims to bring “new urgency to efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation”.

In summary, the Paris agreement and the financial incentives and initiatives it has spurred, can help put indigenous and community rights at the heart of forest policies in Congo Basin countries. Yet this will be at the whim of individual national governments.

And for them to act will require field monitoring, effective participation at REDD+ debates and processes, as well as concerted pressure and vigilance from communities, civil society and campaigners.

This presents a huge challenge in a region where rights over ownership, management and control of the forests have been denied to communities for so long and where deforestation continues to wreak havoc with peoples’ lives and the environment.

EU opposes import of herbicide-resistant GM crops

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EU opposes import of herbicide-resistant GM crops

The European Parliament on Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium voted to oppose the import of three genetically modified (GM) soybeans into the European Union. It said the Commission’s proposed authorisation of GM soybeans MON 87705×MON 89788, FG72 and MON 87708×MON 89788 for use as food and feed was “not consistent with Union law” that aims at a high level of health and environmental protection.

The EU Parliament building in Brussels
The EU Parliament building in Brussels

It is the third time in a few months that the Parliament clashes with the Commission over its policy on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In October last year, MEPs rejected a flawed Commission proposal that would give national governments a theoretical right to ban GMOs approved for import.

They called on the Commission to develop a new proposal. In December, the Parliament also rejected the import of Monsanto’s GM maize NK603 × T25 and called for a moratorium on GMO authorisations until new rules are introduced.

Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, Slow Food and IFOAM EU have welcomed the Parliament’s stand against the Commission.

Mute Schimpf, food campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “Today’s vote shows that GM-crops are unwanted by both people and the politicians they elect, and that the authorisation system for them is unfit for purpose. The European Commission must respect the decision-making power of the Parliament.”

Franziska Achterberg, EU food policy director at Greenpeace, said: “The Parliament’s message is loud and clear: the Commission cannot carry on taking decisions on GM crops by itself, without the backing of EU governments, parliament and citizens. The Commission needs to rethink the GMO approval system. Until it does, no new GM crops should be approved.”

Eric Gall, policy manager at IFOAM EU, said: “Importing these GM soybeans could expose consumers and farm animals in the EU to adverse effects from the herbicides they have been sprayed with and, to date, the effects of the herbicide plus GMO combination has not been assessed. Neither have the herbicide cocktails proposed. No herbicide-tolerant GMOs should be authorised until this has been done,”

Ursula Hudson, president of Slow Food Germany, stated: “No more than 13 out of 28 EU Member States voted in favour of allowing the import of these GM soybeans into the EU, whilst an equal number has voted against. Yet, the Commission authorises them. We urgently need a new authorisation mechanism as well as clear labelling for citizens to make informed choices.”

The three GM soybeans are engineered to tolerate spraying with glyphosate or a combination of glyphosate with other herbicides. Residues of these herbicides are likely to be found on imported grains. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen – that is, possessing the ability to induce the growth of cancerous cells. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has not assessed the risks associated with its use on GM crops, nor the effects of combinations of glyphosate with other herbicides. These combinations give rise to serious health concerns and EU law requires their evaluation.

The Parliament’s objection is not binding for the Commission.

A living memorial for deadened memories

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A living memorial for deadened memories

The Bus, a sculptural memorial in honour of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Saturday Dobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel Gbooko, Paul Levera, Felix Nuate, Baribor Bera, Barinem Kiobel, and John Kpuine was shipped to Nigeria from the United Kingdom by Platform. On arrival in Nigeria it was seized by the Nigeria Customs since 8th September 2015 on the reported grounds that it had “political value.” The original idea was for the Bus to be used during the 20th anniversary activities to mark the dastardly execution of the Ogoni 9 on 10th November 2015. The kidnap of the Bus by the Nigeria Customs, as Celestine Akpobari, head of Ogoni Solidarity Forum (OSF) labels it, made it impossible for the cultural memorial to be used.

The late Ken Saro-Wiwa
The late Ken Saro-Wiwa

Due to the continued detention of the sculpture by the Nigeria Customs, the OSF leader petitioned the House of Representatives of Nigeria seeking their intervention for the release of the sculpture. We note that the sculpture was created by Nigerian-born artist Sokari Douglas Camp.

The House of Representatives has so far held two hearings on the matter on 28th January and 4th February 2016. At the first hearing the Representatives were unhappy that the Comptroller of Customs did not appear before them. Again, at the second hearing the Customs boss was conspicuously missing, prompting the Representatives warning that they should not be provoked to issue an arrest warrant against the big man. The next hearing is scheduled for 17 February 2016.

One interesting fact that emerged from the hearing of 4th February was that the Customs officers stated that the the ‘inscription on memorial bus is a threat to national peace.”

What could possibly be the threatening inscription on the sculpture? The Bus has the name of Ken Saro-Wiwa on a white steel banner on one side, and the names of the other eight Ogoni leaders on sculptural crude oil barrels. It also has the words of Ken Saro-Wiwa: “I accuse the oil companies of practising Genocide against the Ogoni.” Would these threaten national peace?

It should be noted that this sculpture has been on display in the UK for nine years and was shipped to Nigeria by Platform on the request of network partners in Nigeria: Movement for The Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ogoni Solidarity Forum (OSF), Social Action, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN).

In his official submission to the House of Representatives, Akpobari said, “We are concerned that after killing Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni 8, and dumping their bodies in an unmarked grave, the Nigerian government is bent on erasing every memory of Saro-Wiwa and his struggles for justice, including making sure that a “Living Memorial” – the Bus made in his memory and in solidarity with his people – is never delivered to them.”

The Nigeria Customs appears to have chosen to fight a battle to erase the memories of these heroes of environmental and cultural struggles. Seizing a sculpture gives the impression that the State is attempting to kill the message after annihilating the messengers. With the experience of history, we can say that this is a futile endeavor and the Customs should release and deliver the Bus to the people of Ogoni as emblematic representatives of peoples struggling for ecological sanity, social inclusion and dignity.

If there are persons that wonder who Ken Saro-Wiwa and these leaders were, the words of Sanya Osha in a paper published in Socialism and Democracy gives a crisp picture:

“When Ken Saro-Wiwa and his nine Ogoni compatriots were hanged in November 1995, it both polarised and unified the fragile as well as volatile geographical entity known as Nigeria. However, this time, it wasn’t the ethnic and religious fissures that were most noticeable. Instead it was the naked fist of raw power versus the vociferous protestations of a disenfranchised minority writhing beneath the weight of a seemingly implacable military dictatorship.

“Ken Saro-Wiwa became the voice, face and symbol of this aggrieved minority straining for denied civic and democratic rights. He became a hero in patently unheroic times and this is what makes his life and the loss of it so potently poignant.”

It is for this and other reasons that 10th November has galvanised a global environmental justice movement and has become a global day of remembrance of victims of extractivism. And as Platform warns, They can hold the Bus but The can’t stop the movement.

There is no wisdom in keeping this sculptural Bus in captivity.

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

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