The decision of six Congo Basin countries to work with donors to protect their forests is a positive step, but will only be as successful as its implementation, Greenpeace Africa has said.
The Congo forest. Photo credit: newsecuritybeat.org
The Central African Forest Initiative, announced during the UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York this week, will see donors including Norway, Germany, the UK and the European Union pledge financial support for countries including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cameroon and Gabon to protect their forests and slow illegal logging and conversion of forests.
“Greenpeace welcomes this initiative, we believe that rainforest protection can only be effective if there is a joint and strong commitment from both African governments and international donors,” said Irène Wabiwa Betoko, Senior forest campaign manager with Greenpeace Africa.
“But any such agreement has to be backed up with meaningful action. Strong pre-conditions need to be set up for disbursing funds and safeguards aimed at eradicating corruption in the forestry sector need to be instituted. Governments need the means and capacity to ensure these reforms can realistically be implemented.”
Norway was the first donor to announce its financial support, pledging up to $47 million annually between 2016 and 2020.
“Experience tell us that such agreements are easier said than done,” said Wabiwa Betoko. “Communities on the ground who depend on the Congo Basin forests for their livelihoods are often the first to lose out when it comes to weak forest governance and weak political will to ensure words become actions.”
Plans by the Ogun State government to privatise water through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model promoted by the World Bank is a recipe to enslave citizens of the state and generations yet born, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service, Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) have said.
Activists protesting water privatisation in Lagos. Photo credit: watergrabbing.net
The ERA/FoEN and AUPCTRE disclosed in a statement on Wednesday that neither was any consultation made, nor was there input from civil society and the labour unions in all the stages that got the bill to the table of Governor Ibikunle Amosun. The bill, awaiting the governor’s signature, is said to have speedily passed through the State House of Assembly on 13 May, 2015.
ERA/FoEN spokesman, Philip Jakpor, disclosed in the statement: “The development in Ogun resembles that of Lagos where intense local and international demands for disclosure in October 2014 forced the World Bank to open up on a water privatisation scheme, which centres on the appointment of its private arm – the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to design a PPP water scheme. The Lagos project, just like what is unfolding in Ogun State is shrouded in utter secrecy, with no input from critical segments of the population that it will supposedly benefit. The bank had initially said it had no deal with the Lagos government but swiftly announced it had cancelled the IFC contract following global pressure.”
ERA/FoEN Deputy Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, was quoted in the statement as saying: “It is utterly disappointing that the Ogun State government is toeing the same path we have observed and campaigned against in Lagos. We urge Governor Amosun not to sign away the sovereignty of the state residents by this anti-people initiative promoted by the World Bank.”
Oluwafemi stressed, “PPPs have a devastating track-record which include rate hikes, sporadic access, unsafe water, and infrastructure neglect so we are in solidarity with the Ogun people in rejecting this false solution to making a basic human right accessible.”
Ogun State Secretary of AUPCTRE, Babatunde Omotola, said: “The bewilderment of Ogun people is further heightened by the fact that the bill before the governor will worsen their plight having watched for years how successive administrations have deliberately allowed public water infrastructure to collapse to pave the way to a loan arrangement which will place more burden on the residents.”
According to Omotola, while the Ogun State government is obligated to identify ways to ensure the rights of citizens to safe and potable drinking water, prioritising the human right to water above and over profit motives should be the driver of such a policy. “We also demand a probe of all the loans thus far sunk into water projects in Ogun State,” he added.
The groups urged the state government to halt the planned privatisation and, instead, integrate broad public participation in developing plans to achieve universal access to clean water including investing in the water infrastructure necessary to provide universal water access, to sustain and create jobs, improve public health, and invigorate the Ogun economy.
Every time it rains, Barbra Nyawiza, a teacher at Ngaara Primary School in Mbarara district, gets reactions. She sneezes and snoots.
Farmers worldwide are already feeling the effects of rising temperatures and more frequent droughts as a result of climate change
Scientists believe this primary school teacher is most likely allergic to rain.
Jeconeous Musingwire, an environmental scientist, believes Nyawiza is sensitive to acidic pollutants in the rain.
He says such pollutants are a result of gases emitted from industries and vehicles, among others, that end up leading to acid rain.
When introduced into atmosphere, substances from these industries and vehicles such as sulphur dioxide, nitrous dioxide, and carbon monoxide mix and react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form acid rain.”
Musingwire insists that they are such chemicals in the rain water that Nyamwiza is allergic to.
He says that in the south western region of Uganda where Nyamwiza lives, acid rain is usually experienced in the month of August after the mid-year dry season.
These gases accumulate in the atmosphere during the midyear drought. They then mix and react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals as the rain season starts in the middle of August.”
Musingwire blames these dangerous gases on the people who have destroyed the environment through deforestation, emission of harmful gases into atmosphere from their factories and vehicles among others.
He says acid rain is not only harmful to human health but also to plants and animals and contaminates water making it unfit for human consumption and increasing its acidity.
“A combination of climate change and acid rain threatens the future of life on the earth.”
One of the persons in the region who has witnessed severe effects of acid rain is Jenaurio Mazimba, a local mason.
“It usual has corrosive effects on buildings we build. It ‘eats’ our limestone and then we have to use other materials or spend more money buying other limestone. ”
Ian Atamba, a PhD researcher and forestry officer with Uganda’s National Forestry Authority, says it is sulphur dioxide in this rain that leads to corrosion on limestone, sandstone, and marble.
He also notes that acid rain has affected several forests in the region.
“It usually damages leaves of trees and exposes them to toxic substances. What do you expect when leaves which are the main source of food for trees are damaged? Trees die.”
“But farmers in the region have the key to ending this problem.”
Atamba says that to solve this problem, farmers should invest in afforestation and reforestation.
“Trees will absorb these hazardous greenhouse gases. They actually store the carbon in their bodies.”
Last year, a Nasa-led study found that forests worldwide absorb 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year as they photosynthesise and grow.
By Adella Mbabazi
This story was produced under the CSE Media Fellowships Programme for Global South.
The Benue State House of Assembly has called on Dangote Cement Company in Gboko, Benue State, to own up to her Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and adhere to proper Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the discharge of their duty.
A cement factory. Photo credit: broadstreetng.com
The state Assembly made this known on Tuesday, September 29, 2015 during plenary and in debate on the Report of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Poor Condition of Federal Roads in Benue State and Matters Related Thereto.
The Assembly directed the State Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment to ensure that Dangote Cement Company complies with the directives.
The house gave the directive, stating that Dangote Cement Company, Gboko should liaise with the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and the Federal Ministry of Environment in order to acquire a valid EIA certificate and comply with all safety standards in the operation of the company to avoid sanctions.
Speaking earlier, in the lead debate, the Ad-Hoc Committee Chairman, Mrs Ngunan Addingi (Buruku/APC), had explained that their findings indicate that Dangote Cement did not have a valid Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and has failed to adhere to safety standards in its operations as revealed by NESREA and the Benue State Environmental Sanitation Agency (BENSESA).
To this end, she called for urgent steps to be taken to address the problem for the wellbeing of staff of the company, the host community and the state in general.
In their separate contributions, the Majority Leader of the House, Mr Benjamin Adanyi (Makurdi South/APC); Deputy Majority Leader, Mr Nick Eworo (Obi/APC); Minority Leader, Sule Audu (Agatu/PDP); Terhemba Chabo (Gboko West/APC) and Kester Ikyenge (Logo/PDP), who commended the work done by the ad-hoc committee, noted that it is pertinent to forge a way to salvage the sorry state of federal roads in the state.
They added that companies operating in the state must be awakened from their complacency to live up to their corporate social responsibility.
In their submission, Majority Whip, Mr Titus Uba (Vandeikya-Kyan/APC); Minority Whip, Mr Tor Aye (Katsina-Ala West/LP); Mr Egli Johnson (Otukpo/Akpa/PDP) and Mr Daniel Abbagu (Ukum/APC) urged all companies operating in the state to work in synergy with the host communities and the government in order to carry out their corporate social responsibility according to the dictates of international best practices.
Commenting on the performance of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in the state, Mr. B.B Nungwa (Kwande West/APC) scored them low, saying they needed to wake up to do their job very well and make the state’s roads safer to ply.
Ruling on the matter, Speaker, Benue State House of Assembly, Mr. Terkimbi Ikyange (Ushongo/APC), who advised that Dangote Cement Company, Gboko should put in place safety measures for both staff and visitors, requested the company to submit to the House within one week, evidence of compensation paid all staff who had industrial accident or who died in the course of discharging their duty with the company from 2006 to date.
The house, rising from 33 findings by the ad-hoc committee, made 27 recommendations which include: Urging Dangote Cement Plc, Gboko to urgently liaise with NESREA and the Federal Ministry of Environment in order to carry out all processes leading to the issuance of an EIA to the company; Urge NESREA and BENSESA to follow up Dangote Cement Plc, Gboko and ensure that the company complies with all their recommendations with regards to safety standards, including Environmental Management Plan (EMP), Air Quality Permit, landscaping, removal of solid waste materials, metal scraps, repair or upgrade of oil trap, effluent discharge plant, issuance and enforcement of the use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) by staff and visitors, provision of adequate conveniences for staff and visitors, and installation of warning signs. That both NESREA and BENSESA do avail the House with copies of Dangote’s compliance with their recommendations within three months and subsequent follow up by the House.
Other recommendations included that Dangote Cement Plc, Gboko to live up to its responsibility and honour its pledge to construct modern parking lot for its vehicles and another parking lot for third party vehicles within two months and that if any person attempts to disrupt the process of work by extorting money from the company, it should be reported to the House of Assembly in writing; That the House should charge FERMA to direct its contractors to fill up excavations they carry out on highways promptly to avoid exposing road users to unnecessary danger; and FERMA should continue repairing bad sections of roads and filling up of already dug out in Taraku, Ugbokolo and other parts of the state. That if any member of the community attempts to prevent the Agency from discharging its legitimate duties, it should write to the chairman of such local government and submit a copy of the letter to the House of Assembly for further actions.
It will be recalled that the House had set up the ad-hoc committee on 5th August, 2015 following a motion moved by Mrs. Agaigbe Utsaha (Gboko East/APC), who lamented the deplorable state of Makurdi-Gboko federal road, which she noted had claimed many lives through accidents and caused a lot of discomfort to commuters, thereby calling for FERMA to be directed by the House to carry out repairs at bad portions of the road.
The five member ad-hoc committee which was chaired by Mrs Ngunan Addingi (Buruku/APC) and included Mr. Daniel Abbagu (Ukum/APC), Mr Terkaa Ucha (Vandeikya-Tiev/PDP), Dr. Adoga Onah (Oju I/PDP), Adam Okloho (Adoka/Ogboju/APC) as members with Mr Alfred Odeh as Secretary was to find out if Dangote Cement Company, Gboko has a valid EIA, if the Dangote Cement Gboko plant lives up to her corporate social responsibility and why the company has failed to repair portions of bad road within her precinct and to establish a parking lot for her vehicles.
Also, the ad-hoc committee was to interface with FERMA and Federal Ministry of Works in the state in order to acquire necessary information on the state of federal roads in the state and any other matter related to thereof.
September 2015 saw the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This has been a long journey for many. To highlight the challenges and opportunities facing Africa, the Africa Progress Panel (APP) has just released a publication titled, “Global Goals, African Realities: Building a Sustainable Future for ALL“.
Caroline Kende-Robb, Executive Director, Africa Progress Panel. Photo credit: app-cdn.acwupload.co.uk
These new international targets to improve people’s lives and protect life on the planet, do much more than just extend for another 15 years the remit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The SDGs represent an unprecedented collective global push to tackle the root causes of poverty, through a sharper focus on issues of justice, inequality and equity. They embrace the need for a global transformation that leaves no one behind and gives every child a fair chance of leading a decent life. And they showcase our commitment to protect future generations by limiting climate change, adopting renewable energy and managing resources sustainably.
The SDGs will only succeed, however, if they can succeed in Africa — whose rapidly growing population most needs the change that the agenda describes. That’s why the same concerns that drive the SDGs have been taken up over the last four years by the APP.
The Panel, led by Kofi Annan (the father of the MDGs), actively promotes an agenda for change that calls for Africa’s resources, creativity and dynamism to be better harnessed for the benefit of all Africans. In successive annual reports, the Panel has charted a roadmap to improve the wellbeing and prospects of the continent’s people — including those who have been left behind by the recent economic growth surge. Its policy recommendations have been adopted at the highest levels.
The carbon-intensive energy systems that drive our economies have set us on a collision course with our planetary boundaries. We can avoid that collision. As a global community, we have the technology, finance and ingenuity to make the transition to a low-carbon future, but so far we lack the political leadership and practical policies needed.
Africa’s highly centralised energy systems often benefit the rich and bypass the poor and are underpowered, inefficient and unequal. Two in three Africans lack access to electricity.
This energy crisis is also a moment of great opportunity, however. Demand for modern energy is set to surge, fuelled by economic growth, demographic change and urbanisation. As the costs of low-carbon energy fall, Africa could leapfrog into a new era of power generation. The region has an abundance of renewable energy in the form of solar, hydro, wind, and geothermal power. Utility reform, new technologies and new business models could be as transformative in energy as the mobile phone has been in telecommunications.
Tackling Africa’s interlocking climate and energy problems will require strengthened international cooperation. The recently ended SDG summit and the global climate talks in December provide a platform for deepening cooperation and making a down-payment on measures with the potential to put Africa on a pathway toward an inclusive low-carbon energy future and the world on a pathway to avoid climate catastrophe.
Last week, the APP attended the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) launch of their New Deal on Energy for Africa to fast-track universal access to power by 2025: lighting up and powering Africa in 10 years, not 50 years. It was incredible to see and feel the rising ambition and political will to get Africa connected, fast – a plea that was made in our 2015 report.
After outlining his core priorities in the energy sector, President Adesina added, “As I have always said, Mr. Annan is “Africa’s jewel and contribution to the world”. I thank him and the members of the Africa Progress Panel for their wonderful work on the APP 2015 Report.”
Just as the 2015 report focuses on managing Africa’s extensive renewable-energy resources for the good of all Africans, the 2014 report, Grain, Fish, Money: Financing Africa’s blue and green revolutions, examines the vast potential of the sector that most poor Africans work in — agricultural production. The report highlights the gulf between that potential and the growing dependence on food imports. Closing that gulf would provide a powerful catalyst for reducing poverty, generating jobs, feeding urban populations and creating new market opportunities for investment.
African agriculture is no longer a “development problem” but a huge business opportunity. The time has come to unleash Africa’s green and blue revolutions. These revolutions can generate a much-needed improvement to Africa’s food and nutrition security. More than anything, malnutrition on the continent is a failure of political leadership.
The 2014 report also turned the spotlight on the continued massive plunder of vital African resources, including fish stocks and forests. Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing has reached epidemic proportions in Africa’s coastal waters.
The 2013 Africa Progress Report, Equity in Extractives: Stewarding Africa’s natural resources for all, showed that in many countries, revenues from oil, gas and mining have been widening the gap between rich and poor. A decade of highly impressive economic growth, spurred largely by global demand for African commodities, has not brought comparable improvements in health, education and nutrition.
As the commodity super-cycle unwinds, it is time to ask some tough questions. Some major opportunities for investment, the development of linkages to the local economy and revenue mobilisation during the boom years were not effectively seized. African and OECD governments should be cooperating far more closely to address systemic tax evasion, the outright plunder of valuable assets and the extensive use of off-shore tax havens by foreign and domestic investors.
The 2012 Africa Progress Report, Jobs, Justice and Equity: Seizing opportunities in times of global change, called on African leaders to tackle the deep, persistent and enduring inequalities across the continent. Countries across Africa are becoming richer but whole sections of society are being left behind. After more than a decade of buoyant growth, almost half of Africans still live on less than $1.25 a day. The current pattern of trickle-down growth is leaving too many people in poverty, too many children hungry and too many young people without jobs. Unequal access to health, education, nutrition, water and sanitation is reinforcing wider inequalities.
Viewed through the lens of the SDGs, the equitable growth agenda is more relevant than ever: on current trends one-third of Africans will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030. Africa will account also for a rising share of child and maternal deaths and out of school children.
These reports each focus on a different aspect of the same story. Their vision is the same as the vision behind the SDGs: the need to manage resources wisely and sustainably so that every citizen has a fair chance of leading a healthy, prosperous, fulfilling life, free of poverty. Many African countries are rising to that challenge. Indeed, Africa can help feed the globe’s burgeoning population, spearhead technical innovations, and lead the world on climate-resilient, low-carbon development.
As Kofi Annan says, “Africa is on its way to becoming a preferred investment destination, a potential pole of global growth, and a place of immense innovation and creativity. But there is also a long way to go — and Africa’s governments must as a matter of urgency turn their attention to those who are being left behind. I believe Africa and its leaders can rise to this challenge. If they do, Africa will become more prosperous, stable and equitable.”
Kofi Annan adds that the SDGs are an opportunity for us all to think about what fairness means today, and how the goals can help make the world a more equitable place. He adds, “Humanity can only flourish if we work together. This is why I support the GlobalGoals.”
By Caroline Kende-Robb (Executive Director, Africa Progress Panel)
Land clearing on peatland, Indonesia. Photo credit: Ryan Woo/CIFOR
Fifty years ago, Indonesia was rich with pristine forest.
And then – boom!
Between 1980 and 2000 – a timber logging boom. Illegal logging followed – so, another boom in the 10 years from 2000, and then the palm oil boom came after that.
Pristine forest was severely logged and turned into degraded forest. What was left was slashed and burned, made ready for oil palm and wood plantations of different scales.
This landscape transformation provided benefits and costs to various actors. But fire and haze were also part of the landscape transformation.
Under President Joko Widodo, the Government of Indonesia has committed to reducing – or even zeroing – fire incidences in Indonesia. And although some improvements have been made, fire and haze continue.
This year, the country is facing El Niño, which will cause drier weather and increase the occurrence of fire and haze.
Solutions are needed, because current actions mostly deal with fighting fires and are not systematically harnessing the politics and economy of fires.
Reviewing fire policy and laws (what works and does not work), mapping actors and their networks and economies, providing clear and transparent spatial maps, and engaging with key policy makers and practitioners are key for reducing fire and haze.
Spatial Plan Needed
Unclear spatial planning is constraining the fire reduction effort.
At a stakeholder consultative meeting in Pekanbaru on 25 March, the need for agreement and an enforceable spatial plan was underlined.
This is not enough.
All stakeholders need to again sit down and discuss spatial mapping and try to reach agreement. Negotiating the interests of conservation, legality, business, local livelihoods, carbon emission reductions and so on is vital, but so too is the understanding that an “ideal” solution may not exist.
When discussing the history of a degraded area, negotiations should cover not only space but also duration. For example, an area that has been converted illegally from a conservation area to oil palm plantation could remain oil palm for a certain number of years to provide compensate for the investment by private sectors or local communities.
However, after that designated time period, it would be time to restore the area to forest.
Illegal land transactions can, and do, occur in concession and state lands, where the area is not really secured. This economic demand for lands that are degraded, burned and planted with oil palm largely drives the land transformation from pristine forest into the agricultural plantations that provide huge benefits to certain actors.
The government needs to create disincentives for illegally degraded, burned and oil-palm-planted lands by putting a legality standard over the land being sold.
Stopping Illegal Activity
Detecting, anticipating and prosecuting organised crime involved in illegal land transactions causing fire and haze is the role of legal institutions. At the same time, police, lawyers and judges dealing with related forest and environmental laws must receive training.
President Joko Widodo’s administration has already established a task force to resolve conflicts in Indonesia’s forests.
The task force will be a joint collaboration between Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MOEF), the Home Affairs Ministry, the Agrarian Ministry, and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). To ensure the success of this task force, the public must be made aware of the importance of reducing fire and haze, using mass and social media.
Preventing Peat Degradation
Peat degradation is the main source of Indonesia’s carbon emissions through fire. Preserving peat is not only about a valuable ecosystem, it is also about the people who live there.
To reduce fire on peatlands, we need to develop immediate livelihood and income sources for indigenous and local communities living on already-degraded land. These could include annual crops, horticulture, agroforestry and planted trees depending on peat depths, along with related small-scale industries along the value chains.
At the same time, those communities living on good peatland need assistance to develop their livelihood and income sources – with the help of such schemes as payments for ecosystem services and REDD+.
Strengthening and providing financial support to grassroots organisations such as will ensure their effectiveness in supporting fire detection and early warning systems.
Local initiatives at the microlevel should restore peatland by blocking canals, wetting the peat and planting Jelutong, rubber and pineapple plants.
Scaling up into landscape levels or hydrological units will need deeper thinking and multi-stakeholder approaches as water is a scarce resource and can be a source of conflict in the dry season.
Planning and executing water-level management at the landscape level through – among other actions – canal blocking would ensure fairness for both small-scale and large actors.
Community and livelihood development are necessary to sustain peat restoration. Sharing the good practices of local initiatives and the private sector in peat ecosystem restoration and encouraging the adoption of those practices will help create uniformity.
Finally, reducing fire and haze is not only a “TO DO” list to follow as outlined above; it’s also about HOW to do things and WHO should be doing them.
How and Who
We can use a ‘landscape approach’ to reconcile agriculture, conservation, and other competing land uses to answer the question of HOW.
In this approach, the government, smallholders and other key stakeholders will be called to consider their multiple goals in the landscape, understand the drivers, set priorities, take action and monitor progress.
Understanding WHO really are “the stakeholders of fire” is a key to the success of the landscape approach. This approach will be guided by the ten principles of a landscape approach, which emphasise adaptive management, stakeholder involvement, and multiple objectives.
Collective actions among ASEAN country members – to reduce fire and haze through continuous dialogue, pooling funding and concrete actions on the ground – are needed to realise the vision of a haze-free ASEAN by 2020.
Finally, thinking globally, linking to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is required to get better support from national and international communities.
By Herry Purnomo (a scientist based at CIFOR in Bogor – h.purnomo@cgiar.org)
For the last two months, the Bantu and Bagyeli communities of Bella have watched as workers from a forestry company have entered their territory and started razing their forest lands. Removal of logs has damaged their crops, and has come so close to houses as to put them at risk of damage from the felling.
Forest-based communities in Cameroon have limited or no recognition of their customary land rights under Cameroon law. Photo credit: farm8.static.flickr.com
Government officials, who informed community chiefs about the activities (which are also due to follow in the neighbouring villages of Nkollo, Gwap and Moungué), have asserted that the felling is legal, although none of the usual procedures appear to have been followed, and no documentation of the exploitation licence has been provided to the communities. To date, requests for further, concrete information about the alleged licences remain unfulfilled.
The timing of the deforestation activities is highly suspicious. In March 2015, a three year provisional concession granted over the customary lands of all four villages to Biopalm Energy Ltd – a Malaysian palm oil company owned by RSPO member Geoff Palm Ltd – expired, without the company having commenced work. It appears no further concession was granted at the time (a concession must be granted by decree, and none has been published) – but rumours are that the company is in negotiations with the government. Despite sending the company a letter asking for it to clarify its intentions in December 2014, the communities are still unaware of what, if any, proposals are on the table.
Forest-based communities in Cameroon have limited or no recognition of their customary land rights under Cameroon law. Despite that, the communities – who were not consulted over and, on the whole, opposed the original concession – are resisting the return of the company. The (un)timely entry of the forestry companies – who are removing timber at an astonishing rate – is likely to dispirit the communities and weaken their resolve, something which is no doubt not lost on the authorities. However, in a recent field visit, FPP also heard rumours that, in Biopalm’s absence, other large companies already operating in the area may be moving in. Without transparency and access to information, the citizens of Bella, Nkollo, Gwap and Moungué remain left in the dark.
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) and about 40 other organisations from across Africa and around the world have submitted a letter of support to Cabinet Secretary for Health, James Macharia, as the Kenyan Ministry of Health prepares to defend itself from litigation brought by British American Tobacco (BAT) which the groups accuse of employing litigation to thwart a public health legislation.
Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Health, James Macharia. Photo credit: westfm.co.keBA
The letter urges Secretary Macharia and the Kenyan government to stand strong against tobacco industry attempts to derail policy advancements that protect Kenyans from tobacco’s highly addictive and deadly effects.
BAT claimed the Ministry of Health violated due process procedures under the Constitution by not consulting with the tobacco industry in fashioning its Tobacco Control Act.
This BAT lawsuit is the latest in a long line of tactics the corporation has employed to undermine, delay and thwart the strong tobacco control regulations passed earlier this year. The regulations, elaborated after a 13-year legislative battle for the passage of Kenya’s Tobacco Control Act in 2007, have been the target of intense political interference by.
In the past, BAT has successfully interfered in policy by:
coercing government officials to advocate on its behalf,
interfering in policymaking through trade committees and third parties, and
aggressively lobbying and bribing policymakers.
When each of these tactics failed to derail the regulations, BAT resorted to litigation against the Ministry of Health.
BAT launched its lawsuit in April, claiming the Ministry of Health violated due process procedures under the Constitution by not consulting with the tobacco industry. ERA/FoEN and other signatories to the letter rejected such moves, stating, “These claims are spurious and unfounded in the face of Kenya’s actions, which are consistent withnational law.” The letter goes on to demonstrate that Kenya’s tobacco control regulations are also validated by the force of international law.
“BAT’s unfounded lawsuit against Kenya is a desperate last-ditch attempt to thwart the deluge of public health measures being passed across the continent,” said Deputy Campaigns Director John Stewart of Corporate Accountability International. “This letter is a clear demonstration that the global community stands with Kenya in the face of tobacco industry aggression.”
Tobacco kills more than six million people every year, remaining the largest preventable cause of death globally. The American Cancer Society predicts Africa will be the future epicenter of the tobacco epidemic, with smoking rates increasing seven-fold by the year 2100 unless meaningful policies are put in place. Across Africa, from Nigeria to Uganda, BAT is pulling out all stops to obstruct or delay the passage of tobacco control policies that will curb this epidemic.
The good news is that countries, including Kenya, developed the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the world’s first public health and corporate accountability treaty, which has been ratified by 179 countries. As a party to the treaty, Kenya is taking steps toward fulfilling its legal obligations, including through advancing the Tobacco Control Regulations 2014.
As countries rapidly implement the life-saving measures enshrined in the WHO FCTC, tobacco industry sales are falling. Last year, BAT cigarette sales declined by 1.4 percent while its top competitors’ sales declined by even more.
“By standing up against the tobacco industry, the Ministry of Health is prioritizing the health of Kenyans,” said Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Tobacco Control Regional Adviser at the WHO Regional Office for Africa. “The global tobacco control treaty is Africa’s best defense against the expansion of the tobacco industry and will protect present and future generations.”
The letter demonstrates support from notable organisations like Corporate Accountability International, American Cancer Society, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Framework Convention Alliance and African Tobacco Control Alliance among others.
On 29 September High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi will begin the hearing, which is expected to last well into October.
The Women Environmental Programme (WEP) has called on the Federal Government to ensure climate justice for women by implementing policies and programmes that increase clean energy access for Nigerian urban and rural poor women.
Priscilla Achakpa, Executive Director of the Women Environmental Programme (WEP). Photo credit: http://i.ytimg.com/
The call was made on Monday in a statement endorsed by Priscilla Achakpa, Executive Director of the WEP. According to her, the call became necessary due to the devastating effects women suffer due to lack of clean energy access in the country.
“Every day, Nigerian women are faced with energy challenges ranging from health problems resulting from the use of crude energy sources for cooking, to wastages of agricultural produce due to poor energy access for preservation and processing. Unfortunately, women are affected more by lack of access to clean energy as they are the ones involved with energy-demanding activities,” stated Ms. Achakpa.
In Nigeria, research shows that women produce 60-80% of agricultural food and also make up almost 100% of those who process basic food stuff.
She added: “Billions of Naira is lost yearly due to wastages of agricultural produce as a result of lack of preservation facilities. It is estimated that Nigeria loss N1 billion annually to fresh tomato wastage. Similarly, women are the ones responsible for cooking energy as they are primarily responsible for domestic cooking. Lack of clean energy access has seen over 120 million Nigerians use firewood as cooking energy. World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 98,000 Nigerian women die annually due to illnesses that result from the smoke they inhale while cooking with biomass fuel.
“This huge energy lack is coming out of the huge energy resources the country is endowed with – hydro, wind and solar – which could be harnessed to make energy accessible to all the nooks and crannies of the country. Sadly, about 23.73 million households in Nigeria, out of 28.9 million households in the country have no access to the national electricity grid, according to the National Electricity Regulatory Commission.
“The implication of this energy situation on women is widening inequalities between women and their male counterparts. This is further exacerbated by the impacts of climate change, making women poorer and increasing their vulnerabilities. Nigerian women have come out to speak with one voice that enough is enough of this injustice. We challenge the government to as a matter of urgency implement all policies and programmes that will harness our huge energy resources and make clean energy available for Nigerian women. We have suffered lack of energy for too long and can take it no longer.”
In a statement on the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) meeting in preparation for COP21, African Civil Society insists that Heads of States from the continent missed a huge opportunity in New York to show the world their commitment to climate change
Secretary General at the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), Mithika Mwenda. Photo credit: pamaccafrica.blogspot.com
The 70th UN General Assembly taking place in New York provided an opportunity for Committee of African Heads and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) to meet, get updates, exchange views and analysis on the continent’s effort to consolidate itself on the ongoing international dialogue process for a suitable climate change agreement, which will be reached in Paris in December 2015.
New York provided a key strategic moment for the convergence of African leaders to discuss and agree on a position that will secure African people a promising future in view of the rising impacts caused by the changing climate, which will disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in the society.
Mithika Mwenda, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) Secretary General, states: “Firstly, we take this opportunity to commend the leadership of HE Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) for the stewardship she has provided in positioning climate change as the top-most priority for the Commission. Yet, we remain concerned that some Heads of State continue to bypass this crucial opportunity to join CAHOSCC, which is their platform to demonstrate their commitment to navigating this critical issue.
“We were disappointed by the absence of several CAHOSCC members at the press conference convened by its Coordinator, HE Fattah El Sisi, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and attended by Chairperson of the African Union (AU) HE Robert Mugabe.
“CAHOSCC remains the platform of Heads of State and Government and was conceived to provide the highest political leadership possible. We wish to remind our leaders that the Ministers have their platform where they compile the African Position and priority issues, under the guidance of the African Group of Negotiators.
“As the civil society, we are on top of the developments in Africa as the climate change negotiations unfold and hope that our leaders will not fall into the trap of 2009, when they gave into a wholly unacceptable outcome. This can only happen if they are available to listen and widely consult with other stakeholders across the continent.
“We echo the views discussed at the press conference led by the AUC Chair that Africa should be left to develop its own initiatives to enhance the climate resilience of our people while contributing to the global effort to defeat the challenges of climate change.
“We urge our Governments to build on the existing initiatives and avoid the emerging trend where the African continent is turning out to be the experimental ground for climate change solutions developed elsewhere. We want to see our Governments’ firm commitment to a strong unified African position during COP21, on the Initiative on enhancing support to Africa on Adaptation and Loss and Damage, and the African Renewable Energy Initiative.
“Energy access and adaptation, certainly, are the most pressing issues in Africa’s response to the climate crisis. We feel that Africa has strong networks, institutions and the sufficient capacity to deal with any area of climate response, may it be adaptation, mitigation, technology transfer or finance.
“Under the Climate and Development for Africa Programme (CLIMDEV) partnership, the AUC, AfBD and the UNECA have come together in an unprecedented relationship that has provides policy and programmatic guidance on continent-wide outreach: bringing together governments, UN Agencies, Regional Economic Integration Communities, the Private Sector, and Civil Society among others.
“We call on our Governments and development partners to support the work of the CLIMDEV Africa Programme to enhance its capacity rather than duplicating the work its already doing under African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC), Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) and CAHOSCC.
“We urge that recommendations of this partnership continue to set the framework of Africa’s response to climate change, and any other effort should be geared towards strengthening them. Only then will we see hope for millions of people suffering at the hands of climate change across Africa.”
PACJA is a continental coalition of civil society organisations from diverse backgrounds in Africa, that aims at unifying and coordinating isolated civil society efforts on climate change advocacy in Africa, so as to ensure that pro-poor and people-centered response measures are given attention as governments in Africa seek to mainstream climate change into national poverty reduction and sustainable development strategies and actions.
