Health and wellbeing in Nepal are being improved, thanks to a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) programme bringing clean-burning cookstoves to households in place of smoky traditional stoves.
The film focuses on the health benefits and improvement to livelihood that the biogas system can bring to rural communities in Nepal. Photo credit: ashden.org
The film focuses on the health benefits and improvement to livelihood that the biogas system can bring to rural communities through prevention of smoke-related illnesses and by removing the need to collect firewood for cooking.
The premiere was organised by the CDM Regional Collaboration Centre (RCC), Bangkok, a partnership of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan.
Working primarily through the UNFCCC National Climate Change Focal Points designated in each country and mobilising other key actors, SEAN-CC promotes sound policy, technology and investment choices at the national level that lead to reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and co-benefits. The focus of the initiative, funded by the Government of Finland, is on promoting action on energy efficiency and energy conservation and clean and renewable energy sources.
The CDM allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2. CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialised countries to meet a part of their targets under the Protocol. The CDM assists countries in achieving sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialised countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission targets.
Climate Neutral Now is part of the UNFCCC and is intended to help more individuals and organisations measure, reduce and offset their climate footprints.
Former US Vice President and Climate Reality Chairman Al Gore to lead round-the-clock call to action on Nov. 13-14 from climate experts, activists, celebrities andmusicians
Seeking to generate momentum for strong action on climate from world leaders in the final days before the UN climate talks in Paris, former US Vice President and Chairman of The Climate Reality Project Al Gore will lead the global broadcast of 24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth: The World Is Watching, airing from 6pm CET, Friday, November 13 to 6pm CET, Saturday, November 14.
Former US Vice President and Chairman of The Climate Reality Project, Al Gore. Photo credit: cfact.org
This round-the-clock programme will unite a global audience in demanding a strong climate agreement in Paris and include presentations and performances from leading climate experts and activists and award-winning celebrities and musicians. French leaders President François Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will join in the broadcast, which is produced by The Climate Reality Project and Live Earth.
Anchored from Paris, The World Is Watching will broadcast live from the Champ de Mars in the Seventh Arrondissement and feature both live and pre-recorded segments from other spotlight locations in the United States, Australia, Brazil, India, Canada, China, the Philippines, and South Africa. The broadcast will focus on the local and global impacts of climate change, as well as promising solutions that can be found around the world today. In addition to President Hollande and Mayor Hidalgo, experts like glaciologist Claude Lorius, elected leaders like California Governor Jerry Brown and other special guests like film and television actor Ryan Reynolds will join throughout the 24-hour programme. These include:
Government Officials
President François Hollande, France
Brian Deese, Senior Advisor to United States President Barack Obama
Governor Jerry Brown, California, United States
Dr. Ernest Moniz, Secretary, United States Department of Energy
Dr. Steven Miles, Queensland Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection, Australia
Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris, France
Mayor Philip Levine, Miami Beach, United States
Media Personalities
Patrick J. Adams, actor and activist
Atom Araullo, News Reporter, ABS-CBN News
Sarah Backhouse, Founder & CEO of Future360.tv
Ed Begley Jr., Actor and Activist
Sam Champion, Weather Anchor, The Weather Channel
Barkha Dutt, Television Journalist, NDTV
Maria Paula Fidalgo, Actor and Activist
Porter Fox, Author and Editor at POWDER magazine
Vanessa Hauc, Journalist, Telemundo
Nicolas Hulot, Media Personality and Activist
Nicolas Ibarguen, Environmental Correspondent, Fusion and Univision
Africa Melane, Presenter, CapeTalk and 702
Ryan Reynolds, Actor and Activist
Calum Worthy, Actor and Activist
NGO and business leaders
Dr. Anish Andheria, President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust
Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General
Chinmaya Acharya, Chief of Programs, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation
Yoca Arditi-Rocha, Director and Founder, No Planeta B
Ken Berlin, President and CEO, The Climate Reality Project
Wang Binbin, Manager of the Climate Change and Poverty Team, Oxfam
Keith Brooks, Clean Economy Programme Director, Environmental Defence
Ian Bruce, Science and Policy Manager, David Suzuki Foundation
Dr. Fuqiang Yang, Senior Advisor, Climate and Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council China
Daniela Ibarra-Howell, CEO, Savory Institute
Claude Lorius, Glaciologist, Director Emeritus of Research at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Alix Mazounie, Climate Action Network – France
Mithika Mwenda, Head of Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance
Evan Rice, CEO, GreenCape
Juliette Rousseau, Coalition Climat 21
Mauricio Ruiz, Executive Secretary of Terra Institute of Environmental Preservation
Bittu Sahgal, Founder of Sanctuary Asia
Wang Shi, Chairman, China Vanke Co. Ltd.
Zhang Xiangdong, Co-Founder and CEO of 700Bike
Adrian Yeo, CAN’s Leadership Development Programme Fellow
In addition to featuring engaging stories of climate impacts and solutions, each hour of the broadcast will be punctuated by thought-provoking, knockout appearances from all-star participants (which will be announced in a separate release). The broadcast is aimed at urging world leaders to push for the strongest possible climate agreement at the upcoming UN conference in Paris and at urging people to take action in their own communities and homes.
The Climate Reality Project’s partnership with Live Earth for this fifth-annual 24 Hours of Reality broadcast will give the program an unprecedented artistic lineup and distribution platform to maximise its global reach.
“‘24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth’ is about mobilising people around the world to help solve the climate crisis and making our voices heard in national capitols and at the negotiating table in Paris,” said Vice President Al Gore. “The UN climate talks have the potential to produce a breakthrough that changes the dangerous course on which we are presently headed and put us instead on a path to a truly sustainable and prosperous future. We want leaders from every country to know that the world is watching, and that it’s time for them to take climate action.”
“We have to get every major country to make a strong commitment at COP 21,” said Climate Reality President and CEO Ken Berlin. “The time is now for world leaders to sign an emissions reduction agreement that includes five-year reviews of their commitments, a long-term goal, and the global prioritisation of renewable energy. It is time for global action – the world is watching.”
“The media landscape is cluttered, people’s lives are busy and the way people access information and connect with each other varies from person to person. To cut through, you have to provide truly compelling content and match it with multiple distribution streams that reach people in their homes and on the go,” said Live Earth Founder Kevin Wall. “The climate crisis is grave, so we are harnessing the best content and the latest in mobile, social media, and online distribution to make sure we can connect with people everywhere.”
The broadcast will be seen all over the world across numerous media outlets and platforms, even as Renaud Le Van Kim and his company Together Media have been chosen by The Climate Reality Project to produce the event in Paris. The entire production is being overseen by Executive Producer Peter M. Green and his partners at ShoulderHill Events.
Saiga range countries and experts convene in Tashkent following saiga mass mortality event
A saiga antelope. Photo credit: cdn.images.express.co.uk
At a UN backed meeting organised by the UNEP-Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) from 26 to 29 October 2015 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, governments and conservationists agreed on a concrete set of measures to restore saiga populations in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. More than 70 participants attended the Third Meeting of Signatories to the CMS Memorandum of Understanding concerning Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelopes (Saiga MOU), which was hosted by the Government of Uzbekistan.
Latest figures presented at the meeting show that more than 150,000 adult saiga antelopes died during the mass mortality event which hit the species in central Kazakhstan earlier this year. The catastrophic collapse of this already critically endangered species has halved the global population size of this iconic migratory species of the steppes and deserts of Eurasia. New survey data also showed that the transboundary Ustiurt population between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is at the brink of extinction, not least due to a border fence and railroad dissecting the migration.
These findings are a major blow for conservation efforts given that saiga populations were only just recovering from an all-time low of less than 50,000 animals at the start of the century following a 95% crash in numbers. Prospects for recovery of the species are being hindered by infrastructure developments such as railway, roads and border fencing which are obstructing part of the saiga’s migration. Continuing poaching and illegal trade in and beyond range states pose additional threats to the species.
CMS Executive Secretary, Bradnee Chambers, stated: “This has been a catastrophic year for saiga antelopes. We have lost half the global population as a result of the mass die-off in May and I am devastated to learn that one of the transboundary populations is at the brink of extinction. Exceptional efforts will be required to restore the populations and we are pleased to see that countries in the region have agreed on strong actions in Tashkent to tackle the many challenges ahead.”
One of the key outcomes of the Tashkent meeting is the review and adoption of a detailed set of measures until 2020 for Range States and consumer countries. This includes the alteration of border fencing and infrastructure obstructing saiga migration, anti-poaching action and strengthened wildlife health management. The process of regular national reporting by signatory states was updated to ensure that progress and compliance with the Saiga MOU can be measured effectively. An overview report on the current conservation status of the species across all range states was reviewed and adopted.
Wildlife health management was high on the agenda of the preceding Technical Workshop, given the mass mortality event in the Betpak-dala population in Kazakhstan in May 2015. Scientists confirmed that the proximate cause of the catastrophic die-off was haemorraghic septicaemia, a sometimes fatal disease occurring in domestic buffalo, cattle and wild ruminants. Two opportunistic bacteria, Pasteurella multocida serotype B and Clostridium perfringens, contributed to the rapid die-off and loss of the entire population of saiga in each birth site in May. However, the infection was thought not to be transmitted from one animal to the next, because it independently occurred across 13 calving sites spread over 250,000 square kilometres in central Kazakhstan. This almost synchronous die-off is believed to be due to underlying environmental triggers and drivers acting simultaneous at each individual across the landscape. However, the precise factors and mechanisms remain unclear. It is likely that sudden variation in the weather at the time of each die off may have played a role and this might also implicate climate change as an underlying factor although it is too early to confirm this. Analyses continue to be undertaken by an international consortium of laboratories and research groups, which are assisting Kazakhstan in their investigations.
Both meetings were supported by the UNEP Regional Office for Europe, UNDP Uzbekistan, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety of Germany, the State Committee for Nature Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) and the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU).
NABU, the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, signed the Saiga MOU on 29 October and is now one of nine cooperating organizations, which formally support saiga conservation, in addition to all Range States. The Saiga MOU is part of the CMS Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI), a framework for the conservation of large mammals across the region, which was adopted by the CMS Conference of the Parties in November 2014.
Robert Guimaraes Vasquez, a leader of the Shipibo-Konibo indigenous people in Peru’s Amazon, is in London campaigning against deforestation and human rights violation in the bid to highlight the destruction of his people’s traditional lands by an international agribusiness group and member of the RSPO (Round Table for Sustainable Palm oil), a global body that certifies that the production and trade of palm oil is sustainable and respects human rights.
Robert Guimaraes Vasquez. Photo credit: frontlinedefenders.org
“We don’t understand how it’s possible that a member of the RSPO can be violating its own environmental rules and human rights commitments. The community is preparing a formal complaint,” said Mr Guimaraes.
The case concerns the Shipibo community of Santa Clara de Uchunya whose lands were acquired by a Peruvian company, Plantaciones de Pucallpa SAC (one of only two RSPO members in Peru) in 2012 in an undisclosed deal with the regional government of Ucayali. The community only realised when the first bulldozers began destroying the forest. Determined community resistance, including confiscation of company machinery and occupation of the lands combined with continuous lobbying of local authorities and central government, finally resulted in a high level investigation in August 2015 by the Ministry of Agriculture.
On the 2nd September, and in a historic victory for the community, the Ministry of Agriculture ordered the immediate suspension of all operations. The judgment determined that the deforestation had been entirely illegal as none of the environmental permits required for forest clearance had been issued. To make matters even more embarrassing for the government, all conversion of primary forest, an estimated 80% of the affected area, is expressly forbidden in Peru.
The damage however had been done. Today, only 25 hectares, or 0.3%, of the parcel of land formally acquired by Plantaciones de Pucallpa in 2012, remained standing. In just three years, over 5200 hectares of Santa Clara’s ancestral forests had been destroyed.
Local activist Washington Bolivar describes the impact on the community. “Our lands have been devastated, all the forest is gone, and the streams are completely churned up and blocked, there is now only one stream we can still use for clean drinking water”.
What the Ministry of Agriculture failed to highlight however was the central government’s own collusion in this destruction. The Peruvian government is legally required to ensure that the traditional lands of indigenous peoples, like the inhabitants of Santa Clara, are duly recognised. However, despite continued demands for resolution of their land rights over decades, Santa Clara is one of at least 1,174 communities in the Peruvian amazon whose demands for full legal recognition of their lands remains pending. AIDESEP, Peru’s national indigenous organization, estimates that in total, approximately 20 million hectares of indigenous peoples’ lands in the Amazon remain unrecognised in Peruvian law. This failure has been identified by a recent national level study compiled by AIDESEP and FPP as one of the key barriers preventing Peru’s government from meeting its target to reduce deforestation to zero by 2021.
The failure to recognise these lands and to ensure adequate safeguards were in place meant that in 2012 the Regional Government of Ucayali sold Santa Clara’s lands to Plantaciones de Pucallpa. Today, the village, which is home to over 500 inhabitants whose subsistence livelihood depend almost entirely on hunting, fishing and gathering of forest resources, formally holds title to only approximately 200 hectares of land. Community members explain how this is already inadequate to meet their basic farming needs.
Mr Bolivar lays the blame for the situation squarely at the feet of local government. “There is only one party to blame, the regional government of Ucayali who sold off our lands without even speaking to us. Only when we started protesting did the company and the government officials try to sweet talk us but it is too late, there is nothing to discuss. Our demands are simple, we want the company to withdraw immediately from our lands and held to account for the destruction it has caused, we want measure to regenerate the forest and compensation for the community,” he says.
Ultimately, the community is demanding resolution of its longstanding land issue and filed a formal application for a land ‘extension’ in March 2015 to encompass the remainder of their traditional lands that have now been designated as a forestry concession. Until these rights are recognized they highlight that the deforestation of their lands as it gets sold off for logging or palm oil or invaded by land grabbers is likely to continue despite their efforts.
Plantaciones de Pucallpa is one of many companies registered in Peru which recent investigations have exposed are actually part of a complex network of companies that appear to be effectively controlled by Dennis Melka, a businessman who founded the Malaysian agribusiness company Asian Plantations whose operations have been similarly controversial in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Holding those responsible to account is hampered by a model deployed by the Melka group in both Peru and Sarawak. This is based on multiple layers of shell companies and the registration of many in offshore tax havens where the identity of investors and owners is concealed. In the case of Plantaciones de Pucallpa, the holding company is United Oils Ltd. SEZC registered in the Cayman islands.
“The complexity of the supply chain of a commodity like palm oil means that consumers and even buyers are not even able to trace the origins of their palm oil. We know that Plantaciones de Pucallpa is an RSPO member but who really owns and controls this company? If we are not even able to find out who is really behind this forest destruction then how do communities like Santa Clara hold companies like these to account?” said Tom Griffiths of FPPs Responsible Finance Programme.
Challenging the deforestation has not come without its consequences for community members. Leaders like Mr Guimaraes and Mr Bolivar have been subjected to continuous threats.
“I get death threats all the time, my life is in danger and I have to move from one place to another. I live in fear, there are always people who follow me and I get threatening calls on my phone. They even threaten my sister”.
Mr Guimaraes highlighted that this is a problem for all indigenous peoples in Peru’s Amazon and particularly those in Ucayali. This came to international attention in 2014 with the infamous case of Saweto, four indigenous leaders, including the prize winning Edwin Chota, struggling to secure a land title for their community were killed by assassins linked to a powerful logging mafia with interests in Saweto’s lands.
“It is good that there is an outcry and that institutions declare their solidarity but human rights defenders need the support now, we don’t only want the awards when we are dead. In addition, in spite of the high profile of the case of Saweto, nobody has been sentenced. The message for us is clear. In Peru, there is total impunity for those who kill indigenous people.”
Mr Guimaraes will be speaking out in an international event taking place in London about commodity supply chains, deforestation and human rights in which major global agribusiness operators and policy makers will be participating.
Mr Guimaraes will be in London between the 2nd and 4th November.
A major step was taken on Monday, November 2, 2015 towards greater access to electric power, safer electric and electronic products and overall better conditions for economic development, with the official opening of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) Africa Regional Centre (IEC-AFRC).
The official opening ceremony took place in Nairobi, Kenya in the presence of high level government officials of Kenya, the IEC Vice President, IEC General Secretary, industry experts, IEC Members and Affiliate Countries.
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank. Photo credit: res.cloudinary.com
Access to energy
The link between energy and poverty reduction is well established. Electricity permits study after sunset, foods and medicines to be refrigerated and drives millions of devices, electric motors and pumps in hospitals, manufacturing and agriculture. A reliable electricity supply improves basic services such as healthcare and increases access to clean drinking water, safer food, computing or mobile charging. With it companies are able to produce better products and individuals have greater income potential.
In September, the United Nations adopted an expansive set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to “end poverty in all its forms” by 2030. The United Nations has recognised Energy as the cornerstone: “no other SDG is more important for Africa,” said Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank.
“IEC work directly underpins SDG 7, which aims to close the energy gap and to ensure access to affordable, sustainable, reliable and modern energy services for all. Energy is the key to the economic development of all countries in Africa,” said Frans Vreeswijk, IEC General Secretary & CEO. “Today only 24% of the population of sub-Saharan countries have reliable access to electric energy. The IEC together with its Regional Centre for Africa is there to provide the technical foundation and support all African countries in building universal access to sustainable electric power faster.”
Innovation and a level playing field
As the regional focal point for Africa, the IEC Africa Regional Centre (IEC-AFRC) will provide training and mentoring to assist countries in the region in the adoption and use of IEC International Standards and Conformity Assessment Systems. It will cooperate closely with the African Electrotechnical Standardisation Commission (AFSEC) to promote participation in and contribution to IEC work. The Centre will be run under the joint-leadership of Evah Oduor, a well-known Kenyan with extensive know-how and expertise in standardisation work, who has been IEC Coordinator for Africa since 2008, and Francois Yapo Ahoti, who is joining the IEC from United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) where he worked as a Chief Technical Adviser in Standardisation and Quality.
Africa part of the global platform
Through the IEC global platform thousands of experts from around the world contribute to the broad roll-out of new electric, electronic and Renewable Energy technologies, including mini- and Microgrids in developing countries. Examples of IEC work include Renewable Energy generation from wind, ocean and solar power both for off-grid and on-grid use. This work enables the large-scale adoption and use of related technologies.
The IEC is a partner of the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Programme. It provides, for example, a series of Technical Specifications with a focus on off-grid energy access and, in particular, off-grid pico-solar products such as solar lanterns or small solar modules. In this context the IEC provides the standardised methods for testing and verifying light output and other quality measures that will ultimately build trust with consumers and contribute to the broad adoption of these technologies.
Minigrids, small clusters of loads and generators linked together represent an entirely new way of powering remote or rural communities. It’s not uncommon to find microgrids operating with more than 50 % of the electrical load being supplied from renewable generation.
Some 600 delegates from around the world will gather together in Montreal, Canada, this week starting from this morning to examine the effectiveness of measures taken by Governments to implement the global biodiversity agenda and mainstream biodiversity into sustainable development through implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. Discussions will focus on policy coherence and the monitoring of progress in achieving the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Secretary General, Convention on Biological Diversity
The nineteenth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 19) is being held from 2 to 5 November 2015 at the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in Montreal.
SBSTTA, the open-ended intergovernmental scientific body that advises the Conference of the Parties (COP), will review the main implications of the findings of the fourth edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-4), which was published in 2014. Using information contained in the fifth national reports, and seeking to identify best practices and lessons learned, SBSTTA will review options for overcoming obstacles to the implementation of the Strategic Plan and the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Delegates will discuss how to make the best use of available data and information, including work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), to prepare future editions of the Global Biodiversity Outlook. SBSTTA will also look at the report of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Indicators for the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. The Group has recommended a set of potential indicators that could be used to monitor progress at the global level towards the achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Many of these indicators would also be relevant to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the goals for sustainable development recently agreed by the United Nations General Assembly. In addition, delegates will discuss climate-related geoengineering, based on information submitted by Parties and the Update on Climate Geoengineering in Relation to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The report provides an update on the potential impacts of geoengineering techniques on biodiversity together with an account of regulatory developments since the 2012 studies on geoengineering and biodiversity presented in CBD Technical Series No. 66.
The relationship between biodiversity and human health will also be approached through a review of Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, a State of Knowledge Review, a joint report of the Secretariat of CBD and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Synergies in achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets of relevance to forests and other internationally agreed forest-related targets and objectives will be examined. This will include exploring how the Convention on Biological Diversity can better integrate its work with that of the United Nations Forum on Forests and other international organisations, in addition to looking at land use change, consumption patterns, and behaviour and institutional change.
Recommendations emanating from SBSTTA 19 will be considered by the Conference of the Parties at its thirteenth meeting, which will be held from 4 to 17 December 2016 in Cancun, Mexico.
A daylong forum that held a couple of weeks ago in Lagos at the instance of the Community Development and Conservation Initiatives (CCDI) sought to disseminate information on a Participatory Risk Reduction and Management blueprint which the Amuwo Odofin Local Government and its community members produced in partnership with CCDI and the Heinrich Boll Foundation.
Kofo Adeleke of CCDI
The vision, discloses Kofo Adeleke of CCDI in a press statement, is that this strategic plan can become a model for climate risk reduction and management strategy to guide all local governments in Lagos State affected by rapid population growth, limited resources and social inequalities, as all of these are compounded by the risks they face from global warming and climate change.
The strategic plan was developed in a participatory manner through a series of multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary focus group discussions. The focal areas discussed were: Wetland Conservation and Restoration; Flood Shelters and Evacuation Routes; Environmental Impact Assessments; Waste Management; and Public Spaces. A number of conclusions and recommendations originated from the development of this plan. The successful implementation of the strategy by local governments requires the coherent involvement of critical organisations. For this reason the Federal Ministry of Environment, Lagos State Building Investment Company, LSDPC, LASEMA, LASEPA, Lagos State Ministry of Environment, LAMATA, LASPARK, LAWMA, Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, NEMA, and NESREA who were part of the forum explored ways in which the document could be disseminated.
Given the scope of the strategy document, the discussions and suggestions which ensued from the seminar proceedings were wide ranging. One suggestion was that the exercise, undertaken at Amuwo Odofin Local Government, should be replicated in all local governments. Another suggestion was that the National Orientation Agency could be involved in making the strategy public knowledge. A case was made for the document to be used to engage with the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on the Environment, on issues which are an obstacle to local governments being able to protect themselves against climate change. The Ministry of Environment could also use its experience of methods in communicating to local governments on climate change issues.
A fair amount of discussion was devoted to level of involvement of local governments in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process which would help protect their communities, and also the encroachment into local government functions by the State Government; this was defended on the basis that local governments were unable to manage these functions. It was agreed that the EIA law in practice was not perfect and that all tiers of government must be involved in the conduction of the EIA process from beginning to end, and that this can only be achieved through common resolve and a holistic approach involving ministries, departments and agencies to address the weaknesses. It was even proposed that a unit within each local government that complements NESREA would help local governments uphold environmental standards.
It was also believed that there was a lot of pressure put on departments and agencies to adopt an aggressive drive for revenue which takes away focus on the social and environmental considerations necessary for building climate resilient communities. Overall the main elements in the strategy document were felt to be in line with efforts of the federal government on environmental protection.
Campaigners have urged the UN’s Green Climate Fund to reject the involvement of HSBC and Credit Agricole, ahead of COP21.
GCF executive director Hela Cheikhrouhou. Photo credit: news.gcfund.org
A group of 88 NGOs, charities and academic bodies has penned an open letter to the board of the GCF, claiming that the accreditation of the two banks, which is currently being considered, would “pose serious reputational and moral risk to the GCF”.
Accreditation allows an institution to receive and distribute money on behalf of the GCF. In July, Deutsche Bank came under similar fire from NGOs after it was accredited by the fund.
“The banks’ accreditation would undermine the GCF’s commitment to robust fiduciary standards and strong environmental and social safeguards… and would be contrary to what the GCF Secretariat has described as having ‘GCF standards [that] build on best practices of global institutions'”, said the letter, which was signed by Friends of the Earth, ActionAid US and BankTrack Netherlands, among others.
According to the group, the two banks rank among the top 20 private banks to finance coal. Credit Agricole invested more than €7 billion in the coal sector between 2005 and 2014, while for HSBC this figure was more than €7.9 billion.
“Both banks also back non-fossil-fuel-based sectors with a large negative impact on climate. HSBC is a major financier of Indonesia’s palm oil sector, a sector characterised by driving deforestation on a vast scale, industrial agricultural excess, degradation of carbon-rich peatlands, human rights abuse, and labor exploitation,” it said.
“Accredited entities should have exemplary policies and practices in place to adequately deal with potential social, gender equality, environmental, and human rights risks of the projects they finance. This is not the case with HSBC and Crédit Agricole,” it continued, adding that HSBC has been accused of “bankrolling” logging companies in Malaysia.
The letter did not propose an alternative bank that would be deemed more suitable to receive and distribute the funds of the GCF. A spokesperson for Friends of the Earth, which led the campaign, told Environmental Finance that no “international banks should have direct access to GCF funds”.
HSBC and Credit Agricole did not respond to requests for comment ahead of publication.
Signatories to the open letter:
350.org (International), ActionAid USA, AFREMO Ladies Club (Ghana), Africa Emancipation Movement (Ghana), Alyansa Tigil Mina (Alliance Against Mining-Philippines), Aotearoa New Zealand Human Rights Lawyers Association, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development, BankTrack (Netherlands), Both ENDS (Netherlands), CAFOD (UK), Center for Earth Jurisprudence, Barry University Law School (USA), Center for Environment/Friends of the Earth Bosnia and Herzegovina, Center for International Environmental Law (USA), Centre for Social Impact Studies (Ghana), CHANGE (Vietnam), Chennai Solidarity Group (India), CLEAN (Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network) (Bangladesh), Climate & Sustainable Development Network of Nigeria (CSDevNet), Coast Rights Forum (Kenya), Community Resource and Development Center (Kenya), Consumers Protection Association (Lesotho), Corporate Accountability International (USA), Corporate Europe Observatory (Belgium), ECASARD (Ghana), Energy Action Coalition (USA), Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti (USA), Equator Network (USA), European Association of Geographers (Belgium), Food & Water Watch (USA), Forest Peoples Programme (UK), Friends Committee on National Legislation (USA), Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Friends of the Earth International, Friends of the Earth U.S., Foundation HELP (Tanzania), Gender Action (USA), Germanwatch, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (International), Global Witness (UK), groundWork/Friends of the Earth South Africa, Heinrich Boell Stiftung North America, Human Rights Foundation Aotearoa (New Zealand), Indian Social Action Forum, Indian Youth Climate Network and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (USA).
Others are: Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (Philippines), Institute for Policy Studies – Climate Policy Program (USA), Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense, AIDA (Latin America), International-Lawyers.org (Switzerland), JA!Justica Ambiental/FOE Mozambique, JVE International (Togo), JVE Zambia, Kenya County Government Workers Union, Khazer Ecological and Cultural NGO (Armenia), Klima ohne Grenzen (Germany), Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (South Korea), KyotoUSA, Labour, Health and Human Rights Development Centre (Nigeria), LEADS Nigeria, Leave It in the Ground Initiative, Les Amis de la Terre France, London Mining Network (UK), Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns (USA), MPIDO (Kenya), Nature Code – Centre of Development & Environment (Belgium), NOAH – Friends of the Earth Denmark, Nostromo Research (UK), P3 Foundation (New Zealand), Pacific Partnerships on Gender, Climate Change & Sustainable Development, PPGCCSD (Fiji), Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, PACJA (Africa), Policy Analysis and Research Institute of Lesotho, SAGRC (South Africa), SONIA for a Just New World (Italy), Southern Oregon Climate Action Now (USA), SustainUS (USA), Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, Tebtebba (International), The Development Institute (Ghana), The Institute for Policy Interaction (Malawi), Third World Network (Malaysia), Tipping Point Collective, (International), Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Urgewald (Germany), WomanHealth (Philippines), WoMIn African Gender and Extractives Alliance (South Africa), Worldview-The Gambia, and ZIMCODD (Zimbabwe).
The development of indigenous manpower for the oil and gas industry received a boost on Friday, October 30, 2015 as 40 engineering and geosciences graduates passed out from a one-year internship programme organised by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) operated Joint Venture and Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), a group of indigenous oilfield service companies. The milestone occurred on the same day that SPDC JV performed the ground-breaking ceremony of its Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) domestication initiative, whereby the manufacturers and their Nigerian partners have been allocated land to set up local assembly plants and service centres at the Shell Industrial Area in Port Harcourt.
A cross section of the 2014/2015 beneficiaries of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited JV Internship programme at their graduation on Friday, October 30, 2015. The Annual Programme is sponsored by the SPDC JV in collaboration with the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) to build capacity of Nigerian Geology and Engineering graduates
The internship programme introduced by SPDC JV in 2014 to support manpower development in critical disciplines equips graduates with vital industry experience for employment and continues with another batch of 40 graduates who are now attached to 20 PETAN companies.
In an address at the ceremony, Managing Director of the SPDC and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, said: “I’m pleased at the successful completion of the programme by the first batch of 40 graduates who worked with 12 PETAN member companies. I’m even more pleased that, as envisaged, a number of them have been employed by the partner companies and others.” The MD was represented by SPDC’s General Manager, Projects, Toyin Olagunju.
Guy Kent, Senior Procurement Manager, Shell Upstream Nigeria, said: “We are committed to developing Nigerian capability not because it feels good, but because it also makes good business sense. The partnership with PETAN is about giving the right people the chance to learn and actually start to contribute to the industry. It is the first rung of the ladder of development.”
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) represented by the Deputy Manager Human Capital Development, Mrs Michele Aiyegbusi, commended the SPDC JV for the internship initiative.
She said: “What we see here today is the sort of thing that NCDMB will want to see in the industry – the collaboration between the operators and the service providers. NCDMB also runs an internship programme specifically in the earth sciences.”
Meanwhile, three foreign equipment manufacturers and their Nigerian partners participated in the ground-breaking ceremony. In 2012, SPDC entered into an agreement with the original equipment manufacturers and their Nigerian partners. Subsequently, land was allocated to them at the Shell Industrial Area in Port Harcourt. The ground-breaking ceremony marks site readiness and construction of the first three assembly and service facilities for valves, low voltage electrical panels, switch gears and instrumentation equipment.
“The ground-breaking ceremony is a significant head start towards the development of mini industrial parks,” said Mr. Okunbor at the ceremony. “It is a major milestone in our aspiration to domesticate our sources of supply as part of our Nigerian content journey to keep them closer to our operations and benefit from the shorter supply chain.”
Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Mr. Denzil Kentebe, said: “SPDC was one of the first stakeholders to obtain approved from the Board for the OEM domestication programme. The vision ties into a similar plan by NCDMB to establish industrial packs in Yenagoa, Owerri and Calabar.”
General Manager, Nigerian Content Development of SPDC, Mr. Chiedu Oba, in his remarks, described the internship and the OEM domestication initiatives as a demonstration of “the long term commitment of Shell Companies in Nigeria to Nigerian content development. It is a key sourcing principle that is woven into the fabric of our business”.
New UN report synthesises national climate plans from 146 countries in advance of Paris
UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres. Photo credit: eaem.co.uk
An unprecedented world-wide effort is underway to combat climate change, building confidence that nations can cost effectively meet their stated objective of keeping a global temperature rise to under 2 degree C.
A new report today, assessing the collective impact of over 140 national climate action plans, indicates that together they can dramatically slow global emissions into the atmosphere.
Another key finding is that the aggregate impact of the “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)” will lead to a fall in per capita emissions over the coming 15 years.
“These INDCs – or national climate action plans – represent a clear and determined down-payment on a new era of climate ambition from the global community of nations. Governments from all corners of the Earth have signalled through their INDCs that they are determined to play their part according to their national circumstances and capabilities,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“Fully implemented these plans together begin to make a significant dent in the growth of greenhouse gas emissions: as a floor they provide a foundation upon which ever higher ambition can be built. I am confident that these INDCs are not the final word in what countries are ready to do and achieve over time–the journey to a climate safe-future is underway and the Paris agreement to be inked in Paris can confirm, and catalyze that transition,” she added.
Today’s report released by the UNFCCC secretariat captures the overall impact of national climate plans covering 146 countries as of 1 October 2015. This comprises 119 separate INDCs from 147 Parties to the UNFCCC, including the EU, a single Party representing 28 countries.
Since then, more INDCs have been submitted and submissions are likely to continue.
The 146 plans include all developed nations and three quarters of developing countries under the UNFCCC, covering 86% of global greenhouse gas emissions – almost four times the level of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, the world’s first international emission reduction treaty that required emissions cuts from industrialised countries.
One of the key findings is that the INDCs will bring global average emissions per capita down by as much as 8% in 2025 and 9% in by 2030.
“The INDCs have the capability of limiting the forecast temperature rise to around 2.7 degrees Celsius by 2100, by no means enough but a lot lower than the estimated four, five, or more degrees of warming projected by many prior to the INDCs,” said Ms. Figueres.
The secretariat report does not directly assess implications for temperature change by the end of the century under the INDCs because information on emissions beyond 2030 is required.
However other independent analyses have, based on a range of assumptions, methodologies and data sources, attempted to estimate the impact of the INDCs on temperature leading to a range of average estimates below, at or above 3 degrees C.
Importantly all deliver more or less similar emission levels in 2025 and 2030 and all confirm that the INDCs, if fully implemented, are an important advance on previous scenarios.
“These plans set a determined course, clearly recognizing that successful climate action achieves not only low emissions but a host of other economic and social benefits for governments, citizens and business,” said Ms. Figueres.
“Backed by financial support for developing countries, a clear long term destination of climate neutrality in the second half of the century and a ratcheting up of ambition in a structured, transparent and timely way, the INDCs provide an inspiring part of what will become the Paris package,” she said.
Key INDC findings in detail
The majority of INDCs are national in scope and some include immediate action, underlining government recognition of the urgency to raise ambition before as well as after 2020, when the new climate change agreement takes effect.
The report shows that the INDCs represent a substantial slowdown in emissions growth achieved in a cost effective way, making it still possible and affordable by 2030 to stay below a 2 degree temperature rise.
As well as the impact on per capita emissions, the report shows that INDCs are expected to slow emissions growth by approximately a third for 2010–2030 compared to the period 1990–2010, delivering emission reductions of around 4Gt by 2030 compared to pre-INDC scenarios.
All industrialised country INDCs and many developing country INDCs are unconditional. Conditional contributions represent about 25% of the total range of emission reductions.
All INDCs cover Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and many also cover methane, nitrous oxide and other potent greenhouse gases.
INDCs signal major economic transformation
The INDCs present climate policies, programmes and actions across many sectors, such as decarbonising energy supply, and mainly through massive shifts to renewable energy, energy efficiency improvements, improved land management, urban planning and transport.
They reflect growing government confidence in the global response by tens of thousands of companies and investors and thousands of mayors and regional governments who see their own sustainable futures built upon this transformation.
An accompanying report to be published in November from the UNFCCC secretariat – “Climate Action Now” a Summary for Policymakers – will underline the enormous emission reduction potential and multiple economic benefits possible from best practise climate policies across major sectors from energy to transport, from buildings to forests.
Over half of all INDCs also include a long-term perspective on the
transition toward economic growth based on low-emission, high resilience
development. Many foresee near climate neutrality by 2050, meaning a point
where remaining human emissions are absorbed by natural systems, are stored
or used.
Implementation of the INDCs will also underwrite the achievements of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Indeed, fulfilling these INDCs will be a defining factor in the success of the SDGs which would not survive a future of extreme climate impacts.
Reflecting the need to factor existing climate change into national planning, 100 of the INDCs include measures to reduce vulnerability and build resilience.
Countries with an adaptation component in their INDCS are pursuing efforts through a number of instruments, including climate change laws and regulations and national or sector plans and strategies. Sectors of highest concern are water resources, agriculture, health, ecosystems, and forestry.
The INDCs and Paris: Kick-Starting Long-Term Global Action The new climate change agreement to be agreed in Paris can anchor the INDCs in terms of recognition, accountability and adequate support that will encourage the extra, required ambition to emerge.
And because greater action will be required over time, it is important to note that the INDCs do not indicate any locking in of the level of global emissions in 2030. Many nations will overachieve on goals set based on what is seen as achievable today.
National contributions can be adjusted upwards over time, especially as mobilisation of climate finance and other forms of multilateral cooperation which are catalysed by the new Paris agreement will allow governments to go further and faster, even before 2030.
