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Switzerland targets 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

Michael Simire
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Switzerland targets 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

Switzerland aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% relative to 1990 levels by 2030. At least 30% of this reduction must be achieved within Switzerland itself. The rest may be attained through projects carried out abroad. These objectives were approved by the Federal Council in November 2014 as part of the definition of the negotiation mandate for the climate conference in Lima and were made public on Friday. Switzerland will announce its commitment to reduce emissions by 50% to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Climate change is impacting Switzerland. Photo credit: startribune.com
Climate change is impacting Switzerland. Photo credit: startribune.com

A new international climate agreement which will involve all States from 2020 is due to be concluded at the climate conference to be held in Paris in December 2015. All Member States of the UNFCCC are required to state their commitments for the post-2020 period in advance of the Paris summit.

This objective of a 50% reduction in emissions reflects Switzerland’s responsibility for climate warming and the potential cost of emissions reduction measures in Switzerland and abroad over the 2020-2030 period. Switzerland, which is responsible for 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions and, based on the structure of its economy, has a low level of emissions (6.4 tonnes per capita per year), should be able to avail of emissions reduction measures abroad to reduce the cost of emissions reduction measures during the period 2020-2030. The fulfilment of part of the targeted reduction abroad will also enable the spreading of domestic measures over a longer period to account for capacities within the economy.

Switzerland’s target for 2020-2030 is also compatible with the pathway defined by climate experts to keep climate warming below two degrees between now and the end of the century.

At national level, a draft revision of the CO2 Act will be submitted for consultation in mid-2016.

 

Greater commitment for the climate

In line with the measures already implemented at national level, Switzerland emits less greenhouse gases today than in 1990 despite the fact that gross national product increased by 36% over the intervening period. Switzerland fulfilled its emissions reduction target for the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol (2008-2012).

This commitment has been increased for the period 2013-2020. The CO2 Act prescribes a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 20% by 2020 to be achieved through domestic measures. The instruments established to fulfil this target include the CO2 tax on heating fuel, the reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars, the obligation for fuel importers to compensate for some of the CO2 emitted by transport and the Buildings Programme.

 

A clear, transparent and understandable commitment

According to the decisions adopted by the climate conference in Lima, the commitment to be announced by the States for the post-2020 period must be clear, transparent and understandable. Switzerland has provided information under each of the seven key points identified in Lima which ensure the clarity of its commitment:

Reference point for the calculation of emissions reductions: 1990

Period for implementation: up to 2030

Scope of the commitment: sectors covered are energy, industrial processes and product use, agriculture, land-use, land-use change and forestry, waste; the reductions cover seven greenhouse gases: CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), PFCs (perfluorocarbons), SF6 (sulphur hexafluoride), NF3 (nitrogen trifluoride), that is the gases already covered by the current legislation.

Processes: a draft revision of the CO2 Act will be submitted for consultation in mid-2016; the proposed measures will mainly aim to reinforce existing measures.

Assumption and methodology: Switzerland’s commitment is based on the existence of emissions certificates which meet high quality criteria and are sufficient in quantity. The effect of forests will be taken into account. The methodology for non-forest land remains to be developed.

Adequacy of the commitment

Three criteria are taken into account:

  1. Historical and current responsibility for climate change: Switzerland is responsible for 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions today. Its level of responsibility is low.
  2. Capacity to contribute to solving the climate problem: thanks inter alia to its high per capita GNP, Switzerland’s capacity to contribute to solving the climate problem is high.
  3. Cost-effectiveness of emissions reduction measures: due to its mainly carbon-free energy production and lack of heavy industry, the cost of reduction measures in Switzerland is high in the short term.

Contribution to the objective of the Convention (increase in temperature of less than two degrees): the reduction target of -50% relative to 1990 levels is compatible with the recommendations of the IPCC of -40 to -70% below 2010 levels by 2050.

 

Objective in the context of the two degree pathway

According to the objectives defined by the Federal Council for 2030 and 2050, i.e. -50% relative to 1990 and -70 to -85% by 2050, per capita annual emissions must reach 3 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per year in 2030, and between 1 and 2 tonnes of CO2 by 2050. Hence Switzerland’s targets lie within the ambitious average of the climate experts’ (IPPC) recommendations for 2050. This emissions development is also in line with the Federal Council’s long-term objective of reducing per capita emissions to one or one-and-a-half tonnes.

UN publishes climate agreement negotiating text

Michael Simire
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UN publishes climate agreement negotiating text

Another key step towards a new, universal climate change agreement appears to have been taken following the official issuance on Thursday of negotiating text for the agreement by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC

The text was agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Geneva earlier this month, and covers the substantive content of the new agreement including mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, capacity building, and transparency of action and support.  See the negotiating text here: http://unfccc.int/documentation/documents/advanced_search/items/6911.php?priref=600008407

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres said: “I’m delighted that the negotiating text from which the Paris agreement will be constructed has now been officially published. This will allow early consideration of the text on the part of governments.”

The negotiating text will be formally communicated to all governments that are Party to the Convention as soon as it becomes available in all six official languages of the UN. The expectation is that this could be achieved by the end of March, thus amply fulfilling procedural requirements for adoption of the agreement at the end of the year.

This milestone kick-starts a year of intense negotiations and political efforts focused on completing the new agreement and building broad-based momentum across all levels for a unified and lasting response to the challenge of climate change.

“I welcome the broad-based engagement of Heads of State and Ministers ranging from finance to health to energy. The new agreement will not only be of relevance to Ministers of environment, but will be of key relevance across all government ministries and departments committed to the triple intertwined agendas of 2015: namely climate action, the realisation of a suite of Sustainable Development Goals and progressing on disaster risk reduction,” Ms. Figueres stated.

Negotiators will reconvene at the Climate Change Conference in Bonn from 1 to 11 June to seek convergence, find ways to bridge positions and reach common understandings.

“The June session will be of crucial importance,” Ms. Figueres said. “I would like to call on all governments to empower their negotiators to come prepared to make choices in June and to converge on outcomes all Parties can accept,” she added.

Additionally, negotiators will identify elements within the negotiating text that are of a durable nature and therefore need to be enshrined in the agreement, and aspects that are more suitable to be contained in decisions at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. This could mean, for example, that the establishment of a mechanism that boosts the response to climate change would be enshrined in the agreement, but the details of how this mechanism would operate would be captured in an accompanying decision.

Following the June conference, two further formal sessions have been scheduled in Bonn, from 31 August to 4 September and from 19 to 23 October.

Lekan Fadina: Road to Paris 2015 (5)

Michael Simire
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Lekan Fadina: Road to Paris 2015 (5)

The COP 21 in Paris, France is an important Conference of Parties and there are many reasons for this.

Prince Lekan Fadina
Prince Lekan Fadina

In New York on 10th February, 2015 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, experts and high level officials discussed specific ways to build mutually reinforcing processes on climate change and post-2015 development agenda.

The link between the two important United Nations meetings in September in New York to discuss the 17 issues in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris in December to agree on having a global agreement on emission reduction call for a more detailed understanding of the two.

Jeffrey Sachs, Director, Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN), who was a co-host of the event, said: “Sustainable development means the holistic combination of the economic advance, social inclusion and environmental sustainability, the greatest threat to which is climate change.”

Therefore sustainable development and climate change are one and same. He further said that sustainable development is a more inclusive concept. The process culminating in Addis Abba, New York and Paris should be viewed as long, continuous, interconnected negotiation with the ultimate result of a new global framework for sustainable development.

“It is one agenda, we have to succeed,” said Prof Sachs, who was of the view “that the Paris Climate Change Conference (COP21) is the world’s final chance to cap warming at two degree Celsius – which is the last guardian against disaster.”

There are different opinions about financing to meet the expectations of both the SDGs and the climate change. It is expected that climate financing should be secured at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD) in Addis Ababa because waiting for the outcome of the Paris Conference may mean panic.

The need to agree on net zero carbon by 2070, according to Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, is “not too complicated, it is just not too pleasant”.

The $100 billion Green Climate Fund approved by the UNFCCC, according to a number of experts, must be linked to official financing of climate-related issues and not only markets. It is expected that the SDGs outcome must agree with the agreement in Paris in December.

There are views going round the globe that, for the SDGs to be effective and achieve the objectives, the 17 SDGs should be condensed into 12 goals without losing the substance. In this regard the agenda should be an educational and advocacy document that is simple to follow, implement and not a technocratic one.

In a recent contribution, Isabella Lovin, Minister for International Development Co-operation of Sweden, said that none of the SDGs can succeed if humanity does not seriously submit itself to address climate change. She argued that SDGs put climate in a larger context than the numbers and technical terms characterising UNFCCC negotiations and they explain why we must avoid dramatic climate change because we want a fair, inclusive, sustainable and dignified society.

Joe Colombano of the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General on Climate Change is of the view that a key to greater coherence between the climate negotiations and post 2015 agenda is financing. He noted that the $100 billion Green Climate Fund is too small but it can be a good starting point to unlock the $90 trillion that will actually achieve the needed changes.

Pasztor went on further to priotise integrating climate change throughout the SDGs, saying that if all of the targets that directly or indirectly relate to climate change can be met, it will be a lot easier for climate negotiators to reach an agreement.

It is important to highlight that the two degrees Celsius cap leaves about 100 countries behind and the issue of loss and damage must be stressed especially as it relates to risk, disaster and other unexpected happenings.

The issue of SDGs and climate change must be properly addressed by governments’ private sector and civil society. We must ensure that people understand that these issues are about them, their livelihood and existence.

We must invest in human capital development through education, capacity building, public awareness and hands-on training workshops. It is then we can be confident that we are on the way to make the world a better place and for greater number of people to be able face the challenges ahead.

The year 2015 is important for addressing global governance on climate change, environmental sustainability and sustainable development. We should all see that Nigeria and other developing countries unite to ensure they have the knowledge and expertise to play significant roles.

By Prince Lekan Fadina (Executive Director, Centre for Investment, Sustainable Development, Management and Environment (CISME). He is a member of the Nigeria Negotiation Team, Africa Group of Negotiators and member, AGN Finance Co-ordination Committee)

SA activists frown at Eskom permission to postpone compliance

Michael Simire
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0
SA activists frown at Eskom permission to postpone compliance

The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in South Africa on Tuesday announced its decision to approve almost all Eskom’s applications to postpone compliance with atmospheric emission standards for 14 of its coal-fired power stations.

Eskom's Komati power station. Photo credit: www.eskom.co.za
Eskom’s Komati power station. Photo credit: www.eskom.co.za

A condition of these postponements is that Eskom is required to “implement an offset programme to reduce (particulate matter) pollution in the ambient/receiving environment. A definite offset implementation plan is expected from Eskom by 31 March 2016”.

But a team of civil society organisations (CSOs) who work with and support numerous affected communities in South Africa’s pollution hotspots – Centre for Environmental Rights, Earthlife Africa (Johannesburg) and groundWork (Friends of the Earth South Africa) – has expressed disappointment with the DEA’s decision. The CSOs claim that this would allow Eskom to continue to pollute in excess of what has been agreed as safe standards of emissions for another five years. They describe the decisions as slapdash, with no attempt to set strict and enforceable conditions to ensure that Eskom comes into compliance in the next five years.

“This shows a complete disregard for DEA’s constitutional responsibility to protect the health of South Africans,” they stated.

 

Background to the minimum emission standards

Over a period of about five years prior to 2010, the DEA, industry (including Eskom) and a few civil society organisations negotiated “minimum emission standards” (MES) for activities that have a significantly detrimental impact on human health. All such polluting industries must meet certain standards by 1 April 2015, and stricter standards by 1 April 2020. Despite knowing since 2004 that they would have to meet MES, Eskom – and about 20 other industrial facilities, largely following Eskom’s lead – applied to postpone such compliance, having failed to make the necessary investments to meet the MES.

 

Health impacts

One of the main grounds on which Eskom’s postponement applications were opposed by groundWork, Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and many community groups was that granting the postponements would violate the Constitutional right to an environmental not harmful to health or well-being. An expert who analysed these health impacts found that, if Eskom’s applications succeeded, this would result in about 20,000 premature deaths, over the remaining life of the power plants – including approximately 1,600 deaths of young children. The economic cost associated with the premature deaths, and the neurotoxic effects of mercury exposure, was estimated at 230 billion rand.

In a desktop report released by groundWork last year, it is clear that Eskom’s existing non-compliance with emission limits is proving extremely harmful to the health of the residents of the Highveld. The report indicated that air pollution from coal-fired power stations is:

  • responsible for 51% of hospital admissions and 51% of mortalities due to respiratory illnesses caused by outdoor air pollution. This is three times the impact from outdoor pollution due to domestic coal burning; and
  • responsible for 54% of deaths from air pollution-related cardiovascular diseases, compared to 16% attributable to domestic coal burning.

 

Permission to continue polluting given in areas already out of compliance

Twelve of the coal-fired power stations for which Eskom sought postponement are located in the air pollution hotspot known as the Highveld Air Quality Priority Area, with Matimba and Medupi power stations falling within the Waterberg-Bojanala Air Quality Priority Area and Lethabo falling within the Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area. Most of these stations are already out of compliance with the existing ambient air quality standards. This means that Eskom’s applications do not meet the requirements of the Framework for Air Quality Management (which is regarded as part of the Air Quality Act), which only permits MES postponement applications to be made for facilities in areas where air quality meets the ambient air quality standards.

Director of groundWork, Bobby Peek, adds: “No one disputes that Eskom is in crisis. But the costs of compliance with the MES cannot trump other considerations. For too long, government, Eskom, and other polluting industries have failed to account properly for the devastating health impacts and costs of air pollution. The DEA’s decision simply reinforces the massive environmental injustices suffered by those who have to breathe poisonous air on a daily basis. This is undemocratic and unconstitutional – it makes polluted air, legal air. This is not what we planned for in 2004 when we got mandatory minimum emission standards.”

South Africa’s current electricity crisis has forced Eskom to perform massive maintenance to its plants at huge cost to the economy. Eskom should have been forced to retrofit its plants at the same time to ensure MES compliance, and to avoid a similar situation in the future, especially because these power stations will have to work longer because of the electricity deficit.

The DEA has also granted some applications to postpone compliance with MES that only apply from 2020. Although not prohibited by the legislation, we regard this as inappropriate and premature – the considerations that would influence a postponement application could be vastly different in five years’ time.

Nevertheless, as set out above, MES postponements have been granted on condition that Eskom implements an “offset” programme to reduce particulate matter in the receiving environment. Dominique Doyle, Energy Policy Officer at Earthlife Africa (Johannesburg) explains that this amounts to nothing short of an attempt to “offset” Eskom’s non-compliance with MES:

“It is completely inappropriate for the NAQO to have allowed Eskom to implement “air quality offsets”. Quite apart from the fact that there is no legal framework for such “offsets”, that pilot offsetting projects have not been concluded, and that these are contrary to internationally recognised principles around mitigation of environmental harm, monitoring compliance with such a vague requirement will be extremely difficult, if not impossible.”

Robyn Hugo, attorney heading up the Pollution & Climate Change Programme at the Centre for Environmental Rights, says: “As currently phrased in the decisions, there are no specific requirements for these “offset” programmes. They do not, for instance, indicate by how much Eskom must reduce pollution. Who will monitor this? What will DEA do if Eskom simply doesn’t comply?”

 

Next steps

The CSOs claim that they will now evaluate the postponement decisions and speak to community organisations in affected areas to determine the possible options to challenge the decisions. In the interim, they add, Eskom must be forced to comply with each and every term of the MES postponement conditions, with severe consequences if it fails.

Kaduna farmers get N1 billion agricultural loans

Michael Simire
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Kaduna farmers get N1 billion agricultural loans

The Kaduna State Government has commenced disbursement of loans to farmers in the state under a partnership with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) with a total sum of N1 billion ready for access by the farmers.

Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State. Photo credit: elombah.com
Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State. Photo credit: elombah.com

The state governor, Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, disclosed this at a flag-off ceremony and distribution of cheques to benefiting farmer cooperative groups and individual farmers in the state.

Governor Yero said the scheme is aimed at providing finance to farmers in a bid to increase performance in the sector.

“The Agricultural loan scheme has a convenient means of raising funds to finance agriculture and agro allied businesses in view of the attractive interest rate chargeable which is only 5%, with a very short period of loan processing and disbursement.

Yero said the Technical Committee established by the State Ministry of Agriculture had screened six cooperative associations and nine individual farmers to benefit from the first phase of the scheme.

“The beneficiaries have been drawn on equal basis from the three senatorial zones of the state. Each cooperative association has an average of ten farmers and will receive agricultural loan ranging from N2.5 million and above.

“On the other hand, each individual beneficiary will receive the sum of N250,000. The Bank of Agriculture will continue to disburse the facility to other beneficiary Cooperative Associations and individual farmers. I therefore urge farmers that have not indicated interest to hasten to take advantage of the opportunity being provided by this scheme,” he said.

He further reiterated the commitment of the present administration towards improving the agriculture sector in the state as a way of diversifying the economy.

“With a population of approximately 170 million people in the country, government at both federal and state levels cannot afford to neglect the agricultural Sector. Especially with the ever dwindling Statutory Allocation from the Federation Account and the need to diversify the sources of revenue to fund government programmes and activities,” he said.

By Ibrahim Mohammad, Kaduna

How 5th climate report relates to East Africa, by IPCC

Michael Simire
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How 5th climate report relates to East Africa, by IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented the findings of its latest report in Nairobi on Monday to policymakers, civil society, scientists and students from Kenya and other East African countries.

Youba Sokona, Co-Chair of Working Group III. Photo credit: twitter.com
Youba Sokona, Co-Chair of Working Group III. Photo credit: twitter.com

Written by over 800 scientists from 80 countries, and assessing over 30,000 scientific papers, the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) tells policymakers what the scientific community knows about the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.

The key findings of AR5, as expressed in the Synthesis Report released on 2 November 2014, are:

  • Human influence on the climate system is clear;
  • The more we disrupt our climate, the more we risk severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts; and
  • We have the means to limit climate change and build a more prosperous, sustainable future.

For East Africa, the IPCC AR5 highlights risks from climate change including those related to food and water security, changing patterns of disease, and extreme weather events. Addressing current vulnerabilities can reduce today’s climate risks and contribute to climate-resilient development over the coming decades.

“The longer we wait, the harder it will be to deal with climate change,” said Youba Sokona, Co-Chair of Working Group III, who presented the Synthesis Report as well as IPCC Working Group III’s findings to the meeting.

Around 300 people from Kenya, both from Nairobi and the rest of the country, registered for the event, and delegates from East Africa and other countries to a Session of the IPCC starting the following day were also invited.

The IPCC is the world body for assessing the science related to climate change. The IPCC was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly, to provide policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.

The IPCC does not do its own research, conduct climate measurements or produce its own climate models; it assesses the thousands of scientific papers published each year to tell policymakers what we know and don’t know about the risks related to climate change, and identifies where there is agreement in the scientific community, where there are differences, and where further research is needed. Thus the IPCC offers policymakers a snapshot of what the scientific community understands about climate change rather than promoting a particular view. IPCC reports are policy-relevant without being policy-prescriptive.

The IPCC may set out options for policymakers to choose from in pursuit of goals decided by policymakers, but it does not tell governments what to do. To produce its reports, the IPCC mobilises hundreds of scientists who – like the Chair and other elected officials – work as volunteers. These scientists and officials are drawn from diverse backgrounds. They are not paid for their work at the IPCC. Only a dozen permanent staff work in the IPCC’s Secretariat. The members of the IPCC, comprising the Panel, are its 195 member governments. They work by consensus to endorse the reports of the IPCC and set its procedures and budget in plenary meetings of the Panel.

The word “Intergovernmental” in the organisation’s name reflects this. It is not a United Nations agency, but is sponsored by two UN organisations – WMO and UNEP.

IPCC reports are requested by the member governments and developed by authors drawn from the scientific community in an extensive process of repeated drafting and review. Scientists and other experts participate in this review process through a self-declaration of expertise. The Panel endorses these reports in a dialogue between the governments that request the reports and will work with them and the scientists that write them. In this discussion the scientists have the last word on any additions or changes, although the Panel may agree by consensus to delete something.

The IPCC produces comprehensive assessment reports on climate change every six years or so. The IPCC completed the AR5 with the release of the Synthesis Report on 2 November 2014. AR5 is the most comprehensive assessment of climate change ever undertaken. Over 830 scientists from over 80 countries were selected to form the author teams producing the report. They in turn drew on the work of over 1,000 contributing authors and over 1,000 expert reviewers. AR5 assessed over 30,000 scientific papers.

Besides the Synthesis Report, AR5 includes the contributions of IPCC Working Group I (the physical science basis of climate change), of Working Group II (impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability), and of Working Group III (mitigation of climate change). The Synthesis Report distils, synthesises and integrates the findings of the working group contributions into a concise document. This integrated approach allows the Synthesis Report to draw together the assessment of past changes in climate as well as projections for the future from the three working group reports as well as the two Special Reports brought out in 2011. It covers both adaptation and mitigation to provide an overview of possible risks and solutions.

Forensic tools boost Thailand’s drive against illegal ivory trade

Michael Simire
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0
Forensic tools boost Thailand’s drive against illegal ivory trade

Ivory traffickers be warned: the Thai authorities have a powerful forensic tool in the country’s drive to detect ivory of illegal origin entering its markets and ensure domestic traders are complying with new laws.

Ivory trafficking. Photo credit: girlegirlarmy.com
Ivory trafficking. Photo credit: girlegirlarmy.com

A collaborative project between Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, has trailed forensic DNA examination of ivory products to assess the origin of elephant ivory products commonly available in local markets.

One hundred and sixty items of small ivory products legally acquired by TRAFFIC researchers primarily from retail outlets in Bangkok were subjected to DNA analysis at the DNP’s Wildlife Forensics Crime Unit (WIFOS Laboratory). The aim of the exercise was to determine whether the ivory products were made from African Elephant or Asian Elephant tusks.  The African Elephant Loxodonta africana found in 37 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, or the Asian Elephant Elephas maximas found in Thailand and 12 other Asian countries.

Forensic results show that African Elephant ivory accounted for a majority of the items tested.  Whilst the relatively small number of samples cannot be considered as representative of the entire ivory market in Thailand, it indicates that African Elephant ivory is prominently represented in the retail outlets in Bangkok.

This capability supports the enforcement component of Thailand’s revised National Ivory Action Plan (NIAP) submitted to CITES in September 2014. The plan was developed to control ivory trade in Thailand and strengthen measures to prevent illegal international trade. It includes a strong focus on law enforcement and regulation, including the execution of a robust ivory registration system.

“The ability to use DNA and other forensic expertise provides great support to law enforcement,” said Mr. Adisorn Noochdumrong, Acting Deputy Director General of DNP. “We are deeply concerned by these findings which come just at the moment a nationwide ivory product registration exercise is being conducted pursuant to recently enacted legislation to strengthen ivory trade controls in Thailand,” added the DNP representative.

In January 2015, the Thai government passed new legislation to regulate and control the possession and trade of ivory that can be shown to have come from domesticated Asian Elephants in Thailand. With the passing of the Elephant Ivory Act B.E. 2558 (2015), anyone in possession of ivory – whether as personal effects or for commercial purposes – must register all items in their possession with the DNP from January 22 until April 21, 2015.  Penalties for failing to do so could result in up to three years imprisonment and/or a maximum fine of Thai Baht 6 million (nearly USD200,000).

“We remind anyone registering possession of raw ivory or ivory products under Thailand’s new laws that African Elephant ivory is strictly prohibited and ineligible for sale in Thailand,” said Mr. Noochdumrong.

TRAFFIC applauds the Thai authorities for using and highlighting the opportunities for DNA testing to determine the elephant species behind the ivory products found locally for sale. “This represents a new front in the country’s capability to police the local ivory market and meet the requirements of CITES, which Thailand joined in 1983,” said Dr Chris Shepherd, the Director of TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia.

Greenpeace: Agribusiness firms destroying apes’ rainforest habitat

Michael Simire
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0
Greenpeace: Agribusiness firms destroying apes’ rainforest habitat

Endangered great ape species are having their rainforest habitat destroyed and threatened by the expansion of agribusiness projects in central Africa, according to new evidence from Greenpeace Africa.

Chimpanzees. Photo credit: wired.com
Chimpanzees. Photo credit: wired.com

Satellite images, reportedly obtained by Greenpeace Africa, show that more than 3,000 hectares of rainforest bordering the Dja Faunal Reserve has already been destroyed inside the Chinese-owned Hevea Sud rubber and palm oil concession in Cameroon’s Southern region. The reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to apes such as the western lowland gorilla, chimpanzees and mandrills.

“Agro-industrial developments will soon emerge as a top threat to biodiversity in the African tropical forest zone”, says Dr Joshua Linder, an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at James Madison University.

“If proactive strategies to mitigate the effects of large-scale habitat conversion are not soon implemented, we can expect a rapid decline in African primate diversity.”

UNESCO has previously requested for an inspection to be carried out to assess if any damage has been done to the Dja reserve, but permission was denied by local authorities. The plantation lies in the home district of Cameroonian president Paul Biya. The forest clearance is significantly greater than that carried out by US company Herakles Farms for their palm oil project in the country’s South West region that has also deforested vital wildlife habitat and deprived local communities of the forest they depend on for their livelihoods.

A Greenpeace Africa investigation in December revealed that Cameroonian company Azur is also targeting a large area of dense forest in Cameroon’s Littoral region to convert to a palm oil plantation, a large part of which is adjacent to the Ebo forest, a proposed national park that is used by many primate species including the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee sub-species plus the rare and endangered drill, as well as threatened mammals such as the forest elephant.

Greenpeace Africa has twice written to Azur asking they detail their plans and allay environmental concerns over the project, but no response has been provided.

The Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzee is one of the most endangered primates in the world and faces numerous threats including destruction of habitat from illegal logging, poaching, the bush meat trade and the effects of climate change. The drill is a rare ape and 80 per cent of the world’s remaining population is in Cameroon and Azur’s plantation project may lead to even more habitat destruction of this already endangered primate.

Industrial-scale agricultural concessions, many foreign-owned, are often allocated throughout West and Central Africa without proper land-use planning. This frequently generates social conflicts when forest clearance takes place without prior consent of local communities. This can result in severe negative ecological impacts and effects on endangered wildlife species as many concessions overlap with forest areas of high biodiversity value.

“Governments need to urgently develop a participatory land use planning process prior to the allocation of industrial concessions” says Filip Verbelen, a senior forest campaigner with Greenpeace Belgium.

“Projects that are being developed without adequate community consultation and are located in areas of high ecological value should not be allowed to proceed and risk further social conflict and environmental damage.”

The Congo Basin is the world’s second largest rain-forested area. Its rich and diverse ecosystem provides food, fresh water, shelter and medicine for tens of millions of people. The conservation of these forests is vital in the fight against climate change. But the area is increasing under threat from rising global demand for resources, corruption and poor law enforcement.

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