In the wake of the G7’s announcement to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (or 3.6 degree Fahrenheit), UN climate negotiators from the world’s most vulnerable nations have questioned whether 2 degrees is too dangerous.
Should the 2 degree goal be ditched? Photo credit: livescience.com
Unfortunately, their call to focus efforts on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees was from some of the most powerful nations at the UN climate talks: India, China and Saudi Arabia.
Care International’s Sven Harmeling has labelled this move “highly concerning”, especially given the human rights implications of a 2-degree target.
This concern turned to protest, as young people gathered at the UN with banners of tropical storms. They then asked negotiators to “add their name here” if they believed that a 2 degree world was safe, noting that they would use their names for the “future disasters of a 2 degree world”.
Recently, a group of global Human Rights experts, highlighted what they called the “human rights” implications of a 2 degree rise, calling it “the greatest human rights challenges of our generation”.
They argue in line with the most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that people who are currently “marginalised are especially vulnerable to climate change”, even at only 2 degrees of warming.
They also pointed the finger of responsibility squarely at “the heads of governments and their climate negotiators” who they say “represent the very last generation that can prevent catastrophic environmental harm to a vast array of human rights”.
A U.N. report released earlier this year states that climate change accounts for 87 percent of disasters worldwide. This figure, it must be remembered, comes with only 0.8 degrees Celsius of global temperature rise that we are now experiencing.
However scientists are largely uncertain what the impacts of a doubling of current warming could be.
As Harjeet Singh from ActionAid International points out “In reality, the impacts of increasing temperature levels will not be linear, but will multiply what we face now several times over. What will happen at 2, 3 or 4 degrees Celsius of warming is unimaginable”.
Those countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change have been concerned about the reality of 2 degrees of warming since the UN climate talks began.
As the Philippines Climate Change Commissioner, Mary Ann Lucille Sering argued earlier this year, “How can we possibly subscribe to more than double current warming given what less than 1 degree Celsius has entailed?”
Seeing currently heads a group of countries within the UN climate talks known as the Climate Vulnerable Forum, who argue that the 2 degree target, reinforced by leaders of the G7 this week is “inadequate, posing serious threats for fundamental human rights, labor and migration and displacement”.
Seeing and other leaders of the Climate Vulnerable Forum commissioned a Human Rights inquiry into the 2 degree target earlier this year that has highlighted the severe impacts of 2 degrees for poor and marginalised groups around the world.
John Knox, who lead the inquiry as the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights and the Environment, argued that “Even moving from one to two degrees of warming negatively affects the full enjoyment of a wide range of human rights.”
He further believes it will have a multiplying impact on Human Rights around the world, and make it very difficult for countries to “respect, protect and promote human rights.”
These reports, and the current state of UN climate negotiations around the 2 degree target have shone light once again on the importance of support that developing countries will need to face the ongoing impacts of global warming.
In fact, the government of Vanuatu has decided to sue the world’s leading fossil fuel companies for the impacts of climate change that they are already facing. Earlier this year, Cyclone Pam destroyed more than 90 per cent of housing infrastructure in the pacific nation’s capital city, Port Vila.
Baldwin Lonsdale, president of Vanuatu, called the Cyclone a “monster” which was directly linked to Climate Change. As such, his government has now decided to “bring a case that would investigate the human rights implications of climate change and hold the big carbon polluters accountable to appropriate international bodies.”
Within the UN climate negotiations, many fear that financial support for adaptation and the damages that cannot be adapted to will not meet the required targets. This is what led negotiators and civil society actors to stage a protest today in the UN climate talks demanding that negotiators not only recognise the importance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, but also reinvigorate negotiations to better support the inevitable damages that will result.
While a 1.5 degree world may not seem “realistic” to the likes of India, China and Saudi Arabia, all seeking to continue to exploit their vast fossil fuel resources, it is only a matter of time before the true “reality” of a warming world sets in.
It is interesting how time flies and, very soon, it shall be time for COP 21 in Paris, France; six months since COP 20 in Lima, Peru and two weeks since the Bonn meeting in Germany.
Dr Erimma Orie
In the interim the clock ticks, the climate keeps changing, the impact is not abating and our vulnerability keeps increasing.
With the international deliberations over Nigeria, like other party members, has returned home to our domestic constituents to re-examine the decisions reached at Lima.
No doubt, the decisions at Lima will have to be x-rayed in the context of our home-grown electoral interests, national discourses and domestic political institutions. In coordinating our national response, the desire has always been, as is also applicable to most other countries, to do so in a way that will not entail accepting more responsibility than other parties or groups. Thus, the trend in the negotiations has been, first to ensure the preservation of national/domestic interests.
It is in line with this that it becomes very necessary to commend the renewed efforts by Nigeria to become more active at the negotiations and activities leading to the COPs. Indeed, Nigeria is far more serious and coordinated now than some years back. It will be necessary to complement these efforts with our submission of our climate change action plan, or the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).
Perhaps in that same spirit one will suggest that it is also time to be more vocal – particularly against the developed countries who employ the services of lobbyists to achieve their aims – over continuous emission reduction at the expense of the more vulnerable developing countries like Nigeria. Particularly disturbing is the role of the fossil fuel lobbyists who are increasingly more determined each year to thwart the efforts at a new or post Kyoto agreement.
At COP 15, there was evidence that the fossil fuel lobbyist used their domestic influence to sway state negotiations in Copenhagen. About $20 million was spent by US Electric Utilities, $3.4 million by the coal mining industry and $35 million by the oil and gas industry just on political contributions to state representatives to ensure that the interest of the energy industry was protected at COP 15.
Similar situations played out at subsequent COPs. For instance at COP 19 in Warsaw, corporations with a direct conflict of interest in the treaty’s success got delegates and even sponsored talks. In fact, COP 19 is believed to be the first UN Climate talks to have corporate sponsorship with some of the biggest climate crooks as official “partners.”
COP 20 was also not different. At Lima, these lobbyists even had direct engagement with UN officials or body like the Lima Paris Action Agenda (LPAA) of the Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations and the UNFCCC Secretariat.
Indeed the role of these fossil fuel lobbyists have made critiques to see UNFCCC as capitalist in nature and to call for an alternative to UNFCCC.
It is time for G77 and Nigeria in particular to take a stand so that Paris 2015 will not go the way of Copenhagen.
There is a sense of urgency here to which Nigeria, Africa, G77 and Nigerian NGOs must rise up to and ensure that the fossil fuel lobbyists are chased out of the COP or at least not allowed to have their way, especially at COP 21, if we are to make good success. This should be our stand.
By Dr Erimma Orie (School of Law, National Open University of Nigeria)
The Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE) is collaborating with the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley (UC-Berkeley) in the USA to investigate new strategies to explore how the human rights to water and sanitation can be successfully realised in Nigeria using Lagos as a case study. Graduate students of the Department involved in the initiative are scheduled to arrive Nigeria on Saturday, June 26 and depart July 9, 2015.
Access to water has posed a challenge in Lagos and other urban areas
Using the access criteria delineated by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights to water and sanitation, the project will seek to create and pilot a mobile phone survey application for local community members, aid organisations and officials to collect and monitor data on water and sanitation conditions in urban Lagos. In addition, the researchers will carry out participatory mapping activities with community members to identify environmental barriers that impact access to safe water.
According to Anthony Akpan, President of PAVE, nearly 74% of the population in Lagos rely on water from informal sources as urban access to piped water has declined sharply since 1990. He pointed out that the use of groundwater sources has increased dramatically and the use of unimproved sources of water has increased, especially in informal settlements, some of which have the fastest rates of population growth.
He said: “While the Millennium Development Goals have contributed to a remarkable reduction in global disease burden and an increase in quality of life, universal access to safe water and adequate sanitation remains a challenge for many low- and medium-income countries. In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Human Rights Council recognized access to water and sanitation as human rights in UN Resolution A/64/292.
“This resolution has become a seminal event in changing global expectations regarding water and sanitation. Countries are therefore responsible and legally accountable to utilize available resources to ensure that universal access to water and sanitation is provided for all. More importantly, the criteria for universal access established by the UN go beyond any previous expectations concerning infrastructure or quality.
“The requirements constituting the human rights to water and sanitation were delineated by the UN Special Rapporteur in the five following categories; 1) Availability of water and sanitation, 2) Physical accessibility to water and sanitation, 3) Quality and safety, 4) Affordability, 5) Acceptability, dignity and privacy.
The growing recognition of the human rights to water and sanitation has increased demand for disaggregated monitoring. Countries without a robust and efficient monitoring system are unable to gauge existing conditions in hard-to-reach communities. Thus, the unmet need for information and survey tools poses a threat to realizing and complying with the United Nations guidelines.
PAVE has been working to advance better access to water in Nigeria for the past 15 years.
Climate change and large dam projects are putting natural World Heritage sites at risk, says the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the official advisory body on nature to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.
In Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – the world’s largest coral reef system – rising water temperatures are causing coral bleaching, and ocean acidification is restricting coral growth and survival. Photo credit: telegraph.co.uk
This year, for the first time in many years, climate change will be brought to the attention of the World Heritage Committee as a major threat affecting World Heritage sites. The World Heritage Committee meets on Sunday, July 28 2015 in Bonn, Germany.
Climate change impact is already evident in 35 of 228 sites inscribed on the World Heritage list for their natural values, according to the IUCN World Heritage Outlook – the first global assessment of natural World Heritage. Climate change could also become the most widespread threat to World Heritage sites in the future.
“Few people are aware of thefull scale of thedamage being done as a result of climate change, including to some of our planet’s most spectacular natural areas,” saysInger Andersen, IUCN Director General. “We need to take action to address this threat on the ground and at the global level. An ambitious agreement reached by governments meeting at the UN climate talks later this year in Paris can help safeguard our precious World Heritage. The stakes are too high for us to miss what may well be our last window of opportunity.”
While only coordinated global efforts can help address the threat of climate change, it is important to increase resilience of the threatened sites by limiting other pressures to a minimum, according to IUCN.
Marine and coastal sites are facing particular challenges due to sea level rise, ocean acidification, and increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events. In Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – the world’s largest coral reef system – rising water temperatures are causing coral bleaching, and ocean acidification is restricting coral growth and survival.
In East Rennell, Solomon Islands, a World Heritage site listed as ‘in danger’ due to logging activities, the increasing salinity of Lake Tegano as a result of sea level rise has caused reduced freshwater supply and food shortages for the local communities.
Dams also pose a growing and serious threat to natural World Heritage, as evidenced by IUCN’s recommendations to the Committee. This year, 11 natural World Heritage sites threatened by dam projects will be discussed, including several where the impacts come from dams in a neighbouring country. IUCN calls for more effective environmental impact assessment of such projects and improved transboundary cooperation from the earliest stages in order to avoid or minimise the adverse effects of dams on World Heritage.
“Dams can have a huge impact on World Heritage sites, reducing precious natural wetland areas, changing river flows and impacting local communities,”saysTimBadman, Director of IUCN’s World Heritage Programme. “It is essential to consider better alternatives that avoid such constructions where possible, and to properly assess how dams will affect our World Heritage before they are built.Nature transcends national borders, and efforts to preserve what we recognise as our collective heritage must also look beyond national borders.”
Following a field mission, IUCN is concerned that the Gibe III dam in Ethiopia may permanently change the seasonal water flows into Lake Turkana National Parks – a World Heritage site in Kenya – with knock-on effects on wildlife and fish stocks which local communities depend on. The dam is now nearly complete and will be Africa’s second largest hydroelectric plant reaching the height of 243 metres. Ethiopia and Kenya have agreed to increase cooperation to mitigate the impacts from the dam on Lake Turkana.
Lake Baikal in Russia, the world’s largest and deepest lake and a World Heritage site since 1996, may suffer impact from three projects planned in Mongolia, including the construction of two hydropower plants and a reservoir. During a recent monitoring mission to Mongolia, IUCN found that environmental impact has been assessed in only one case. The combined effects of all three projects on the lake are unknown and could potentially seriously damage its World Heritage values.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee will gather at its annual meeting from 28 June to 8 July in Bonn, Germany, to take decisions on the conservation of World Heritage sites affected by threats and the inscription of potential new sites.
Having prepared monitoring reports on 55 natural World Heritage sites for the meeting, IUCN recommends ‘in danger’ status for Brazil’s Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks as a result of inadequate legal protection.
IUCN also recommends the removal of in-danger status of Colombia’s Los Katíos National Park thanks to the park management regaining control of the area following civil unrest and armed conflict. Los Katíos hosts exceptional biological diversity, including many endemic and threatened species such as the American Crocodile, Giant Anteater and Central American Tapir.
Eight World Heritage nominations have been evaluated this year by IUCN, which recommends World Heritage status for Jamaica’s Blue and John Crow Mountains, major extensions to Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park in Viet Nam and Cape Floral Region Protected Areas in South Africa, as well as changes in the boundaries of Russia’s Lena Pillars Nature Park.
Energy is the Golden Thread that connects economic growth, social equity and environmental health. – Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General
…Energy is a prerequisite for sustainable rural development. – UNESCO
Energy touches everything…Our mantra going forward is very simple: converting commitments to kilowatt hours for real people. – Kandeh Yumkella
If the only future we can see for villages is to turn them into towns, it would be no future worth aspiring for, considering the shape our towns are already in. – Prof. Krishna Kumar
No single cause can be identified to explain Nigeria’s poor economic performance over the years than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less. Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close on $20b expanded since 1999 have only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are under way during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians. – Muhammad Buhari, President of Nigeria
Nigeria’s over-dependence on hydro power for her energy sources has had negative impact recently. Her energy crisis deteriorated a few days to the country’s last general elections, when the agency responsible for regulating the operations in electricity sector, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), disclosed that, of the nation’s 23 power hydro power plants, only five were functional.
The development resulted in not only power crisis but also affected the country’s economic activities. Fuel supply nearly became zero. Even fuel-dependent generators, upon which Nigeria has been running her economy in the past 16 years, could not function. Banks in the country cut their normal hours of operation from eight hours to five, closing each day at 1pm. This almost grounded the economy.
It got to that point when the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power, Godknows Igali, along with the outgone Power minister, Chinedu Nebo, told former Vice-President, Namadi Sambo, of the alarming epileptic electricity supply across the country. Of the 4,800 megawatts (MW) of electricity supply being enjoyed by the country, according to Igali, only 1,327MW was being generated. This is too low for a supposed Africa’s largest economy.
He enumerated that most key power plants in the country had epileptic performance and had, therefore, shut down. Those affected included the ones located in at Utorogu, Chevron Oredo, Oben gas-fired power plants, as well as Ughelli and Chevron Escravos power plants. Also included were the National Integrated Power Plants (NIPPs), including Nigeria’s largest power plant at Egbin, Olorunshogo 1 & 11, Omotosho 1 & 11, Geregu I & 11, Ihonvor and Sapele on the western axis and Alaoji on the eastern end.
Attributable reason for the inability of these hydro power plants to generate electricity is “shortage of gas supply to the thermal plants, with one of the hydro stations faced with water management issue. This has led to loss of over 2,000 megawatts in the national grid,” Sam Amadi, Executive Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), had said.
Of worry was the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), to which the Shiroro Power Plant reduced the level of electricity supply to Abuja zone to just 15 MW from less than 200MW daily. Abuja is Nigeria’s Federal Capital City. This development is ridiculously mean, considering Nigeria’s position as an economy upon which other African countries depend.
Rethink Renewable Energy
This development calls for Nigeria’s rethink on energy to be directed at renewable energy sources, which include “sunlight, wind, water, biomass, tides and geothermal heat,” says Yusuf Ganda, a solar engineer with Sokoto Energy Research Centre.
“A total of 1.5 billion individuals (a quarter of world’s population) are without electric power, mostly concentrated in Africa and South Asia,” said a source.
In a recent presentation at the World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ) in Seoul, South Korea, the Project Leader of Smart Villages Initiatives (a not for profit organisation), Dr. Bernie Jones, said: “Energy means food security, democratic engagement, health and social welfare, education and local business that brings about integrated development.” This, he stated, is because the access to energy brings about them with ease.
According to him, while solar home systems are now being used “for micro-enterprises – mobile phone charging, hairdressing, guest houses, village cinema and entertainment in Tanzania (East Africa),” micro hydro is being used in Sarawak (Malaysia) to provide 24-hour, round-the-week of electricity “to supplement power of district health centre.”
This is the same in India where solar water pumps are used to irrigate without grid-determined hedging. Smart Villages Initiatives is evaluating how to deliver energy access to rural communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In order to meet the growing energy demand, especially in rural areas, exploration of alternative energy sources becomes imperative. Also, in order to check rural-urban drift, renewable energy is important in improving energy access, especially for rural dwellers.
That renewable energy is making impact in rural areas in developing countries in areas for households, lightening and entertainment. This is enough for African nation’s, especially Nigeria to follow suit. “The ‘productive uses’ of renewable energy can increase incomes and provide development benefits to rural areas,” said Ganda.
The German Development Bank-KFW’s recent allocation of N34,600,000,000 to advance renewable energy efficiency projects and technical assistance for the Nigerian power sector is a welcome development. It will go a long way in addressing the need for Nigeria to think of alternative energy sources that would provide more reliable power sources, for even the rural populace.
Nigeria’s renewable energy sources are abundant but untapped. Held as responsible for the development, which must be looked into by Nigerian government, include “policy and regulation, financing and investment, public awareness, quality and standards, poor resource database, etc.” These have stood as impediment for access to renewable energy in Nigeria.
Members of the fisheries commission for the eastern Pacific assembling in Guayaquil, Ecuador need to prioritise initiating a rigorous recovery plan to address the collapse of Pacific Bluefin Tuna stocks and stabilising overall tuna fishing capacity that currently exceeds the optimal scientifically recommended level by at least 50%.
The northern migration routes of the Pacific Bluefin tuna. Infographic courtesy: vox.com
“Tuna management in the Pacific is currently totally inadequate to preserve the Pacific Bluefin tuna stock.Only asignificant reduction of catches and stringent measures to protect juvenilescan ensure long-term sustainability of this fishery,” said Pablo Guerrero, WWF’s Eastern Pacific Ocean Tunacoordinator. The stock is now critically low, having dropped 96% according to the International Scientific Committee (ISC) for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean and scientists of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).
The 21 country and European Union members of the IATTC took initial steps to protect Pacific Bluefin in October 2014 in largely accepting scientific advice to almost halve fishing quotas for this prized but beleaguered fish.The IATTC further agreed that no country can exceed 3500 tons of catches in 2015 and that the fishing nations must establish a catch documentation system.
Bluefin Tuna fishing. Photo credit: phys.org
WWF strongly supports catch limits but demands closer monitoring of this fishery, especially of the catch numbers, to ensure that quotas are being respected. The completion of a revised stock assessment for this species is also necessary.
The real need is for the IATTC and sister bodyWestern Central Pacific Tuna Commission (WCPFC) to adopt a rigorous, long-term Pacific-wide recovery planfor Pacific Bluefin Tuna with robustharvest control rules3and firmlimit and reference points2 . Mechanisms for an adequate and adequately rapid response if Bluefin populations approach the limits are also strongly needed.
Japan, Mexico, the United States and South Korea are themajor countries fishing Pacific Bluefin, whilethe main market is Japan.
WWF is also very concerned about tuna fishing over-capacity in the Eastern Pacific, which is becoming apparent through declining yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks. Purse seine fleet captures about 90% of the tuna in the Eastern Pacific. The active purse-seine capacity registered in 2015 was 272,076 cubic meters, which greatly exceeds the capacity target level of158,000 cubic meters of total volumerecommended by scientists in 2002.
“We urge the IATTC to freeze the current capacity of the fishing fleet and work toward reducing the number of vessels authorized to fish for tuna in the eastern Pacific Ocean. This will also be in the best interest of the industry because it will address the problem of securing the future of tuna fisheries in the region,” said Pablo Guerrero.
IATTC scientists remain uncertain about the status of bigeye and yellowfin tuna due to current levels of fishing mortality exacerbated by the rising trend in the number of sets on Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), and also due to a possible increase in fishing operations in the EPO. WWF urges the IATTC to monitor this situation closely and be prepared to implement stronger measures to conserve the stocks.
WWF is also urging IATTC to adopt conservation measures to limit fishing mortality of silky sharks in order to rebuild the stock of these sharks in the region, and also to totally prohibit the removal of fins at sea, requiring instead that sharks be landed with their fins naturally attached. IATTC members also should adopt the scientific recommendations on best practices for handling manta rays aboard purse seiners.
Other measures WWF is calling for include the provision of additional data on movement of FADs and the implementation of the use of FADs without any entangling material deployed beneath them in order to reduce by catch of sea turtles and sharks.
Tuna is one of the most valuable fisheries in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, supporting a billion dollar industry that sustains the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people and contributes to economic growth and social development in the region. “It is vital that member states of the IATTC expand their commitment to the responsible management necessary for sustainable levels of tuna stocks while ensuring a healthy long-term shark population at the same time,” added Pablo Guerrero.
Together with 886 citizens, Dutch non-governmental organisation (NGO), Urgenda, on Wednesday June 24, 2015 won a climate liability case against the Dutch state. The plaintiffs argued that the Dutch state neglects its duty of care towards its current and future citizens by not reducing CO2 emissions quickly enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. They asked the judge to order the government to reduce its CO2 emissions with 25-40 % in 2020, the percentage that science and international agreements tell us is needed if we want to stay below the 2 degrees threshold.
Urgenda supporters celebrate at The Hague after court ruling requiring Dutch government to slash emissions. Photo credit: Chantal Bekker/Urgenda
In what appears to be a ground-breaking verdict, the judges agreed fully with the arguments presented by the plaintiffs and stated that the Dutch state has a duty of care, under Dutch tort law, to reduce its C02 emission to 25% in 2020. The court ruled that Urgenda had standing and that the State acted unlawful towards Urgenda, representing 886 citizens, under national tort law.
The court used European human right standards, such as art. 2 and 8 of the European Convention for Human Rights, the precautionary principle, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the treaty of the European Union to interpret the ‘equity’ principle of the Dutch tort article (art. 6:162 Civil Code) and concluded the Dutch state liable for a tort of negligence towards Urgenda.
The argument of the State’s defence, that climate policy is a matter of discretion for the executive power, was brushed aside when the court appealed to the protective logic of the rule of law and separation of powers: the judiciary’s rightful place is offer its citizens protection when the executive exercises its power in such a way that endangers the wellbeing and human rights of its citizens, and this includes the negligence of a government refusing to take timely climate action.
Dutch activist, Femke Wijdekop, wrote in a blog: “Today was ‘judgement day’ and I what I heard in that courtroom exceeded my hopes and expectations. We, co-litigants, and the defence of Urgenda were amazed by the boldness of the court; and I was deeply touched that something really seems to be changing in the world if a court, which could have easily have hidden behind arguments like ‘the discretionary power of the executive to determine climate policy’, ‘the relative small contribution of the Netherlands to the global emission problem, thus refusing to establish proportionate liability’ or ‘the lack of a strong enough causal link between the actions of the Dutch state and the future damage caused by climate change’ – let alone simply refusing to grant Urgenda standing! –that with all these arguments present, the court made a bold decision to take responsibility for its duty to acknowledge scientific facts, apply the law and do justice in this matter of extreme societal and environmental importance.
“For me it was a moment in which my idealism touched ground and merged with the hopes of the other 100 co-litigants present in the room, (some of which held hands and many shed tears!), which were confirmed and ‘mirrored’ by the words of the judge who agreed with our most important grievances and demands. Such was the surprise that Urgenda’s lawyers had to pull themselves together afterwards, overcome with emotion and relief – TV news images later showed their teary faces and yet none of them really tried to hide their tears: they were proud to admit that they had put their whole heart into this case – in what they described as ‘the case of their lifetimes’. I cannot help but think that some of this wholeheartedness rubbed off on the judges in this rightful judgement.
“Regardless of whether the State will appeal against the decision, this already is a huge victory for climate activists and environmental lawyers all over the world. It gives such encouragement and sound legal arguments to NGO’s in other countries, to start similar class actions on behalf of a liveable environment for current and future generations. It is my wish that this precedent will be followed by many more similar cases in other jurisdictions, forming a ‘ius commune’ on climate justice, and that other lawyers and co-litigants will dedicate themselves as wholeheartedly to these cases as we did here in the Netherlands on this historic day.”
According to Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank, the organisation is inspired by hundreds of women, who are entrepreneurs, stewards of the land, business owners, researchers, farmers, and innovators – described as the backbone of the world’s food systems.
Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Programme. Photo credit: thedailybeast.com
Her words: “In fact, on average,women represent 43 percent of the world’s agricultural labor force and 47 percent of the global fisheries labor force, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Bank. These hard-working women produce more than half of the world’s food despite being less than half of the labor force, andwomen account for 60 to 80 percent of food production in developing countries. And if the world’s women farmers had the same access to resources as men, 150 million people could be lifted out of poverty, according to the FAO. A crop yield gap of about 20-30 percent between male and female farmers is largely due to differential access to resources and inputs. Women fill this gap by working up to 13 hours per week longer than men in agriculture.”
“Women are the priority. The majority of smallholder farmers in Africa are women and, in urban areas, you’re primarily looking at women-led households.So we can’t solve hunger if we don’t have gender-sensitive programming that addresses access to opportunities for women, whether it’s through education or tools for cooking, like solar-powered stoves,” says Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the U.N. World Food Programme.
As the impacts of climate change become more evident, the world will need to invest in more effective strategies to alleviate hunger and poverty. And that means standing with our mothers, grandmothers, and sisters who are farming and giving women farmers the resources they need to nourish both people and the planet.
Ms Nierenberg lists the 30 rising women stars in food and agriculture who, according to her, are reshaping food systems around the world to include:
1. Lauren Abda
Age: 28
As managing director of the Food Loft, a co-working and innovation space in Boston, Abdaseeks to connect food entrepreneurs. ThroughBranchfood, her networking business, Abda is driving the city’s food innovation scene and tackling issues from sustainability to financial literacy. Her work focuses on aggregating resources for entrepreneurs through events and social media.
@laurenabda
2. Karen Albuja
Age: 28
A native of Ecuador, Karen graduated fromEARTH Universityin Costa Rica in 2009. Together with her husband, another EARTH graduate from Argentina, Albuja created Granja El Hormiguero, a farm that produces and commercialises products based on Echinacea, a medicinal plant. The couple sells eight different phytotherapeutic products in the local market. As a part of their company philosophy, Albuja has integrated community members into a cooperative,La Abundancia, in order to commercialise biodynamic products.
3. Elizabeth Alpern, the Gefilteria
Age: 30
Alpern is a co-founder of an artisanal company for sustainable gefilte fish. She manages a food truck and produces other gourmet Jewish foods. Alpern worked with cookbook author Joan Nathan for several years before founding the Gefilteria, and has also worked with Fair Food Network, for which she coordinated a book tour forFair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All.
@gefilteria
4. Leanne Brown, Author, Good and Cheap
Age: 29
Good and Cheapis afree PDF cookbookfor people with very limited incomes, particularly those using food stamps. It has been downloaded more than 500,000 times. Brown, a native of Canada, is a food scholar and avid home cook who now lives in New York. Prior to writing Good and Cheap, Brown authored another cookbook,From Scratch.
@leelb
5. Cheyenne, Camaryn, and Trae Candelario, Family Farmers
Ages: 23, 20, 18
The Candelario sisters run aflourishing family farmwith their mother, Margo, and grandmother in Georgia. Officially started in 2006, the family business sells produce at the Oconee Farmers’ Market. “The girls learn to market goods, work with the public, have a smile on their faces, and pay taxes…all aspects of running a business,”saysMargo Candelario.
@youngfemalefarm
6. Julie Carney, Country Director for Gardens for Health International
Age: 28
Carney co-foundedGardens for Health, a programme in Rwanda that integrates agricultural support with comprehensive health education to fight malnutrition. To date, the organisation has worked with over 1,700 families through a Health Centre Programme, helping to ensure that approximately 8,500 children have the healthy food they need to grow and thrive. Carney is an Echoing Green and Ashoka Fellow.
@_JulieCarney
7. Estella Cisneros, Lawyer
Age: 29
Cisneros, a graduate of Yale Law School, is the daughter of Mexican farmworkers who immigrated to the United States. At Stanford University, sherealisedthat she “was being called to serve the very community [she] had grown up in.” Cisneros now provides legal representation for immigrant farmworkers in the California dairy industry and is a Skadden Foundation Fellow at California Rural Legal Assistance.
8. Kat Cook, Chef-Owner of Farmer’s Market Kitchen
Age: 26
Cook is chef-owner atFarmer’s Market Kitchenin Watertown, Massachusetts. She has created a business that designs custom menus for events featuring local produce. Cook is also head chocolatier for the small-batch confectionerMaye’s Chocolates, founded by her aunt.
@FMKcatering
9. Claire Cummings, Waste Specialist for Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO)
Age: 25
Cummingsis an advocate for reducing food waste at the institutional level, and a co-author of the Food Recovery Network’s downloadableGuide to Food Recovery for Chefs and Managers. Beginning as a West Coast Fellow for BAMCO in 2012, Cummings facilitated theChefs to End Hungerprogramme in California. Most recently, she is working with BAMCO sites to implement kitchen-waste tracking programmes and pilot a new app to reduce food waste, calledSpoiler Alert.
@WasteAce
10. Laura D’Asaro and Rose Wang, Co-Founders of Six Foods
Ages: 24 and 23
D’Asaro and Wang are on an entrepreneurial mission to convince Americans that eating insects is both delicious and sustainable. Their startup company,Six Legs Foods, currently focuses on snack foods that contain insect protein, but Wang and D’Asaro are hoping to expand their product selection. “For the same amount of feed you give a cow you get 12 times the meat from insects,”saysD’Asaro.
@SixFoods
11. Sasha Fisher, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Spark MicroGrants
Age: 26
Sasha Fisherhas a passion for community-led development, which led her to work in South Sudan, South Africa, India, and Uganda. She moved to East Africa in 2010 to develop theSpark MicroGrants model, which runs a fellowship programme for graduates of local universities in Africa. Fellows receive leadership training to take on projects in rural communities, including communal farms and other agricultural endeavors. Spark supports communities with small grants so that they can invest in social impact, which differs from conventional microfinance.
@sashadfisher
12. Lauren Howe, National School Garden Program Manager at Slow Food USA
Age: 24
Howe, a U.S. delegate to the International Slow Food Conference and International Congress Terra Madre in 2012, is now theNational School Garden Programme Manager for Slow Food USA. Howe led a campaign at Hamilton College to shift university purchasing via the Real Food Challenge, and was a 2013-2014 Thomas J. Watson Fellow, for which she completed research entitled “A Sustainable Future for Food and Farming: Modern Technology and Traditional Wisdom” in Tanzania, India, Bhutan, Bolivia, the Netherlands, and Iceland.
@lauhowe
13. Smriti Keshari, Producer, Food Chains
Age: 29
Keshari’s work in the documentary Food Chains, a chronicle of the injustices faced by tomato farmworkers in Florida, earned her a James Beard Award for Special/Documentary (Television or Video Webcast). The film, featuring the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Fair Food Programme, created anational conversationabout labor justice in food and agriculture. Keshari, born in India, has focused on issues and stories not heavily reported through other projects.
@Keshari
@FoodChainsFilm
14. Rachel Khong, Senior Editor for Lucky Peach
Age: 29
Khong is the Senior Editor of Lucky Peach, a quarterly journal of food and writing based in San Francisco, CA. Each issue of the magazine features essays, art, recipes, and photos on a single theme. Khong is also the author of a cookbook,Toro Bravo, and is currently working on a novel.
@rachelkhong
15. Kate Klein, Development Coordinator for Georgia Organics
Age: 25
As a National Campus Food Day Coordinator forReal Food Challenge, Klein mobilised students across the United States to host events for food justice on college campuses. Klein has a passion for organising young people and developing leadership skills. Now at Georgia Organics, Klein is using her skills to further develop the capacity of an organisation that connects organic farmers to consumers in Georgia.
@kateklein23
@realfoodnow
16. Annie Liang, Junior Ambassador to the Milan Protocol
Age: 25
Liang, from Vancouver, Canada, was a 2013BCFN Young Earth Solutionsfinalist and initiated a Youth Food Policy Committee in Vancouver. She is ajunior ambassadorto the Milan Protocol, a civil society movement to support the legacy of the Expo Milan 2015. Liang is now working on a Masters of Landscape Architecture at The Harvard Graduate School of Design, in order to pursue a career in creating vibrant and productive spaces that incorporate ecological systems.
17. Lesley Silverthorn Marincola, Founder and CEO of Angaza Design
Age: 29
Marincola is the creator behind Angaza Design’s pay-as-you-go clean energy products, distributed to households in East Africa. Using a system designed to match household cash flows, users pre-pay for small units of solar energy on cell phones. Angaza is also working to spread its payment model to other solar companies, in order to continue improving access to sustainable energy solutions in Africa.
@angazadesign
18. Nikiko Masumoto, Organic Farmer and Author
Age: 28
As a member of the Masumoto Family Farm, Masumoto has been growing organic peaches, nectarines, and grapes since she was a child. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Gender and Women’s Studies and a Master’s degree in Arts in Performance as Public Practice, she started theValley Storytellers Projectin 2011, which creates a public space for people in the Central Valley to share their own stories.
@nmasumoto
19. Lucy McKormick, Response Analyst for the Guardian News & Media
Age: 24
McKormick, a Response Analyst for theGuardian, is also Head ofYoung Friends of the Earth, a nationwide network of volunteers ages 18-30 in the United Kingdom. McKormick produces regular content and articles for the site and works to engage young people in importantenvironmental campaigns.
@LuckyMcCormick91
20. Kelly Pagliario, Young Permaculturist
Age: 18
A native of Las Vegas, Nevada,Pagliarioreceived her permaculture design certificate from Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton, experts in permaculture, at the age of 11 in Melbourne, Australia. Pagliario then helped her family to establishKamiah Permaculture and FNA ranch in Kamiah, Idaho, where she leads permaculture workshops and co-manages 44 acres. The land features a kitchen garden, fruit trees, and chickens and promotes a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle.
21. Debbie Lohan Palacios, Business Owner
Age: 26
Palacios produces organic sauce from hot peppers in Costa Rica through her company Ricante, using online marketing strategies. Currently, Ricante is commercialising the product in the local market and is exporting the sauce to the U.S. According to Palacios, Ricante is now sold in more than 1000 supermarkets in Costa Rica. Through her company, Palacios has also created new jobs for members of her community.
22. Anauim Valerín Pérez, Youth Journalist and Agri-Environmental Activist
Age: 21
From San José, Costa Rica,Pérezwas a member of the World Women’s Under-17 in Costa Rica, of Ecollective, and a founding member of theBoreal Collective, which supports seed exchange, farmers, and artisans through art and cultural events. Pérez is also a journalist and a member ofYoung Professionals for Agricultural Development(YPARD).
@Anauim_Valerin
23. Leidy Dayana Riveras Rivas, Coordinator for Quality Certification for ASPOECAM
Age: 27
As a rural youth representative for the Association of Small Coffee Growers in Colombia (ASOPECAM), Rivas provides financially and environmentally sustainable business opportunitiesfor small coffee farmers. Her work focuses on women and youth, using a knowledge-sharing approach to providing technical advice. She has also participated in events and advocacy activities around various rural development issues as a member of a local youth group.
24. Diana Robinson, Food Chain Workers Alliance
Age: 30
Robinson, the Campaign and Education Coordinator of theFood Chain Workers Alliance since 2012, is the daughter of Columbian and Dominican immigrants to the U.S. Robinson is a member of the Brooklyn Food Coalition governing board and contributes to the Spanish language radio show Comunidad y Trabajadores Unidos. Prior to joining the staff of Food Chain Workers Alliance, Robinson represented over 23,000 grocery store workers in New York through the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500. She is an advocate of workers’ rights throughout the entire food supply chain.
Sandoval is the local directorof a rural fishery cooperative in El Salvador, called Tepemechines, which she joined at the age of 17. Through her expertise on production, marketing, and business management, Sandoval has overcome obstacles in her community. She also serves her community as a church youth group leader and as a secretary on the board of a group that manages drinking water in the community.
26. Yasmin Belo-Osagie, Co-Founder of She Leads Africa
Age: 26
Belo-Osagie, a management consultant focused on growth strategies, is a co-founder of She Leads Africa, an organisation that provides talented female entrepreneurs in Africa with access to financing and knowledge networks to scale their businesses. In 2011, Belo-Oasagie, a graduate of Princeton University, attended culinary school and worked as a sous-chef in Hong Kong.
27. Kavita Shukla, Co-Founder of Fenugreen
Age: 30
Shukla is the inventor ofFreshPaper, an affordable, compostable product that keeps fruits and vegetables fresher to prevent food waste at the household and retail levels. FreshPaper, infused with edible organic spices, is available at retailers such as Whole Foods and Wegmans, and ships to 35 countries.
@KavitaFresh
28. Trang Tran, Co-Founder and CEO of Fargreen
Age: 28
Growing up in Hanoi, Vietnam, Tran was familiar with the air quality problems caused by open straw rice burning. Tran co-founded Fargreen to create a closed cycle in which farmers are incentivised touse rice straw as a mediumfor mushroom production. Once the mushrooms have been harvested and sold to local restaurants and grocery stores, the straw is then returned as biofertilizer to grow rice.
@Fargreenvn
29. Emma Watson, Actor and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador
Age: 25
British celebrity Emma Watson, an internationally acclaimed actress and a graduate of Brown University, was appointed a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador in 2014. By empowering young women across the globe, Watson is contributing to gender equality and female access to education. Watson has promoted fair trade and organic clothing and has worked to educate girls in rural Africa throughCamfed International.
@EmWatson
30. Koya Webb, Author
Age: 26
Webb, an internationally acclaimed health and wellness coach, is the author ofKoya’s Kuisine: “Foods You Love That Love You Back!”As a motivational speaker, the professional fitness model is revolutionizing holistic living, yoga, and raw/vegan cuisine.
I know anti-GM activists exists to oppose the GM technology. That’s what they are paid to do. But I was flabbergasted when they criticised the authorisation by South African government of a new maize drought trait. Is it possible they did not process the possible implication of drought-resistant corn in Africa?
Drought in sub-Saharan Africa
Drought has always been big business, especially in Africa. You can bet that many people are monitoring when the next one will hit. When drought hits, say the Horn of Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and Djibouti), over 10 million people are suddenly in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
In the past, the US and Canada, through the World Food Programme (WFP), used drought as a big market for their excess (GM) corn. Anti-GM activists cried foul. When they made too much noise, governments ground the corn into flour. This was to avoid the accusation that seed companies where introducing the technology through the back door.
The biofuel industry mopped all the excess corn in the US and Canada. These days, when drought hits, Africa is pretty much on its own. Still, when people no longer have the luxury of eating only one meal a day, the world pays attention. There have been stories of women who bind their stomachs with rope or pieces of cloth in an attempt to stave off hunger. Or children who have dropped out of school to help their families search for water, or dig up roots – any roots – that can cheat hunger for a while, then the world rushes in.
The narrative of a poor hungry Africa makes good TV (does it?). The paradox is that, for many Africans, drought is a way of life. That is why I was flabbergasted when anti-GM groups criticised the South African government for approving a new maize drought trait. Thank God they are not in government.
Was it blind criticism or a calculated decision to hide the information that the drought tolerant and insect protection technologies would be provided to smallholder farmers at no additional cost? A loyalty-free arrangement ensures that smallholder farmers purchasing either the conventionally bred or GM maize varieties, will not pay an additional technology fee or have to enter into a technology-use agreement with the technology developer.
Anti-GM groups conveniently left out the fact that smallholder farmers will get access to modern, high yielding maize varieties royalty-free. That means that farmers will not have to pay any additional fees for using these improved seeds and should be able to purchase the new varieties at more or less the same price as existing maize varieties. I think the anti-GM activists conveniently missed an even bigger opportunity for Africa’s smallholder farmers.
If full value is unlocked, the drought-resistant technology for corn could have a significant positive impact on the food security, financial security and livelihoods of smallholder farmers and their families.
During the 2014/15 year, South Africa produced its largest maize crop in 33 years, some 13.5 million tonnes. (The weather was favourable, it will not always be like this!). The paradox is that in sub-Saharan Africa, almost double the amount of maize produced in South Africa is lost each year due to drought.
Over 90% of sub-Saharan Africa’s cropland is rain-fed and is likely to remain so. One would expect that any effort to help mitigate drought risk would be welcomed by all. (Or if you do not welcome it, at least keep quiet and keep your eyes open). The South African government seems to be moving in the right direction.
The current approval paves the way for the next stage of extensive testing with the drought trait, to stack it with the insect protection, or Bt trait, in the maize. Hopefully, in not-too-distant-future, farmers in South Africa will have maize hybrid seeds that combine the drought-tolerant and insect-protection traits.
By Daniel Kamanga (Communications Expert & Author)
Record installations for wind and solar PV in 2014; Renewable energy targets created in 20 more countries, new total: 164; Renewables account for over 59% of net additions to world’s capacity; Policy-makers more attentive to green energy heating/cooling; Developing world investments on par with developed world, total $301 billion
Renewable energy targets and other support policies, now in place in 164 countries, powered the growth of solar, wind and other renewable technologies to a record-breaking energy generation capacity last year: about 135 GW of added renewable energy power increasing total installed capacity to 1,712 GW, up 8.5% from the year before.
Despite the world’s average annual 1.5% increase in energy consumption in recent years and average 3% growth in Gross Domestic Product, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2014 were unchanged from 2013 levels. For the first time in four decades, the world economy grew without a parallel rise in CO2 emissions.
The landmark “decoupling” of economic and CO2 growth is due in large measure to China’s increased use of renewable resources, and efforts by countries in the OECD to promote more sustainable growth-including increased use of energy efficiency and renewable energy.
“Renewable energy and improved energy efficiency are key to limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius and avoiding dangerous climate change,” says REN21 Chair Arthouros Zervos, who released the new report at the Vienna Energy Forum.
Thanks to supportive policies now in place in at least 145 countries (up from 138 countries reported last year), worldwide power generation capacity from wind, solar photovoltaic (PV), and hydro sources alone were up 128 GW from 2013. As of end-2014, renewables comprised an estimated 27.7% of the world’s power generating capacity, enough to supply an estimated 22.8% of global electricity demand. Solar PV capacity has grown at the most phenomenal rate-up 48-fold from 2004 (3.7 GW) to 2014 (177 GW) – with strong growth also in wind power capacity (up nearly 8-fold over this period, from 48 GW in 2004 to 370 GW in 2014).
Global new investment in renewable power and fuels (not including hydropower >50 MW) increased 17% over 2013, to USD 270.2 billion. Including large-scale hydropower, new investment in renewable power and fuels reach at least USD 301 billion. Global new investment in renewable power capacity was more than twice that of investment in net fossil fuel power capacity, continuing the trend of renewables outpacing fossil fuels in net investment for the fifth year running.
Investment in developing countries was up 36% from the previous year to USD 131.3 billion. Developing country investment came the closest ever to surpassing the investment total for developed economies, which reached USD 138.9 billion in 2014, up only 3% from 2013. China accounted for 63% of developing country investment, while Chile, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey each invested more than USD 1 billion in renewable energy.
By dollars spent, the leading countries for investment were China, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany. Leading countries for investments relative to per capita GDP were Burundi, Kenya, Honduras, Jordan, and Uruguay.
The sector’s growth could be even greater if the more than USD 550 billion in annual subsidies for fossil fuel and nuclear energy were removed. Subsidies perpetuate artificially low energy prices from those sources, encouraging waste and impeding competition from renewables.
Says Christine Lins, Executive Secretary, REN21: “Creating a level playing field would strengthen the development and use of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Removing fossil-fuel and nuclear subsidies globally would make it evident that renewables are the cheapest energy option.”
Employment in the renewable energy sector is growing rapidly as well. In 2014, an estimated 7.7 million people worldwide worked directly or indirectly in the sector.
Despite spectacular growth of renewable energy capacity in 2014, more than one billion people, or 15% of humanity, still lack access to electricity. Moreover, approximately 2.9 billion people lack access to clean forms of cooking. With installed capacity of roughly 147 GW, all of Africa has less power generation capacity than Germany. Further attention needs to be paid to the role that distributed renewable energy technologies can play in reducing these numbers by providing essential and productive energy services in remote and rural areas.
Alexander Ochs, Director of Climate and Energy Programme, Worldwatch Institute, said: “With global investments in renewables above USD 300 billion in 2014, the 2015 Global Status Report proves that the remarkable success story of wind, solar, hydro and geothermal electricity continues. Much more effort is needed in heating and cooling as well as transportation sectors, where the use of modern renewables is growing, but still from a very small basis.
“Developing and developed countries now invest almost equal shares in sustainable power solutions. Global leaders are those countries that have designed smart support policies to help lower the financial advantage of fossil fuels-fuels that have received trillions of direct and indirect governmental subsidies every year for decades. Being faced with dramatic climate, ecosystem, and human health crises caused by fossil fuels, we need to make sure that our governments continue to support renewables by creating the right policy frameworks so that private investments can make the right choices.
“For the first time in decades, energy-related greenhouse gas emissions leveled out while GDP continued to grow in 2014. This encouraging trend is due to the remarkable success of renewables. It should energize all efforts to make the important climate summit in Paris in the end of this year a success story as well.”
