The Global Environment Facility (GEF) will support developing countries with over $3 billion for financing actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change over the next four years.
The newly completed Sixth Replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund, together with expected funding from its climate adaptation funds, will enable the GEF to make $3 billion available for climate finance in the next four years, with an expected $30 billion being leveraged from other sources.
“We urgently need strong action on climate change,” said Dr Naoko Ishii, CEO of GEF. “The GEF is proactively seeking to produce the maximum impact from our investments, working together with other stakeholders to achieve the change that the world needs”.
The GEF supports climate change initiatives in countries across a broad spectrum of action areas. A total of $910 million has been allocated to individual countries to support national climate change mitigation policies and strategies, enhance renewable energy supply, increase energy efficiency, including sustainable transport and urban design, expand climate smart agriculture, and work to reduce short-lived climate forcers. The GEF has also allocated $225 million to support UNFCCC-related reporting and assessments, including Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, and to help integrate their findings into national policy planning and implementation.
In addition, as leading global financier of climate change adaptation, the GEF expects to program up to $1.2 billion towards enhanced resilience, adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The GEF has already transferred $314 million to 53 countries to strengthen the hydro-meteorological and climate information services, allowing governments, private enterprises, civil society and individuals to integrate climate change risks and adaptation into their decision-making processes. The GEF and its partners are also preparing regional programs that will deploy ecosystem-based adaptation measures to enhance resilience in cities in at least nine countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Asia-Pacific region.
In an effort to pilot innovative approaches, in the next four years the GEF will provide dedicated financing for three high-impact integrated programs. Through the Sustainable Cities program $100 million will be dedicated to help mayors and other municipal leaders make cities more sustainable, cleaner, more efficient, resilient, and prosperous, generating global environmental benefits through local action.
“There is no better entry point to address the world’s major drivers of environmental degradation than cities and urbanisation”, said Ishii. “With this programme we aim to create a global platform that can support Mayors and city managers to develop and execute integrated plans that help lower cities’ environmental foot print and increase their resilience. Importantly, the programme will also facilitate learning and sharing of effective solutions among cities around the world.”
Ishii also noted two other new GEF programmes, including $110 million to improve food security, strengthen resilience and enhance carbon sequestration in sub-Saharan Africa, and $45 million to eliminate deforestation from commodity supply chains by harnessing the growing public and private sector interest in adopting more sustainable practices to produce commodities such as palm oil, soy and beef.
The GEF helps to transform policy, strengthen institutional capacity, build multi-stakeholder alliances, and de-risks partner investments, as well as explore synergies across its many lines of climate-related financing. The GEF plays a key role in demonstrating innovative approaches and instruments that can be scaled up by other players, including the Green Climate Fund as it becomes operational, moving towards a constructive negotiations outcome in 2015.
An innovative public-private partnership of multinationals, governments, civil society and indigenous peoples today pledged to cut the loss of forests in half by 2020 and end it a decade later in 2030 – a move that will eliminate the emission of between 4.5 and 8.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year. That is equivalent to removing the carbon emissions produced by the one billion cars that are currently on the world’s roads.
Heru Prasetyo, head of Indonesia’s REDD+ Agency
On Tuesday at the Climate Summit, the New York Declaration on Forests was endorsed by countries in the developed and developing world – including the United States, the EU, and a large number of tropical forest countries – as well as by multinationals from the food, paper, finance and other industries, civil society organizations and indigenous peoples from Peru to Nepal. For the first time, 156 of these global leaders agreed on a date to end deforestation, and the need for large-scale economic incentives for countries that reduce the loss of their forests. Deforestation is a frequently overlooked source of carbon dioxide emissions and a significant contributor to climate change, as trees, which store carbon, instead release it when they are burned during slash-and-burn land clearing of forests.
The Declaration, which was driven by a group of countries and companies with input from civil society and indigenous peoples, aims to change politics going into next year’s Paris climate talks and accelerate action by companies to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains. The Declaration also calls for the restoration of over 350 million hectares of forests and croplands, an area greater than the size of India, which would bring significant climate benefits and take pressure off primary forests. It builds on announcements made at the Climate Summit and over the past months.
“I asked for countries and companies to bring bold pledges, and here they are,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “The New York Declaration aims to reduce more climate pollution each year than the United States emits annually, and it doesn’t stop there. Forests are not only a critical part of the climate solution – the actions agreed today will reduce poverty, enhance food security, improve the rule of law, secure the rights of indigenous peoples and benefit communities around the world.”
“The New York Declaration sends an unmistakable signal going into Paris 2015,” said Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway. “Science tells us we won’t limit global warming to two degrees without massive efforts on forests. Today, forward-thinking leaders in government, business and civil society together have begun the push to enact policies, change practices and put in place appropriate incentives to end deforestation.”
“This is a serious commitment for a serious challenge,” said Heru Prasetyo, head of Indonesia’s REDD+ Agency. “With the strong partnership of key actors from governments, industry, indigenous and local communities as well as the international community I am confident we can achieve this ground-breaking vision.”
The Declaration’s endorsement comes as the forest sector is transformed by new policies and shifting demand from consumer goods companies and consumers, stronger land rights for indigenous peoples and greater advocacy by civil society. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is down 75 per cent since 2004, and in the past nine months alone 60 per cent of the world’s highly carbon-intensive palm oil trade has come under commitments to go deforestation-free.
“Our planet is losing forests at a rate of eight football fields every ten seconds,” said Carter Roberts, President and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). “Today we’ve seen important commitments from companies, governments, civil society and indigenous peoples to halt this trend. Now it is time for urgent collaboration to see these commitments realized on the ground.”
“The last few months have seen a welcome race to the top,” said Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer of Unilever, a consumer products company. “Consumers have sent companies a clear signal that they do not want their purchasing habits to drive deforestation and companies are responding. Better still, companies are committing to working in partnership with suppliers, governments and NGOs to strengthen forest governance and economic incentives. It can be done and this Declaration signals a real intention to accelerate action.”
“Forests are not solely economic resources, but are the center of spiritual life and cultural integration for indigenous peoples,” said Abdon Nababan, Secretary General of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of Indonesia’s Archipelago (AMAN). “The New York Declaration is a long-awaited show of political will by all countries to support indigenous peoples as we fight to defend our forests.”
To support the New York Declaration, several specific commitments to action were announced today, including:
Three of the world’s largest palm oil companies – Wilmar, Golden Agri-Resources and Cargill, all of which recently announced deforestation-free sourcing policies and who jointly make up more than half of global palm oil trade – committed to work together on implementation, and joined the Indonesian Business Council in asking incoming Indonesian President Joko Widodo to support their efforts through legislation and policies.
Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom announced they would push for large-scale economic incentives as part of the Paris climate talks in 2015, and in the next couple of years pledged to enter into up to 20 new programs to pay countries for reduced deforestation rates, if credible programs were put forward. The three countries also pledge to consider funding additional, credible programs thereafter, if REDD+ countries deliver the results. A global coalition of indigenous peoples spanning Asia, Africa, Central America and the Amazon Basin pledged to protect the more than 400 million hectares of tropical forests under their management. This represents the storage of over 70 gigatons of carbon dioxide.
Peru and Liberia presented groundbreaking new forest policies, that see Peru getting up to US $300 million in funding from Norway and additional support from Germany, and Liberia receiving up to US $150 million from Norway, depending on results. Norway also announced support in the amount of US $100 million for indigenous peoples, as part of Norway’s total pledge of $3 billion for climate and forest purposes in the years through 2020.
Twenty-six governors from provinces covering a quarter of tropical forests pledged to do more than their fair share on climate change – to cut deforestation by 80 percent – if developed countries create new economic incentives.
DRC, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Uganda and several other countries are set to make national pledges to restore over 30 million hectares of degraded lands, more than doubling the 20 million hectares already pledged to date under the Bonn Challenge.
The Consumer Goods Forum, a coalition of 400 companies with combined sales over US $3 trillion, called on governments to pass a legally binding climate deal in Paris next year that includes large-scale payments to countries that reduce deforestation.
Several of Europe’s largest countries committed to develop new public procurement policies to sustainably source forest-intensive commodities like palm oil, soy, beef and timber. This is expected to have a significant market impact by leveraging the buying power of some of the world’s largest economies.
These announcements form part of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for action to keep global temperature increases to less than two degrees Celsius by reducing emissions, moving money, pricing pollution, strengthening resilience and mobilizing new coalitions. Forests is one of eight areas identified as critical in the fight against climate change.
World leaders announced on Tuesday in New York new pledges to restore over 30 million hectares of degraded forest lands today at the UN Climate Summit. The commitments come from Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, and Uganda, among others, and more than doubled the number of hectares contributing to achieving the Bonn Challenge – a global goal to restore 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded lands by 2020.
These announcements came alongside an extension of the global restoration target to at least 350 million hectares – an area greater than the size of India – to be restored by 2030. This new target was unveiled at the Summit today in the New York Declaration on Forests. The Declaration, signed by IUCN, as well as more than 100 countries, corporations, indigenous peoples and civil society also calls for a halving of deforestation rates by 2020 and an end to global deforestation altogether by 2030.
Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of IUCN
“The courageous leadership demonstrated by these countries towards achieving the Bonn Challenge, and by the wide range of global leaders in support of the New York Declaration on Forests, underlines that nature-based solutions such as forest landscape restoration can play a vital role in our fight against climate change and addressing the fundamental need to reduce emissions,” said Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of IUCN.
IUCN estimates that meeting the 150 million hectare Bonn Challenge target alone could add approximately $ 85 billion to national and local economies and remove an additional one billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year.
UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, “Today’s pledges by countries in Africa and Latin America to combat deforestation and more than double restoration targets will bring significant climate benefits. At the same time, such inspiring initiatives will contribute significantly to poverty reduction, economic development and food security across countries and regions.”
The restoration pledges and the New York Declaration on Forests arrive in preparation for next year’s climate talks in Paris, which are largely expected to result in a new global climate deal. Progress in New York signals significant support for ramping up restoration of lost and degraded forest lands as part of the post-2015 Paris climate agreements and development agenda.
“Restoration of degraded and deforested lands is not simply about planting trees, said Bianca Jagger, IUCN Ambassador for the Bonn Challenge, and Founder and Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation. “People and communities are at the heart of the restoration effort, which transforms barren or degraded areas of land into healthy, fertile working landscapes.”
“The New York Declaration on Forests is a milestone as we enter the restoration generation,” said Andrew Steer, President and CEO, World Resources Institute. “It’s a triple win that can bring more water and food security, improve livelihoods, and help tackle climate change. We look forward to working with leaders to help ensure that they deliver on these commitments that will benefit people and the planet,”
Restoration pledges to the Bonn Challenge represent commitments from the highest level to start actual restoration work on the ground in support of each nation’s or organization’s individual objectives.
“IUCN-led work on forest landscape restoration began in the field and is now back in the field,” said Stewart Maginnis, Global Director of Nature-Based Solutions at IUCN. “What started as a grassroots approach to address local needs and challenges has now captured the attention of public, private, and civil society leaders around the world. These leaders are now initiating action on the ground to simultaneously meet local needs and international climate change commitments.”
Liberia and Norway have entered into a partnership to improve forest governance, strengthen law enforcement, and support efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Liberia. The partnership aims at facilitating green growth through the development of a deforestation free agricultural sector in the country. Norway will support Liberia’s efforts with up to $150 million until 2020.
The partnership was announced at a joint press conference held by the Foreign Minister of Liberia, Augustine K. Ngafuan and the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg.
Foreign Minister of Liberia, Augustine K. Ngafuan
“Particularly at this difficult time, we are proud and happy to enter into this partnership with Norway, further consolidating our decision to embark on a green, sustainable development path. We believe this partnership will have a great impact on our ability to fight climate change, secure our valuable natural resources and provide a living for the Liberian people”, stated President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
By ensuring adequate law enforcement in the forest sector to avoid illegal and unsustainable logging, and by establishing a public-private coalition with multilateral companies committed to ambitious zero deforestation policies, Liberia plans over time to significantly reduce carbon emissions related to deforestation and forest degradation while building an increasingly effective, productive and modern agricultural sector.
“I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the people of Liberia in this difficult time. We fully appreciate that the main focus at present is the safety and wellbeing of the Liberian people. In a long-term perspective, I believe Liberia has the potential to be a great example for other countries in the region on how to work with the private sector to achieve economic growth without deforestation and forest degradation. Liberia’s commitments should be commended, and we are proud to support their efforts”, said Norway’s Prime Minister, Erna Solberg.
Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg
The Liberian forest is under pressure from both commercial logging and chainsaw logging for local markets; shifting cultivation; the clearing of forest for permanent agriculture; and charcoal production.
Liberia holds 43 per cent of the remaining Upper Guinea forests of West Africa. In addition to important climate benefits connected to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving Liberia’s forest is also of great importance for several other reasons.
The forests’ biological diversity encompasses the last long-term viable populations of several endemic species including the Western Chimpanzees, forest elephants and leopards. Also the rare zebra duiker and pygmy hippopotamus, in addition to over 2000 flowering plants and 225 commercial timber species, are to be found in the Liberian rainforest. The country is listed as one of 34 global biodiversity hotspots.
“This partnership holds promise not only for the forest and climate; but for forest communities that have been marginalized for generations. The partnership’s commitment to respecting and protecting communities’ rights with respect to forests is laudable”, said Silas Siakor, a Liberian environmental campaigner and Goldman Environmental Prize laureate.
In the initial years’ funds from Norway – up to $70 million – will be devoted to the implementation of policy measures and institution building necessary to reach the phase which entails payments for reduced carbon emissions. In the period towards 2020, an additional $80 million USD could be paid for verified reduced emissions. Implementation of the partnership will be flexible and adapted to the challenging circumstances of Liberia.
“This partnership could be a real game-changer for Liberia,” said Global Witness Director Patrick Alley. “It promises to turn the page on a long history of forest destruction, recognising that trees are worth far more standing than they are cut down, and that the people who live in forests are their best protectors. If Liberia delivers on this promise it could help spur the country’s economy and set development on a sustainable path at such a difficult time. The deal also embodies the spirit of international cooperation and pragmatism that is needed to prevent irreversible and catastrophic climate change.”
Measures to be implemented by Liberia in the initial phase include:
refrain from issuing any new logging concessions until all concessions have been reviewed by an independent body;
build capacity in relevant institutions and further increase efforts to enforce the law and strengthen forest governance;
place 30% or more of Liberia‘s forest estate under protected area status before 2020;
piloting direct payments to communities for protecting forest;
address all key existing and potential drivers of forest related emissions;
develop appropriate measurement and reporting systems for carbon emissions from forests.
In addition, Liberia would commission a study to consider alternative models of agriculture investment, including those driven by Liberian small and medium-scale initiatives, inform identification of land areas suitable for deforestation free agricultural supply chain investments, and compose an overarching strategy for the allocation of selected areas for such use. There will also be efforts to establish a public-private coalition with multilateral companies committed to ambitious zero deforestation policies, only allowing companies adhering to such policies – and signing up to relevant Tropical Forest Alliance compacts – to do business in Liberia.
An official count conducted at the People’s Climate March in New York City on Sunday showed that over 310,000 people participated in the largest climate rally in history – more than tripling pre-march estimates of 100,000. Around the world, hundreds of thousands more joined 2,646 events in 156 countries.
“We said it would take everyone to change everything — and everyone showed up,” said Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance.
Shattering expectations, this official attendee count makes the People’s Climate March New York City’s largest social demonstration in the last decade. Well above the 80,000 who attended the 2009 march at the Copenhagen climate talks, the 310,000 attendees at today’s demonstration have set world history just days before a UN Summit bringing world leaders together to discuss tangible action on climate change.
“People around the world are tired of waiting for our politicians to act,” said Payal Parekh, Global Managing Director for350.org, one of the organisations coordinating the global day of events. “From the islands of the Pacific to the streets of New York City, we’re demanding action, not words. We’re showing what real leadership looks like.”
People’s Climate March in New York City
Marches around the world also exceeded expectations with more than 30,000 people taking to the streets in both London and Melbourne and over 25,000 in Paris. Thousands also marched in Delhi, Rio, Paris, Barcelona, Jakarta and beyond. Similarly, thousands will march across the streets of Lagos and other cities in Nigeria on Monday. In most places, the People’s Climate march was the largest demonstration on climate change to date.
In addition, at last count, 2,129,060 people around the world had also signed onto a petition calling for world leaders to take bold action at the UN Climate Summit this week.
“With hundreds of thousands marching in over 2,500 protests worldwide, this is by a long way the largest climate mobilization in history. It’s a wake up call to politicians that climate change is not a green issue anymore, it’s an everybody issue,” said Ricken Patel, the executive director of Avaaz, who delivered the petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at 1:00pm on Sunday on the march route.
Executive Director, Centre for Investment, Sustainable Development, Management and Environment (CISME), Prince Lekan Fadina, attempts a preview of the historic gathering of world leaders this week in New York, USA, saying that, even though there may be some key absentees, the forum will likely record a lot of positives
Prince Lekan Fadina
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon disclosed late last year during COP 19 in Warsaw, Poland that he would convene a meeting of Head of States on September 23, 2014.
There are series of activities outlined for the week-long event, which will include rallies in London, New York and some parts of the world. The climate debates on Monday will feature US Secretary of State John Kerry, Hilary Clinton and Ban Ki-Moon, who are among dignitaries taking part in the themed climate debates. On Tuesday 23rd September, over 130 Heads of States will meet at the UN headquarters in New York for an intensive one-day programme.
Ban Ki-Moon hopes that, by holding this meeting, he can restore faith in the process.
There are just about 15 months to the COP 15 meeting in Paris, France, where countries are expected to agree to a global climate change treaty. It should be borne in mind that, since the Copenhagen UNFCCC Summit in 2009, there has not been a large gathering of top leaders to discuss climate change.
With the attendance of 100 business leaders and about 30 NGOs, the UN Secretary General wants to demonstrate that you can go green and maintain economic growth, which is a major concern for most countries especially after the 2008 financial crash.
This summit is being held even as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says current gas reduction targets fall well short of what is required to stabilise the climate. In a report published in April 2014, it said that countries must have global carbon emission by 2050 to limit warming to 2oc.
The programme for the day seems very detailed, starting with an opening ceremony where a film narrated by Morgan Freeman will be shown to delegates, and over 130 world leaders will get four minutes each to outline their views on climate deal. There will be lunch for heads of states and business leaders where private sector support for climate regulations is likely to become clearer. The World Bank is also expected to release new data on the number of countries and companies pricing carbon.
After lunch, there will be “thematic sessions” covering a diverse set of issues ranging from forests, cities, to finance and science. There will also be contributions of accounts of people on the “frontline” of climate change and be able to tap leading economists for their analysis of the challenges ahead.
Ban Ki-Moon will deliver his summary of the day in a speech that has been worked on for months. He is likely to call for efforts to deliver a global carbon price, back plans for a long term emissions reduction goal and call for a long term emission reduction goal for all countries to back plans to sign off a climate change treaty in Paris in 2015.
What to expect at close of the Summit
There will not be any major agreement between the national states. That will be a job for the negotiators in Lima, Peru in November 2014. This will possibly make a draft text for the proposed 2015 Paris deal.
The importance of this Summit is to get political commitment at the highest level of government. It is expected to create an atmosphere where governments and private sector players start to believe that a climate change deal is possible.
The climate economics report backed by nine countries launched by the UN Secretary General during the week could be the foundation for a firm belief that we are on the way to achieve a climate change deal.
Other signals to look out for
There are indications that there may be some key notable absentees – such as the India Prime Minister, and leaders from Australia and Canada. China may be sending Vice Premier Zhang Geoli. However, this will not remove the shine from the event.
What will happen to such issues as carbon price, Green Climate Fund? So far it is still around $1 billion from the target. France and others may make firm offers.
Zero emissions: there is growing support for a long term zero net carbon deadline.
Forest /HFCS: leading multinationals may recommit to achieving zero net deforestation by 2020. They will also agree to phase out HFCS, a group of refrigerants with potent climate warming properties by 2015.
US President Barrack Obama is expected to touch on target and achievements such as car efficiency standards, power plant pollution curbs and technologies that can be transferred to poorer countries.
The UN gathering of Heads of State may not be the place for negotiations but it is an opportunity for leaders to publicly support climate negotiations. The outcome may be simple, backing a major pledge to make the 2015 deal a key global goal.
The Summit is a positive signal that there is hope in the horizon that the world may be able to reach an agreement by 2015 in Paris. However, a lot needs to be done by both Annex 1 and Annex 2 Parties to ensure that we collectively appreciate that climate change is a reality which we must addressed in our effort to leave behind a sustainable world for generations yet unborn.
Dental clinics and medical schools still making use of amalgam, as well as incinerators/medical waste treatment facilities, have been identified as extremely high risk environments for mercury vapour emissions, posing health risk to workers, patients and the general population.
Bioaccumulation of Methylmercury. Source: imgarcade.com
According to a study conducted by SRADev Nigeria, this is due to the fact that a considerable number of dental clinics lack proper ventilation within the facility which prevents the escape of mercury vapor thus leading to a high concentration of the chemical within the confined space. The study, which assessed mercury levels in selected hotspots in the country, also identified inappropriate handling of mercury/mercury amalgam, mercury containing wastes, lack of awareness regarding health hazards of mercury to human health and its impact on the environment as factors worsening the mercury scourge.
Mercury, a naturally occurring element found in air, water and soil, is proven to be a toxic substance that cause health problems. It is a threat to the development of the child in utero and early in life. People are likewise exposed to it when eat fish and shellfish that contain the compound.
Considered by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the top 10 chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern, mercury affects the nervous, digestive and immune systems.
The study, which sampled dental facilities, waste dumpsites, incinerators and university science laboratories in Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja, utilises the Lumex Mercury Analyser RA-915+ device, which found the mercury levels at a dental clinic located in a basement level in Ceddi Plaza in Abuja above the minimum levels.
The report however suggested that besides dentists enlightening patients on the importance of non-mercury dental fillings over amalgam, legal framework of dental amalgam elimination should be formed, implemented and followed up to the latter. A highly ventilated environment (with cross ventilation and exhaust fans) is also recommended for dental practices and operations.
“Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for mercury handling collection, transport and use, be developed and implemented and be dully followed by dentists and other mercury handlers,” the report suggested, adding that the use of manual handling and mixing of amalgam should be discouraged and penalised.
The study adds: “Mercury specific legislation, including national emissions/releases standards, should formulated and made available to public. Media publicity should be made available through the television, radio and street electronic billboards. Promotion of ART and use of best environment friendly technologies be encouraged. Mercury-free alternatives for dental restorations should be promoted, while government should discourage insurance policies and programmes that favour dental amalgam over mercury-free alternatives for dental restorations. Also, the practice of un-sound and environmentally unfriendly incineration methods should be discouraged nationwide.
The instinct for revolution often arises in the face of reaching a dead-end limit on the threshold scale of expectations and in some instance could be misjudged as a form of desperation for a change; but then, if seen in the light of a reasonable reflection, it looks more like a path or rather an awakening to a healing process. The same instance of reference could be inferred in regard to global mobilisation for the sake of making a new a turn in the quest to addressing the climate change scourge.
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General
We have reached a decisive point in the history of mankind towards our dealings with one problem that we caused and have failed in a great deal of ways to find an agreeable and common solution to: “Climate Change.” And the time has come when we seem not to have a lot of time to keep dancing around the negotiation tables or playing hide and seek with the future of our planet. The time stands now as it is for us to make a decision and not just the ones that will selfishly favour some short-lived gains that leave nothing but woes ahead for the future of the ones that shows no level of commitment.
The countdown has begun towards the new climate deal in Paris in 2015. The question is, is it time again to get our hopes high? Or rather a time to sit still and make the dangerous conclusion that our hopes could end up being dashed? Of course a lot of reasons abound to develop a default mindset of failure but then I wouldn’t say this time is different because the factors of making this time the distinct moment of change all depends on each and every one of the human community on this planet. This is not just a matter of leaving all in the hands of the leaders, the time calls for every a sundry at least the ones who hope to have a future on a planet not exterminated by climate change to arise in their respective capacity and help push for the realisation not just only a binding agreement by our leaders but a timely manifestation of the structures that will help the people to adapt while we fight the changes our long term indifference has caused us.
The climate summit in New York looks towards preparing the governments leaders ahead of the 2015 climate deal and it is more to getting them committed such that, this time around, they won’t assume their well know default momentum of a divided camp. The future is grateful to those leaders who have made up their minds to attend while yet there are a number of those still in the process of making a decision of attending and while the numbers on this camp of indecision are much and in a way, the most labeled as culprits. But then and again, the time is not on our side and the common people are taking up a formidable stand this time and it will go down in the history of mankind and in the fight against climate change that some people stood and fought with all they could possibly afford, “The Peoples’ Climate March”
We need to remind our leaders that, for every second wasted on indecision, a child far away in Africa is at the risk of dying of climate change induced famine, a small island in the pacific is getting deeper under water, a part of the Amazon Forest is at the mercy of being cleared, an unbearable heat wave is picking up momentum to kill somewhere, the arctic ice is thawing away and the ecosystems are changing for real – a reflection on the catastrophes every moment of indecision would create.
Making a note of emphasis for Nigeria here, the time has come for a decisive action on adopting a cap measure on the continuous gas flaring in the Niger Delta, for just this reason. Nigeria is the largest contributor to GHGs emission in West Africa, we must make an end to this, and we must lighten our total reliance on fossil fuel and invest in a future of reliance on renewable energy. Every country must be set to bring to reality their respective plans on adaptation and mitigation measure as the fight is for all now and no other option avails.
On a final note, the mobilisation is set and voices are rising all over the world, it is indeed the time to make a push for what we believe, we must get it right this time and for those who wouldn’t yield to the bidding of the time, am afraid the nemesis of their inaction will be a shame for them in the future for the people will win…and our future we shall rescue.
By Bamidele Oni (Executive Director, Green Impact International)
Tortoises and freshwater turtles may be slow movers, but they are being smuggled at lightning speed through Thailand, with close to 19,000 seized in six years.
Tortoises. Photo: Jeff Greenberg / Lonely Planet Images
A new TRAFFIC report, Seizures of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles in Thailand 2008-2013, analyses 53 reported seizures of tortoises and freshwater turtles in Thailand, over half of which took place at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.
But while there were numerous seizures, prosecutions moved at a tortoise pace. A third of the seizures resulted in the arrest of a total of 40 suspects, but only six successful prosecutions were recorded. Fines ranging from THB 20,000–2,170,000 ($620–67,270) and jail terms of six months to two years were meted out.
Tip-offs were invaluable to detecting illegal shipments, underscoring the value of intelligence-based operations especially at entry and exit points. The report recommends targeted surveillance and increased vigilance at smuggling hotspots, particularly key entry and exit points.
“It is encouraging that enforcement officers in Thailand are carrying out such significant seizures, but it really is the follow-up investigations and successful prosecutions that make these seizures effective,” said Dr Chris Shepherd, Regional Director for TRAFFIC in South-East Asia.
Of the 33 species recorded from the seizures, the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis was the most numerous, with approximately 7120 animals seized in a single case in 2011. Almost 6000 Indian Star Tortoises Geochelone elegans, popular in the exotic pet trade, were also seized during the six year period.
Illegal shipments were found to enter by air from countries in East Africa and South Asia, and by road from neighbouring countries through overland routes along the Mekong coast and at other border crossings. In addition to those destined for markets in Thailand, animals are also redistributed to other demand centres in South-East Asia and East Asia.
Tortoises and freshwater turtles are commonly traded for food, medicine and the exotic pet trade.
Trade in these species is prohibited or restricted under various national and international legislations, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Additionally, in Thailand permits are required for the import and export of all wildlife.
However, current legislation allows for the seizure of non-native species only at the point of entry or exit, and not within the country. It is therefore not illegal to hold or trade non-native CITES-listed species within Thai borders.
“TRAFFIC calls upon the Thai government to review the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act to enable action against illegal trade of non-native species,” said Dr Shepherd.
In 1997, when the whole world birthed the Kyoto treaty, it was like we were certainly reaching a monumental turning point in the history of humanity when we can all work unanimously towards curbing the unhealthy increase in global green house gas concentration. The commitment period was seen as a reasonable timeframe to get the goal of the protocol achieved and set a motion for a new world order in the regards of zero emission future. Alas, 2012 arrived and it was like we were still at the basis of preparation, canvassing for a total ratification and then it became so reasonable to conclude on the note that humanity would be held largely responsible for the catastrophic changes enabled by our inaction towards making a concrete agreement that would ensure a safe future.
Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary
For over 15 years of the Kyoto commitment we have been able to achieve little less than expected while most of the promises have set records of being all paper-based propaganda. Year after year, we assemble for conference of parties holding various high level deliberations that have not yielded a tangible result. The commitments of the developed countries have been on declining sequence overtime while promised contributions towards building frontiers of adaptation and mitigation in the developing world have largely remained what they are – promises.
While then, there exist quite a number of innovative alternatives that have been coined out to facilitate the drive towards a climate change stress-free future; the transiting path has been less ambitious on the part of the stakeholders. The green climate fund is yet to be overly financed while taxation policies placed on carbon generation has received a lot of setback in the instance of the Australian government.
The drive towards a low zero-carbon based economy takes into cognisance the phasing out of fossil fuel with a lot investment on renewable energy , a focus for 2050, But then, the IPCC reports has set the whole world on its toes to getting a feasible climate deal else we set off doomsday. As the whole world sets sail for the climate deal in 2015, what are our expectations and our hope? The 2013 edition of the conference of parties was a total lockup as the global Aouth sought for damages and while the annex 1 states wouldn’t yield to such demands. In the brief of the timeframe from then, the green house gases concentration has escalated as never seen before and the accompanied catastrophes with the global south being worst hit.
Ban Ki Moon’s organised climate summit holding in New York this week holds a lot of promise as it would be bringing together world powers and leaders to making headway in preparation for the new climate deal in Paris come 2015. The whole world looks towards achieving the following:
Build up towards an ambitious contribution
Progress towards transiting to 100% renewable energy
Phase out of Fossil fuel
High level commitment for a climate agreement in Paris
Empowering the green climate fund
Also, by 2015, the new developmental agenda will see the light of day and the need to set a nexus between the goals and climate change will be a dire need to achieve a total development especially in the wise of addressing poverty in the realms of the possible influence on climate change.
A point of reflection here is, are we ready to take on the challenge of making it work this time around? In the view of being serious and committed to ensuring we take humanity to the next phase of development. In my view, we just can’t afford the luxury of waiting again to dance around at the same point we have been for over the last 15 years, we need to make a clear headway to lead into the future. Each country will have to stand now and make a tangible commitment.
By Bamidele F. Oni (Executive Director of Green Impact International)
“We urgently need strong action on climate change,” said Dr Naoko Ishii, CEO of GEF. “The GEF is proactively seeking to produce the maximum impact from our investments, working together with other stakeholders to achieve the change that the world needs”.
Ishii also noted two other new GEF programmes, including $110 million to improve food security, strengthen resilience and enhance carbon sequestration in sub-Saharan Africa, and $45 million to eliminate deforestation from commodity supply chains by harnessing the growing public and private sector interest in adopting more sustainable practices to produce commodities such as palm oil, soy and beef.
