26.4 C
Lagos
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Home Blog Page 2227

Durban utility receives 2014 Stockholm Industry Water Award

Michael Simire
-
0
Durban utility receives 2014 Stockholm Industry Water Award

“I stand here today as part of a team of dedicated professionals who have worked with me over the past 22 years. It is a tremendous honour for all of us in Durban,” Neil Macleod of eThekwini Water and Sanitation said on Tuesday in Stockholm, Sweden while receiving the 2014 Stockholm Industry Water Award from SIWI chairman, Peter Forssman.

eThekwini Water and Sanitation, serving the Durban metropolitan area, receiving the Stockholm Industry Water Award at a ceremony during 2014 World Water Week, for its transformative and inclusive approach to providing water and sanitation.
eThekwini Water and Sanitation, serving the Durban metropolitan area, receiving the Stockholm Industry Water Award at a ceremony during 2014 World Water Week, for its transformative and inclusive approach to providing water and sanitation.

In his acceptance speech, Macleod underlined the role policy has had in the success of eThekwini Water and Sanitation. “If the politicians had not dared to take bold decisions, we would not have been able to do what we did. You need an enabling environment,” he said.

South Africa’s constitution from 1996, praised as a model for inclusion of social rights, enshrined the human right to water. Local government was tasked with putting it into practice. Soon after, Durban, one of the country’s main urban centres, expanded its administrative boundaries to include 3.5 million people, some of them living in poorly serviced rural areas with huge water and sanitation challenges. The eThekwini municipality decided to face these challenges head-on.

“We faced huge challenges when we were formed 22 years ago in the lead-up to massive political changes in South Africa. But necessity is the mother of invention,” said Neil Macleod.

“eThekwini has championed the approach to provide sufficient water to sustain human life, as expressed in the South African constitution, now embedded in national policy. The methods used and results achieved by eThekwini Water and Sanitation serve as a sterling example for the many communities worldwide facing similar challenges,” stated the Stockholm Industry Water Award (SIWA) jury in its citation.

In the past 14 years, 1.3 million additional people in greater Durban have been connected to piped water and 700,000 people have been provided with access to toilets. Access to basic water supply and sanitation is provided at no cost to poor families, while higher levels of service and consumption are charged at full cost, thus respecting the constitutional right to water while maintaining financial sustainability.

In addition to successfully providing basic services to a large and diverse population, eThekwini Water and Sanitation is at the forefront of exploring technical and social solutions. One example is a mini hydro-power project: instead of using pressure reducing valves in pipes running down steep hillsides, the company is installing mini turbines using the excess pressure to generate electricity for the city’s low tension grid. The eThekwini municipality is also pioneering solutions to convert urban wastewater challenges to agricultural opportunities as well as harvesting rainwater.

The combined result is one of the most progressive utilities in the world. The open approach to experimenting and piloting new solutions across both technical and social aspects of service delivery has made eThekwini a forerunner in the world of utility-run services.

Water and Sanitation unit of eThekwini Municipality was established in 1992. It manages the water and sanitation services for the 3.5 million people living in the Durban area, and has worked with some of the world’s major actors and knowledge hubs in water and sanitation as well as development, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Borda, Eawag, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership and DHI. Its methods have been replicated across the country and region, and eThekwini representatives are successfully sharing and disseminating their findings and working methods.

The SIWA was established in 2000 to stimulate and celebrate outstanding and transformative water achievements by companies in improving production, managing risks, finding solutions and contributing to wise water management. The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) were partners in establishing the award, which is also supported by International Water Association (IWA) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Dickson to grace Environment Outreach Magazine forum

Michael Simire
-
0
Dickson to grace Environment Outreach Magazine forum

The 5th Annual Public Lecture/Environmental Awards ceremony of The Environment Outreach Magazine with the theme: “Climate Change and its effect on the coastal communities in Nigeria” will hold at the Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre, Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, on Thursday, the 4th of September 2014.

The event, which will be chaired by Professor Oladapo Afolabi, former Head of Service of the Federation, will have the Surveyor-General of the Federation, Professor (Surveyor) Peter Chidozie Nwilo, as the guest lecturer.

Dickson
Dickson

The special guest of honour is Governor Henry Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, while the guest of honour is the Minister of Environment, Laurentia Laraba Mallam. Royal Father of the Day is King Godwin G. Igodo, The Ebenibe of Atissa Kingdom and Chairman, Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, among other dignitaries expected at the occasion.

According to the Publisher/CEO of the Environment Outreach Magazine, Chief Noble Akenge, the event will also feature the presentation of special environmental awards in different categories to deserving persons and institutions that have been found worthy of recognition and honour.

He adds that  the 2014 Environment  Outreach Awards in various categories will be conferred on Governor Dickson; Professor T.K.S Abam of the Institute of Geoscience and Space Tech., River State University of Science and Technology (RSUST): Desmond Majekodunmi of the Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF); Professor Lucian Obinna Chukwu, Dean, Post Graduate School, University of Lagos; The National Coalition for Action Against Gas Flaring and Oil Spills in the Niger Delta (NACGOND); “Trees for Tomorrow” (an NGO);  Ms. Jennifer Igwe of the NTA; Ovieteme George of the AIT; Professor Peter Nwilo, Surveyor-General of the Federation and Chris Nalaguo Alagoa of Pro-natura Int. (Nigeria).

The event will be attended by persons from the Academia; the organised private sector; professionals of various fields; government officials; NGOs and civil society organisations; representatives of various public institutions; students; environmentalists; traditional rulers and members of the general public.

ISIS Beheads American Journalist Steven Sotloff, Monitoring Group Says

admin
-
0
ISIS Beheads American Journalist Steven Sotloff, Monitoring Group Says
Steven Sotloff
Steven Sotloff

The Islamic militant group ISIS has beheaded Steven Joel Sotloff, an American freelance journalist who was abducted a year ago Syria, a jihadist monitoring organization said Tuesday.

The monitoring organization, SITE Intel Group, made the announcement on Twitter. It said that ISIS had also threatened to execute a British captive, David Cawthorne Haines.

Last week, Sotloff’s mother, Shirley, pleaded directly with the leader of ISIS to spare her son.

“We have not seen Steven for over a year, and we miss him very much,” she said in a video message to the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “We want to see him home safe and sound and to hug him.”

Sotloff, 31, wrote about conflicted in the Middle East for Time magazine and other publications. He grew up in Miami and attended the University of Central Florida in the early 2000s. He has aTwitter account, and last posted Aug. 3, 2013, just before he disappeared.

ISIS threatened Sotloff’s life in another video last month. In that video, ISIS beheaded another American journalist, James Foley, and said that it would kill Sotloff unless the United States ended airstrikes against the militant group.

Source: NBC News

Ebola outbreak risk to food security in West Africa – FAO

admin
-
0
Ebola outbreak risk to food security in West Africa – FAO

Food and Agriculture Oganisation (FAO) warned on Tuesday that Ebola outbreak in West Africa was threatening food security and placing harvests at risk.

 

Bukar Tijani, FAO Africa Representative said in Rome that the outbreak had greatly reduced the output of agricultural sectors in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three countries hardest hit by the epidemic.

 

He noted that the travel restrictions and the establishment of quarantine zones had also restricted trade and transport of goods and services.

 

Tijani said this had led to panic buying, food shortages and significant price hikes.

 

“Access to food has become an urgent concern for many people in the three affected countries and their neighbors’’, he said.

 

Tijani also predicted a major production shortfall in this year’s cereal harvesting season, which is beginning this month.

 

He warned that labor shortages on farms due to Ebola would have severe implications for food and cash crop production, jeopardising the food security of large numbers of people in the coming weeks and months.

 

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme said in Geneva that it had launched an emergency operation to feed 1.3 million people in quarantine zones and health centers in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. (dpa)

NERC assures Nigerians of affordable electricity supply

admin
-
0
NERC assures Nigerians of affordable electricity supply
Sam Amadi
Sam Amadi

The Chairman, Nigeria Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi, has reiterated the commission’s commitment to ensure safe, stable and affordable electricity supply in the country.

 

Amadi made this known at a public hearing on the Draft Nigerian Electricity Supply and Installation Standards (NESIS) regulations in Abuja on Tuesday.

 

He said the NESIS regulation was developed by NERC to fulfil its mandate of ensuring effective technical regulation for reliability and safety in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry.

 

The chairman said the NESIS regulation was up-to-date with basic standards and best practices and covered all aspects of engineering practices as it concerns generation, transmission, distribution and utilisation of electricity in Nigeria.

 

Amadi assured Nigerians that the commission was equal to the task of developing effective and efficient electricity which requires the commitment and hard work of NERC.

 

“It should be understood that an effective electricity market that will provide safe, adequate, reliable and affordable electricity to Nigerians is hard work; it requires commitment, competence, doggedness and focus.

 

“However, the commission is working hard to ensure that the newly privatised power sector rises up to the challenge,” he said.

 

Amadi warned that anyone who violated the regulation would be punished.

 

“NESIS regulations are about certain rules; all the utilities have key reporting that tells you interruptions and durations, when they file reports to us.

 

“It shows that the power is interrupted longer than necessary. We have a division called the engineering and safety division headed by a commissioner that sees to it that regulations are met.

 

“But what matters is the quality of your regulation, whether you are incentivising the utilities, whether you have created a framework that tells you that something is not being done,” he said.

 

He commended the Technical Working Group (TWG) on their thorough effort to draw from various codes and standards available in the Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) and several international standards.

 

He urged participants and the general public to make necessary suggestions, contributions and comments as they would be highly considered.

 

Meanwhile, NERC Commissioner, Engineering, Standards and Safety Division, Mrs Mary Awoloku, said that the task of drafting NESIS regulation was assigned to the TWG.

 

Awoloku said the TWG was mandated to produce a live document sufficient to give all levels of professionals’ guidance to practice in the supply and installation of electrical power and equipment.

 

She applauded members of the TWG for the work done toward the development of the final draft of the NESIS regulations. (NAN)

30 inmates graduate in vocational studies at Agodi prison

admin
-
0
30 inmates graduate in vocational studies at Agodi prison

Nigerian inmate No fewer than 30 inmates of Agodi prison in Ibadan have benefitted from the vocational training programmes organised by the Oyo State Command of the Nigeria Prison Service.

 

The spokesman of the command, Mr Olanrewaju Anjorin, said this on Tuesday in Ibadan while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

 

He said the inmates, who were trained in such vocations as computer engineering and repair of cell phones, graduated on Thursday.

 

Anjorin said the command often provided working tools to graduates of its vocational centre to enable them to be self-reliant on release from jail, adding that its Aftercare Unit usually monitors the ex-convicts.

 

He, however, solicited the support of the state and local governments in the provision of working tools, saying the command alone could not bear the burden.

 

Anjorin also urged Nigerians to refrain from perceiving prisons as centres for punishment instead of institutions for rehabilitating, reforming and reintegrating inmates.

 

He further advised the judiciary to expedite action on those awaiting trial in order to reduce congestion in prisons. (NAN)

Okonjo-Iweala, NASS team engage diaspora on economic development

admin
-
0
Okonjo-Iweala, NASS team engage diaspora on economic development
Okonjo Iweala
Okonjo Iweala

In response to the long-standing desire of the Nigerian diaspora to support economic development in the country, a high level Executive-Legislative team is currently holding a series of interactive sessions with Nigerians in Europe and the United States. The sessions are organized by the Debt Management Office, led by its Director-General, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo.

 

The delegation is headed by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and includes key members of relevant committees in the National Assembly. The members of the National Assembly are: Senator Ahmed Makarfi Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator E. Uzamere, Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Senator Ita Enang, Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Honourable Adeyinka Ajayi, Chairman, House Committee on Aid, Loans and Debt Management, Honourable Famurewa Ajibola Israel, House Committee on Diaspora, Honourable Abdulrahman Terab, House Committee on Finance and Honourable Emmanuel David Ombugadu, House Committee on Appropriation.

 

It will be recalled that Nigerians in the Diaspora have been seeking ways and means to contribute more to the country’s development. This interest is backed by substantial capacity: the value of remittances from Nigerians abroad in 2013 was $20.77 billion; for the first half of 2014 it is $10.40 billion. This includes contributions through remittances to their families, friends and communities, medical missions and provision of scholarships.

 

Indeed, the experience of countries such as Israel and India shows that the Diaspora are a force to be reckoned with in the growth and development of any country, through the funding of critical development projects, among other means. The current effort is directed at providing the Nigerian Diaspora similar opportunities.

 

The Meetings which started yesterday in London, will continue in New York, Washington DC and Houston between September 2-4, 2014. The London meeting hosted by the Nigerian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, H.E. Dr. Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, was attended by over 140 invited Nigerian professionals. The meeting provided an avenue for the CME and the other members of the team to update Nigerians in the Diaspora on the developments in the Nigerian economy, the major achievements of the Transformation Agenda under the Administration of His Excellency, President Goodluck E. Jonathan and the opportunities available in Nigeria for Diaspora Nigerians.

 

Nigerians were also reassured of the developments in Nigeria with respect to the Ebola Virus Disease and the Government’s management of the situation. Participants expressed concern about the security situation and urged the government to do more particularly with respect to the return of the Chibok girls. Participants also showed a lot of interest in contributing to development with investments in infrastructure, SMEs and in the housing sector.

 

It is expected that through these Sessions, Nigerians in Diaspora will be better informed about developments in the country and be encouraged to contribute in various ways to the development of the economy and nation-building in general.

How climate change adaptation in Africa is growing

Michael Simire
-
0
How climate change adaptation in Africa is growing

Over the past decade, countries across Africa have shown increasing interest in comprehensive development plans that set ambitious social and economic development objectives. These plans move beyond the narrow objective of poverty reduction to encompass the wider objectives of accelerating growth, creating employment, and providing safe water, sanitation, health care and education within a framework of sustainable development. Moving forward, development planning and practice also needs to reflect the reality of the changing climate, and to ensure that investments consider future climate conditions.

A riverside community in Nigeria, where government is seeking to access the Adaptation Fund
A riverside community in Nigeria, where government is seeking to access the Adaptation Fund

Many African countries have a long-term vision to guide their steps towards ambitious development goals. In many cases, countries are making concerted attempts to mainstream climate adaptation into development planning. Although efforts to date have tended to be isolated, initiatives in disaster risk management, adjustments in technologies and infrastructure, ecosystem-based approaches, basic public health measures and livelihood diversification are reducing vulnerability to climate impacts.

More specifically, a number of African governments have developed National Climate Change Response Strategies or, in least developed countries, National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs). As yet, implementation and integration of these and other strategies and programmes with economic and development planning is limited but growing. The development of NAPAs and early experience with National Climate Change Response Strategies, show that adaptation planning is evolving and becoming more integrated, multi-level and multi-sector. Ethiopia’s Programme of Adaptation to Climate Change, for example, covers sectoral, regional, national and local community issues. Mali integrates adaptation into many sectors. Nigeria’s NAPA was produced a few years ago through a private-public sector collaboration.

Nigeria, as a member of the Adaptation Fund Board, is working towards accessing the fund and in line with the requirements is the designation of a National Implementation Entity (NIE). Consequently, the authorities have nominated the Bank of Industry (BOI) as an applicant candidate as the NIE, and the application is presently before the accreditation panel of the Adaptation Fund.

National climate-resilient development strategies include Rwanda’s National Strategy on Climate Change and Low-Carbon Development. Niger, Zambia and Mozambique are involved in the African Development Bank Pilot Program for Climate Resilience. Zambia’s Sixth National Development Plan 2011–2015 and Niger’s new Economic and Social Investment Plan are examples of integration of climate resilience measures in national development plans.

Inter-sectoral climate risk management approaches are emerging in integrated water resources management, integrated coastal zone management, disaster risk reduction and land-use planning. Biodiversity planning to guide land use in South Africa incorporates design principles for climate change.

In some African countries, broader policy frameworks, such as Nigeria’s and Namibia’s National Policy on Climate Change, Zambia’s National Climate Change Response Strategy and Policy, and South Africa’s National Climate Change Response Policy White Paper reflect a commitment to climate adaptation. Gabon has proposed a National Coastal Adaptation Law. Lesotho’s coordinated policy framework involves all ministries and stakeholders. Nigeria’s National Policy on Climate Change represents a roadmap for all other sectors to key in; from which, for example, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture developed the Agriculture Resilience Framework. Ten countries were developing new climate-change laws or formal policies in 2012.

Managing for climate-related risks may involve experimenting with larger scale, new or more transformational adaptation measures than those already tried, and additional planning and investment. Adaptation measures that also deliver development benefits, now and in the future, offer significant opportunities. Moreover, people and societies may come to perceive or rank risks and potential benefits differently, thus decision-making processes should also allow for debates around diverse values and goals.

The IPCC reports a growing understanding of potential limits to adaptation in Africa. Climate change, combined with other stressors, may overwhelm the ability of people to cope and adapt, especially if there is a failure to address the root causes of poverty and vulnerability. Evidence is growing of the need to design new development trajectories that will reduce vulnerability, spread risk and build capacity to adapt.

Scientists to UN: Improved rainwater management will eradicate hunger

Michael Simire
-
0
Scientists to UN: Improved rainwater management will eradicate hunger

The world is missing a chance to eradicate hunger and poverty for billions of people living in regions with variable and scarce rainfall. Without improved management of rainwater, the future development goals currently being discussed are unrealistic, say leading scientists.

rainwater-harvesting-tank-systemSome of the world’s leading water, environment and resilience scientists and experts on Sunday in Stockholm, Sweden published a call to the UN, saying that rain, and the way it is managed, is what will determine whether hunger and poverty can be eradicated in the world. The call was made at the onset of World Water Week in the Swedish capital – the leading annual meeting place for water and development issues.

The scientists, including Professor Malin Falkenmark of Stockholm International Water Institute/Stockholm Resilience Centre and Professor Johan Rockström of Stockholm Resilience Centre, are “deeply concerned that sustainable management of rainfall in water scarce regions of the world is missing in the goals and targets proposed by the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Poverty (Goal 1), Hunger (Goal 2) and Freshwater (Goal 6).

More than two billion people live in some of the driest and poorest areas of the world, also home to the fastest growing populations. These regions depend on highly variable, unreliable and unpredictable rainfall. When it rains, it pours, making agriculture extremely challenging. However, over time these areas do receive enough rain, and with better methods of using the rainwater, food production could be drastically improved.

Attempting to eradicate global poverty and hunger without addressing the productivity of rain “is a serious and unacceptable omission”, and the Sustainable Development Goals as currently proposed “cannot be achieved without a strong focus on sustainable and resilient management of rainfall for resilient food production” the scientists say.

The signatories call upon the United Nations to add a target on rainwater management to any Hunger Goal in the Sustainable Development Goals, which are to be agreed on in 2015.
The signatories of the declaration are: Malin Falkenmark, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI); Stockholm Resilience Centre; Johan Rockström, Stockholm Resilience Centre; Torgny Holmgren, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI); Mohamed Ait Kadi, Global Water Partnership (GWP); Tony Allan, King’s College, Stockholm Water Prize Laureate 2008; Naty Barak, Netafim, Stockholm Industry Water Award winner 2013; Jeremy Bird, International Water Management Institute (IWMI); Fred Boltz, Rockefeller Foundation; Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute; David Grey, University of Oxford; Jerson Kelman, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; Roberto Lenton, University of Nebraska; Julia Marton-Lefévre, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); and, Lisa Sennerby Forsse, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).

IPCC’s AR5: Adaptation is fundamentally about risk management

Michael Simire
-
0
IPCC’s AR5: Adaptation is fundamentally about risk management

In Africa, the primary concern is adapting to the negative impacts of climate change. This means taking both short and long-term approaches to managing climate risks. In the short term, integrating climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction will help withstand shocks to human security and economic development from which recovery can be costly.

Irrigation in Eritrea. Photo: Courtesy www.treehugger.com
Irrigation in Eritrea. Photo: Courtesy www.treehugger.com

African governments, businesses and communities can do much to anticipate and reduce risk, rather than reacting after impacts have occurred. Support for effective disaster relief and recovery needs to continue, along with proactive efforts to reduce risk, such as integrating comprehensive risk assessments and risk reduction measures into national economic and development policy.

In the longer term, governments, businesses and communities need not only to prepare for the kinds of climate impacts experienced up to now but also for different and more intense climate impacts and extreme events. Measures may include providing adequate housing, infrastructure or services, or mainstreaming climate change into urban planning processes.

There are good reasons to start now in the process of adapting to these longer-term risks. The IPCC cautions against overemphasising short-term outcomes or insufficiently anticipating consequences. Given that climate change cuts across sectoral boundaries, poorly conceived development programmes or sector-specific adaptation strategies could lower resilience in other sectors or ecosystems. Some development pathways, like rapid urbanisation of coastal zones, can increase the vulnerability of certain groups to future climate change – known as ‘maladaptation’. This is a particular challenge for Africa where economies are growing rapidly and societies are undergoing significant demographic shifts.

More ‘transformational’ changes may be needed in situations where there are high levels of vulnerability and low capacity to adapt, as is often the case in Africa. Such adaptations entail major economic, social, technological and political decisions and actions, rather than incremental changes to existing structures and processes. They involve, for example, changing agricultural practices, integrating climate change into education, providing useful climate services, diversifying livelihoods or introducing social and technical innovations. Recent success stories from smallholder systems in Africa illustrate the potential for transforming degraded agricultural landscapes into more productive and sustainable systems by integrating trees into annual cropping systems. However, it should be noted that transformational adaptation can result in either positive or negative outcomes, as the greater level of investment and or shift in fundamental values and expectations required for transformational change may create greater resistance.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to adaptation. The IPCC stresses that no single adaptation strategy will meet the needs of all communities and contexts in Africa. Moreover, the characteristics of a community or society’s capacity to adapt to climate change will differ from place to place, and depend largely on specific contexts. A range of actions that address underlying vulnerabilities, implement specific adaptation measures and instigate transformations may be necessary to reduce climate risks.

There are challenges to adaptation. First, African countries lack climate data and information, which creates difficulties in assessing the overall risks and vulnerabilities triggered by climatic and non-climatic factors. Data and information are vital for countries to develop robust climate-resilient strategies and policies, and national and sectoral development plans. In some cases, adaptation may require additional resources in terms of funding, skills and capacity beyond ‘business as usual’ development.

Second, development planning tends to take place at a national scale and so may not take account of the impacts of climate change and variability in particular localities. National policies can inadvertently disregard or undermine cultural, traditional and context-specific practices that support local adaptation to climate change.

Third, interventions need to cross sectors. The cross-sectoral approach requires institutional integration and collaboration. The practice of working across sectors in Africa, and indeed in many parts of the world, does not come naturally, as it challenges entrenched institutional and sectoral behaviours. Overall, African countries’ adaptive capacity and institutional framework to manage complex social and ecological change, especially at local government level, needs strengthening.

1...2,2262,2272,228...2,286Page 2,227 of 2,286

TV Report

Archives

2025 EnviroNews Nigeria. All Rights Reserved.

×