The problem of climate change goes beyond ecology, covering economic and political aspects, the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, President-designate of COP29, Mukhtar Babayev, said on Thursday June 6, 2024, during his video address to the participants of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Mukhtar Babayev
The minister reminded that the issues of climate financing will be the main topic at the COP29 to be held in Baku.
“Climate financing will be the main topic at the upcoming Baku Conference of the parties. We need to agree on a new collective climate finance quantitative target at COP29. Work on setting a new collective climate finance quantitative target will need to take into account many interrelated elements. Climate finance has been one of the most difficult topics in climate diplomacy for many years. Obviously, all parties have valid points. We are listening to all parties to understand their priorities and help to align positions to achieve a fair new goal,” he said.
Babayev also stressed that the main challenge is to find ways of an efficient and fair transition to a low-carbon economy while ensuring sustainable economic development.
In a related development, Hydrogen Europe has said that it is ready to work with the leadership and partners of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) on hydrogen-related issues, according to the Director of Trade and International Relations at Hydrogen Europe Maria Assumpcio Rojo Torrent.
She made the remark during the plenary discussions themed “COP29 strategic development ways for a green world, financing of green energy projects” on the second day of the Baku Energy Forum.
The director noted that issues related to hydrogen were brought up in recent COP events: “We think this will continue at COP29. This event will be a great opportunity to better understand the role that hydrogen will play in the widespread use of renewable energy sources.
Another important aspect of COP29 is increasing climate finance for the global energy transition. We should seek to increase public funding in line with climate goals. However, since public funding is insufficient, it is also important to encourage private investment and facilitate access to capital markets for SMEs.”
Azerbaijan has every chance to achieve success at the upcoming COP29 climate conference, according to Samir Suleymanov, the Director of Climate Finance for COP28.
Speaking at the Baku Energy Forum, Suleymanov expressed his optimism about the transition of the COP presidency from the United Arab Emirates to Azerbaijan.
“The handover of the COP chairmanship from the UAE to Azerbaijan is a fortunate factor, both in terms of the geography of the event and other indicators,” Suleymanov stated. “Both countries share a similar vision on key issues, such as energy efficiency. Therefore, I am very hopeful that by building upon the results already achieved, we can make significant progress.”
Suleymanov emphasised that the challenge lies not only in financing measures to prevent climate change, as funds can be attracted in the desired volume. “There must also be those who can implement the tasks set,” he added.
“It is necessary to consider the real capabilities of each country so that they can build a decarbonised economy,” Suleymanov noted.
In April 2018, a group of Forest Elephants surged out of the undergrowth of Omo Forest in Ogun State and ambled across the Benin-Sagamu Expressway, bringing traffic to a standstill and killing one foolhardy passerby determined to capture a video of the elephants on his phone.
A camera trap photo of an African Forest Elephant at the Omo Forest in Ogun State, Nigeria. Photo credit: Nigeria Conservation Foundation
When the first clip of this unlikely event, already forwarded many times, showed up on my screen, I initially dismissed it as yet another attempt by a content creator at sensationalism. Until more videos and news flashes started rushing in.
To my amazement, it wasn’t fake news at all!
Some 30 magnificent and very focused Forest Elephants with babies in tow, actually did cross the dual-lane highway, heading towards Itasin Forest close to the lagoon near Epe.
A journey of 11 hours, if one is an elephant.
Historically, the Forest Elephants are said to have come out of Itasin Forest in 1946. So, in a way, harassed beyond endurance by the goings-on in Omo Forest, that group of 30 had just decided to go back home.
Until the 2018 elephant crossing, I had no idea that there were Forest Elephants in South West Nigeria, and certainly not so close to Lagos.
And it is only a few weeks ago that I was informed that elephants could still be seen in the forests covering Jericho Hills in Ibadan as recently as 1958 and 1959. I am so sorry to have missed them.
It just goes to show how little I had been taught about our magnificent wildlife and forest spaces during my otherwise extensive education in Ibadan.
A highly knowledgeable forest conservator friend insists that Forestry be taught as a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools.
After my recent emergence into conservation groups and environmental matters, I am beginning to agree with him.
Being aware that our very survival is dependent on our natural environment, would dramatically alter the prevailing attitude towards our forest reserves and the wildlife which they house – that they are simply a waste of valuable space.
Even as I embark on this story about the key role the Forest Elephant plays in maintaining the ecosystems of Omo Forest, I realise that very few of us will appreciate the urgency of rescuing the Forest Elephant from the brink of extinction; because in the first place we don’t understand why trees and forests and the intricate biodiversity they support are so crucial for the continued existence of man and animals.
Elephants are referred to as a keystone species because of the very important role they play in maintaining the ecosystems in which they live. Be it forest or savannah.
In architectural terms, a keystone is the uppermost central brick in an arch. Without which the whole arch would collapse.
In the same way, take away the Forest Elephant and the whole ecosystem of Omo Forest would collapse. With the added risk of driving other species, both plant and animal, to the verge of local extinction too.
Elephants are the largest herbivores on the planet, eating for close to 18 hours a day, just to keep their strength up.
For most of their waking hours, our Forest Elephants in small matriarchal family groups lead by the eldest female in the group, trample through Omo Forest, feasting on up to 150kg a day worth of leaves, grasses, the barks of trees, fruits and seeds; washed down with about 70 – 100 litres on water (though they can drink more than this if they are thirsty enough).
The seeds that they eat, which include the heavier seeds of high carbon content trees, pass through the elephant’s digestive tract and are expelled in huge balls of dung. Sometimes as far as 60 km away from the tree that produced them.
Indeed, the seeds have to pass through the elephant’s digestive tract in order to germinate.
And without the elephants’ part in their dispersal, the heavier seeds would just fall to the ground, with little chance of germinating or growing into a viable tree under the shade of the parent tree.
I am also told that the Forest Elephant is partial to the fruit of Irvingia trees. Also known as bush mango. (The seeds of Irvingia gabonensis are called ogbono by the Igbo and apon by the Yoruba. Which, as we all know, are made into delicious soups by both cultures!)
Sadly, the Irvingia species are also in demand for their timber, so with increased felling of these trees, there is less and less of the fruit available for the Forest Elephant.
Another factor that might push them to migrate.
Elephants are very intelligent animals and are able to remember when specific fruits come into season, and they are also able to locate fruiting trees in the forest by using the ripe fruit odour as a tracking guide.
When the mounds of dung, which are a rich natural fertiliser, fall to the ground, dung beetles swarm over them eager for their own share of the nutrients within.
When they have broken down the dung into bite-sized pieces and eaten their fill, they carry the rest of it into an underground labyrinth of tunnels where their voracious larvae live, eat and grow. Preparatory to becoming the next generation of dung beetles.
In this way, the soil is turned over and mixed with the elephant dung and the seeds expelled by our Forest Elephants take root in this rich natural fertiliser and soon the first seedlings of the next generation of grasses, shrubs and trees appear.
Because of their role in dispersing seeds over large areas, elephants are often referred to as the gardeners of their ecosystems; in which case the dung beetle acts like an under gardener, turning over the topsoil and mixing in the nutrient and moisture rich dung and preparing the ground for the seedlings.
In addition, the larvae of the dung beetle, well nourished by the elephant dung, are favorite food for forest mice and other small animals. Which in turn are a favorite food for birds, reptiles and bigger animals.
So, by supporting the survival of the dung beetle, the elephants indirectly support the continuity of other animal life too.
Another way in which they support species survival within the forest space, is by breaking down branches as they trudge through the forest foraging for food.
Branches that would have been too high for smaller animals to reach, fall to the forest floor, becoming easily accessible as more food.
Elephants are also able to sense underground water, and use their trunks, tusks and feet to dig into these reservoirs.
When they have drunk their fill, other animals get to drink from these watering holes too. A particularly useful trait in the Savannah Elephants who roam through the drier savannah ecosystems.
Elephants also act as landscapers of the forest spaces.
As herds of Forest Elephants trample through the vegetation between the trees of the rainforest, they create large clearings, which allows sunlight to reach lower lying plants, giving them a better chance to photosynthesise and grow.
The elephants also break down and feast on smaller trees in the forest, giving more space for the growth and spread of larger trees.
As these thrive and mature into old growth trees, they are able to assume their crucial function of carbon absorption, thus converting our forests into valuable carbon sinks.
The posh scientific name for the African Forest Elephant is Loxodonta cyclotis. One of six distinct species of elephant alive on Earth today.
Loxodonta cyclotis is a completely different species from the African Savannah Elephant, Loxodonta africana, found in Yankari Game Reserve in North Eastern Nigeria.
The two species are believed to have diverged from a common ancestor a few million years ago. The Forest Elephant is smaller in size than its distant cousin the Savannah Elephant. It also has smaller ears and straighter downward pointing tusks. The tusks of the Savannah Elephant curve outwards.
More importantly, Forest Elephants have a much slower reproductive rate than Savannah Elephants.
The female Forest Elephant takes 14 – 17 years to reach sexual maturity, and when she does get pregnant, it takes up to two years before she eventually delivers her baby!
This explains why reductions in the size of the Forest Elephant populations are so threatening. They cannot be replaced as quickly when their numbers fall.
If you have persevered and read this far, I am hoping you will have begun to appreciate the critical role our Forest Elephants play in Omo Forest; maintaining the biodiversity of forest species; keeping the forest ecosystems in balance; propagating new plant life within the forest and nurturing the old growth trees that give Omo Forest it’s profound importance as one of the last major carbon sink forests in Nigeria.
And here we come to the crux of the matter: The protection of Omo Forest. Indeed, why is the conservation of Omo Forest of such extreme importance?
Apart from housing precious Forest Elephants and other wildlife species and sinking vast amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, it is also a major watershed for the rivers that supply drinking water to Lagos City and drain into the Lagos Lagoon.
Deforestation of the watershed area in Omo Forest will have disastrous consequences for the City of Lagos.
Without the old growth trees to mop up rainfall and slow down the speed of storm run-off, there will be an increase in the incidence of flooding in the City of Lagos during the rainy season. Which is bad enough already.
And without the channels of tree roots to draw water deeply into the soil and the underground water reservoirs, the citizens of Lagos City will be at risk of devastating water shortages.
In addition, rapid storm water run-off will lead to massive erosion and loss of fertile topsoil in the farming areas.
And this brings us back to the importance of the Forest Elephant in preserving Omo Forest.
We cannot effectively protect and conserve Omo Forest, its watershed, its biodiversity and vital carbon sink function, and allow it to grow and flourish without the Forest Elephant.
And we cannot prevent the Forest Elephant from hurtling towards local extinction and taking other endangered species along with it, without calling an immediate halt to the massive deforestation of Omo Forest.
The one cannot exist without the other. They are inextricably linked.
To allow the last few members of the elephant herd in Omo Forest to dwindle into extinction would be nothing short of an assault against Nature.
But to reduce the spectacular glory of Omo Forest, with all its life supporting functions, to shanty settlements, illegal farming spaces and firewood kindling, would herald the beginning of the end for South West Nigeria.
Satellite data from the University of Maryland reveals that between 2001 and 2017, Omo Forest lost more than 70% of its tree cover.
While in the months of May and June 2019, the same institution recorded a staggering two thousand deforestation alerts.
Two thousand!!
That’s an awful lot of carbon sinking, rainfall producing, water purifying, erosion preventing, air cooling, food and medicine supplying, biodiversity protecting rainforest.
That’s an awful lot of habitat loss for our Forest Elephants and other endangered species.
Even those of us with little or no understanding of forestry, will realise that this is poorly managed, unsustainable logging at its worst.
In 2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), declared the African Forest Elephant a critically endangered species.
There are many reasons for the rapid decline in African Elephant populations.
Rampant deforestation with its dire consequences of habitat loss and diminishing food supplies is one of them.
A greater threat is elephant poaching.
To me, the slaughter and disposal of a fully grown elephant, merely for the sake of its ivory tusks, borders on the insane.
But to those engaged in the illegal and highly lucrative ivory trade, the average elephant in a country with porous borders and poorly enforced laws, must seem like a gift from God.
Until 1990, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) banned the trade of ivory outright, the decimation of the African Elephant species was largely caused by poaching.
In 1980 alone, it is documented that poachers virtually halved the African Elephant populations.
Ivory is used for a variety of things. Each more absurd than the next, if you ask me, considering that one needs to first wipe out several elephants.
These range from intricately carved pieces of art, status- conferring trinkets, piano keys, and of all things, billiard balls.
In addition, elephant tusks are still used in traditional Chinese medicine, though I have read that they are as much medicinal value as chewing on the keratin of one’s fingernails.
Another problem faced by our Forest Elephants and indeed the Nigerian Conservation Foundation in conjunction with other international organisations and the Ogun State government, is human-elephant conflict.
With distressing losses on both sides.
Though I must confess that my own allegiance lies heavily on the side of the Omo Forest elephant.
A vast number of trees in supposedly prohibited areas are still being cut down to make room for farming settlements. The majority of them for small scale cocoa farming. Because cocoa saplings seem to do better in the Omo Forest soil so cleverly enriched by the Forest Elephant, than anywhere else.
Naturally, the elephants take exception to this encroachment on their ancestral habitats, and from time-to-time trample through the farms destroying precious crops and scaring away the farmers.
Even though the farmers are aware that it is illegal to kill the elephants, there are occasional losses on the side of the elephants.
For more than three decades, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), supported by international conservation teams, has had armed rangers and patrol teams on the ground in Omo Forest; striving against all odds to protect Omo Forest and its watershed for the Lagos Lagoon; and making heroic efforts to pull back the Forest Elephant and other critically endangered species from the precipice of extinction.
But as far as I can tell, even though the number of elephants killed by poachers has reduced considerably under the watch of NCF, without the cooperation of Ogun State Government, NCF and their allies may be fighting a losing battle.
It is imperative that what remains of Omo Forest be converted into a Wildlife Sanctuary with very clearly designated boundaries.
There should be more stringent deterrents in place against poachers, illegal loggers and subsistence farmers.
There are those who would argue with me that those farms are a means of livelihood to so many people.
I would suggest that the Ogun State Government compensates them adequately and takes back those farms for immediate reforestation.
If, as seems likely with the present rate of deforestation, Omo Forest in a few years becomes yet another barren desertified space, with no trees to manage the Water Cycle and no Forest Elephants to maintain the forest ecosystems, the loggers, farmers and poachers will be out of a job anyway.
They might as well start looking around now for something more sustainable to do.
Indeed, considering the terrifying rate of global warming and the urgent need to combat the ensuing climate change, which seems to be galloping out of control, the decimation of any forest at this moment in the history of mankind, has joined the league of heinous crimes against humanity.
We can no longer afford to lose Omo Forest and her keystone species. There are very few major carbon sink forest stretches remaining in Nigeria. Omo Forest is one of the last.
I am hoping against hope that my brief treatise on the importance of Omo Forest and the African Forest Elephant to the well-being of us all, will eventually find its way to the desk of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Ogun State.
I hereby implore him to forge an even stronger liaison with NCF and their allies, to listen to their warnings and expert advice; to create new strategies and new policies, written into law if need be, to ensure the rescue of Omo Forest and the magnificent African Forest Elephant. Which will in turn positively impact on the city of Lagos and neighbouring environs in Ogun State.
Before it is too late.
By Rosalie Ann Modder-Oyefeso (In conjunction with the Save Our Green Spaces Group)
The first Dialogue under the United Arab Emirates Just Transition Work Programme took place in Bonn, Germany from June 2 to 3, 2024, with opening speakers highlighting the need for whole-of-society approaches to a sustainable future, that are inclusive, equitable and just.
Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change
Opening the meeting, Ambassador Nabeel Munir, Chair of the UNFCCC’s Subsidiary Body for Implementation, said: “The just transition presents a profound opportunity to address climate change. As we shift towards a sustainable future, it is imperative that we create pathways that are inclusive, equitable and just. This means empowering communities, protecting workers’ rights and fostering opportunities in green industries.”
Iman Ustadi, Deputy Chief Negotiator for the Presidency of the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in in Dubai last year, highlighted the significance of the just transition as a cornerstone of the UAE Consensus achieved last year.
“The just transition is key to ensuring that as we make our way towards ambition and climate action, we are also ensuring sustainable development, prosperity and opportunity, without leaving anyone behind. The just transition is a beacon to further operationalize international cooperation,” she said.
Further underscoring the significance of the Dialogue, high-level representatives of the incoming COP29 and COP30 Presidencies were also in attendance.
Just Transition gathers pace, but more specific climate plans are needed
Recent data shows an increasing consideration of just transition in national climate action plans, with more countries addressing social and economic impacts of the transition to low-carbon and resilient economies. Meanwhile, 38% of NDCs explicitly reference just transition principals. This is the case for 57% of all LT-LEDS.
Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, cautioned: “It is one thing to say we must leave no-one behind. But to actually deliver on that, we need to start making concrete plans. We need to be designing policies based on dialogue and engagement with all parts of society.
“There is no one size fits all, and each solution needs to adapt to each context, developed or developing, urban or rural. There is no better predictor than applying the lessons learned by those that are ahead of the pack.”
The participants meeting in Bonn emphasised the need to incorporate just transition elements in all NDCS, NAPS, and LTLEDS, ensuring the involvement of marginalised groups and those who could be affected by the transition, and engaging youth and taking into account their voices in planning and implementation.
This can be achieved through the development of comprehensive policy frameworks that align the just transition with national priorities, and the early engagement of stakeholders.
In addition, local communities need to be empowered to design and implement their own just transition plans.
Several challenges were emphasised at the Bonn gathering, including financial barriers, capacity-building needs, and limiting socioeconomic impacts of the transition both between and within countries.
Above all, participants highlighted the fact that, to accelerate the just transition, more international cooperation, knowledge exchange, and regional and multilateral coordination are needed.
About theUAE Just Transition Work Programme and next steps
The work programme on just transition pathways was established at the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2022. One year later, at COP28 in Dubai, parties defined and adopted the programme’s objectives. The first dialogue under the United Arab Emirates Just Transition Work Programme gave party and non-party observers the opportunity to share their views and experiences, identifying challenges and cooperation opportunities for facilitating just transition goals. The second Dialogue will take place ahead of COP29 in Baku in November.
Earlier this week, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, the world celebrated World Environment Day, an annual event that emphasises the significance of protecting our environment, which serves as the foundation for life and economic progress. It was fitting that this year’s topic was “land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience.”
Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako
According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40% of the world’s land is degraded, directly harming half of the global population, the majority of whom live in developing nations.
Land degradation, drought, and desertification have long been major issues in Nigeria, which has experienced continuous deforestation over the previous decade, with Global Forest Watch statistics revealing that Nigeria lost 86,700 hectares of tropical forest between 2010 and 2019. As alarming as this may sound, study has shown that, if no quick action is taken, a further 25% of our surviving forest will vanish by 2060, transforming a large portion of our country into degraded and desolate ground. We can’t let this happen.
Meanwhile, both Nigeria’s Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy and the Deep Decarbonisation Report, which examine various pathways for Nigeria to achieve its net-zero-by-2060 goal, found that Nigeria’s AFOLU sector contributed the most sectoral emissions (30%), compared to the oil and gas sector (29%).
In light of this, Nigeria is prioritising Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as a critical tool to help address global warming, increase resilience to climate impacts, combat poverty, and achieve long-term development for the country. This is in alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR and the eight presidential priority areas.
While it is understandable that Nigeria has set its sights on transforming the energy sector, it is also true that only through a renewable energy scenario that also transforms the AFOLU sector will Nigeria be able to meet its commitment of net zero by 2060, allowing Nigeria’s economy to grow while also meeting its sustainability goals.
While Nigeria has been a key player in leveraging NbS to address climate change, this government is committed to going further and faster with nature-based solutions such as ecosystem restoration and sustainable management to address social and environmental issues such as land degradation and climate change.
We are leveraging the REDD+ programme, the Great Green Wall Initiative, the ACReSAL project, natural capital accounting, the HYPREP mangrove restoration in Ogoni land, among other initiatives.
Nigeria began its REDD+ journey in 2009, with Cross River State serving as the pilot state. The programme will eventually spread to Edo, Ondo, Ogun, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Plateau states. To guarantee a holistic and effective approach, Nigeria implemented its REDD+ initiatives using a two-track methodology that included both federal and state-level actions that reflected the country’s unique federal system. Nigeria’s REDD+ programme has completed its readiness phase and has moved forward with the development of Forest Reference Emission Levels, Safeguards Information System, Multiple Benefits, and MRV systems, as well as preliminary drafts of benefit sharing systems and the Feedback and Grievances Redress Mechanism (FGRM).
In 2021, Nigeria released the REDD+ Strategy paper, which considered the drivers of forest degradation and deforestation, mitigation methods, and how to quantify progress in order to use forests as carbon sinks to reduce emissions by 20% by 2050. The REDD+ Strategy would be implemented in stages over a thirty-year period, from 2021 to 2050, with short-, medium-, and long-term objectives.
Nigeria is leading the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and Sahel, a pan-African programme launched by the African Union in 2005 with the goal of restoring 100,000 hectares of land, sequestering 250 tonnes of CO2, and creating 10,000,000 jobs in Africa’s Great Green Wall corridor by addressing land degradation, desertification, biodiversity loss, and building climate resilience.
Nigeria has domesticated the programme and established the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) to coordinate the initiative across the eleven Great Green Wall states of Sokoto, Kebbi, Kastina, Zamfara, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa.
Over the years, the Great Green Wall project in Nigeria has established 1,500-kilometer-long shelter belts, woodlots, promoted the planting of indigenous tree species, established plant nurseries, led tree-planting projects with millions of trees already planted, and provided alternative livelihood sources for communities to ensure that they do not overly rely on the land while restoration is underway.
In 2022, as part of attempts to continue to rely on nature-based solutions to address climate change and sustainable development, Nigeria, in collaboration with the World Bank, launched the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) programme for all 19 states of Northern Nigeria. The ACReSAL project is a multi-sectoral programme aimed at addressing climate change and land degradation in Northern Nigeria in a multidimensional manner. It focuses on strategic watershed planning, landscape investments, special ecosystems, community investments, contingent emergency response, and so on. At the moment, efforts are being made at the state and federal levels to accomplish the project’s aims.
I am delighted that Nigeria is one of the 12 countries that will benefit from The Global Environment Facility’s (GEF-8) Net-Zero Nature-Positive Accelerator Integrated Programme (NZNPA IP), which is designed to help countries raise their ambitions and achieve national net-zero targets while promoting nature-positive outcomes, thereby creating the capacity and conditions for long-term, nature-positive and inclusive systemic economic transformation.
Our government is also dedicated to driving efforts to incorporate natural capital accounting into its development plans as a means of emphasising the economic and social benefits of repairing and sustainably managing our ecosystem. What instantly stands out from the foregoing is Nigeria’s willingness to rely on nature-based solutions to conserve its biodiversity, protect its people’s livelihoods, so addressing the problem of poverty and a lack of livelihood sources, and combat climate change.
Given that climatic consequences are not restricted by borders and that actions to reduce them in one clime can influence others, rich countries must view expenditures in NbS as an investment in the global fight to combat climate change. As a result, it is critical that significant climate financing be committed to supporting NbS not only in Nigeria, but also around the world.
These should not be viewed as charitable donations, but rather as investments, which can take the form of carbon trading. Such investments will provide the required funding for developing countries’ climate action in a quid pro quo framework. This is one of the reasons Nigeria will present at COP29 in Azerbaijan.
As Nigeria prepares to submit revised NDCs in 2025, it will guarantee that NbS remains a vital part of them. It not only contributes to climate change mitigation, but it also addresses citizens’ livelihood requirements, particularly those of rural inhabitants, food insecurity, and attracts much-needed climate finance.
Dr Iziaq Salako is the Minister of State for the Environment, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, has commended the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Nedogas Development Company Limited for initiating and successfully executing the 300 million standard cubic feet (MMscf) Kwale Gas Gathering (KGG) Facility and Nedogas Plant in Umusam community, Delta State.
L-R: Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Omatsola Felix Ogbe; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperipe Ekpo; Deputy Governor, Delta State, Chief Monday Onyeme; and the Chairman, Nedogas Development Company Limited, Emeka Ene, at the commissioning/unveiling of the Kwale Gas Gathering facility promoted by NEDOGAS Limited and NCDMB on Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Kwale, Delta State
Speaking at the formal commissioning of the two projects on Thursday, June 6, 2024, the Minister said the outcome of the strategic collaboration between the two companies represents “a significant advancement in the country’s efforts to promote sustainability, energy efficiency, and economic expansion.”
According to him, “The NCDMB and Nedogas Limited, of which Xenergy Limited is a part, deserve praise for their tireless work and steadfast dedication to this admirable cause,” and that the collaboration “serves as evidence of the effectiveness of our local content policy, which seeks to increase the involvement of Nigerian businesses in the oil and gas industry while promoting local knowledge and capability.”
He said the country’s capacity to extract and use natural gas resources has been significantly boosted with the completion of Nedogas Plant, which will increase domestic supply and export potential, while generating jobs, “fostering industrial expansion, and ensuring energy security.”
The Kwale Gas Gathering Facility, he pointed out, solves a persistent environmental issue as it captures associated gas that would otherwise be vented and thus turn a potentially waste product into a useful resource. The “Decade of Gas” plan of the Federal Government, he observed, is being promoted in the two projects of Nedogas.
In concluding, he enjoined all to note that “it is essential that we keep enhancing the collaborations amongst all parties involved as we progress,” while assuring that “the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Gas) is still dedicated to helping programs that improve local content, promote investments, develop capacity, and give Nigerians opportunity.”
In his Strategic Partner Remark, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe, said the achievement recorded by the Board and Nedogas represents “a triumph of partnership and shared vision” and “confirms that the Government, the private sector and local communities can collaborate effectively to bring value to the economy.”
He assured that “NCDMB remains committed to fostering such collaborations and creating an enabling environment for investments” and that the Board is equally proud of strategic projects it is developing in partnership with other chain investors in the last 10 years. These, he noted, “are geared towards actualising Federal Government’s policy direction.”
According to the Executive Secretary, the KGG Facility and Nedogas Plant are not only infrastructural achievements but also serve as catalysts for local content development and job creation, among other things.
“Looking ahead,” he reaffirmed, “NCDMB will continue to support similar initiatives that promote local content, drive economic growth, and improve the quality of life of Nigerians.”
The Delta State Governor, Sheriff Francis Oborevwori, represented by his Deputy, Chief Monday John Onyeme, expressed happiness that his state is playing host to such an important project which would address the energy needs of Nigerians.
He said the economic importance of the KGG Facility and Nedogas Plant would be best appreciated if placed within the context of the energy crisis in the country. Citing World Bank statistics, he stated that power supply is so poor that companies spend as much as $29 billion yearly to remain in business, and that “the country is ranked as the lowest in terms of access to electricity globally.”
For his part, the Commission Chief Executive (CCE), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, said the inauguration of the cutting-edge Facility and Plant represents a pivotal milestone for NCDMB and Nedogas.
According to the CCE, represented by Chief Ogunnubi Olusegun, Regional Coordinator of the Commission, “By pushing the boundaries of energy production capacity, you are setting a commendable standard for others to aspire to.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of Nedogas, Mr. Emeka C. Ene, expressed appreciation to partners in the two projects that had contributed to the success being celebrated at the commissioning ceremony. He was particularly impressed with NCDMB’s strategic capacity development initiatives under successive Managements, from Simbi Wabote to Felix Omatsola Ogbe.
He said the KGG Facility and Nedogas Plant “align perfectly with the ‘Decade of Gas’ initiative which the Federal Government has continued to promote, noting that the location of the KGG hub, being close to the Delta State Industrial Park, would significantly enhance economic activities and development of the state.”
The location, he explained, is also strategic as the Facility would serve as a home, a collection point, to gas from different operating fields. According to him, “All the stranded gas in the area is to be harnessed for the benefit of the people.”
On the wider significance of the KGG Facility, he noted: “This is a modular plant; it can be replicated 10 times over,” and that similar facilities need to be developed to deal with the 140 flare sites in the oil-producing areas.
Key Project Drivers, as the company explains in its official brochure, are Stranded Gas, Proximity to Market, Evacuation Pipeline, Gas Development and Socio-economic Benefits. In regard to the first above the company states, “Natural gas stranded in OML (oil mining lease) 56 (Kwale area) due to absence of evacuation pipeline,” while noting under Gas Development that “A unique gas development opportunity exists for cluster members using shared facilities to leverage on gas network.”
Shelter Afrique Development Bank’s (ShafDB) 43rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to take place from June 11 to 13, 2024, in Kigali, Rwanda, is expected to consolidate the institution’s transformation agenda.
Shelter Afrique Development Bank Managing Director, Thierno Habib Hann
In a landmark decision at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held in October 2023 in Algiers, Algeria, shareholders approved the institution’s revised Articles of Association, elevating the pan-African housing and urban development finance institution into a dynamic development bank.
Speaking at a media briefing in Nairobi ahead of the AGM, Shelter Afrique Development Bank Managing Director, Thierno Habib Hann, said this year’s AGM is crucial in redefining and redirecting the institution.
“This Year’s AGM will serve as an ushering step in solidifying Shelter Afrique Development Bank transformation journey,” Mr. Hann said.
The transformation will align Shelter Afrique with international standards, giving it a leading position among housing financiers and placing it on a par with comparable Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).
It will also enable the institution to expand its spheres of operation to include mobilization of funds for climate change resilient housing projects, initiatives in favour of home ownership by women and women working in the construction sector, as well as the financing of SMEs, trade in the real estate sector, migrants & refugees and diaspora housing projects, among other areas of interest.
“The impact of this transformation will be seen in concrete measures such as increased financing and construction of housing units, and improved access to decent, sustainable and affordable housing,” Mr. Hann stated.
Affordable Housing Finance Value Chain
The AGM, under the theme: “Sustainable Partnerships in the Affordable Housing Finance Value Chain”, will bring together key stakeholders, including shareholders of the 44 Member States, institutional shareholders (the African Development Bank, Africa-Re), policymakers, financial institutions, and development partners, to discuss and strategise on advancing the affordable housing agenda in Africa.
“This year’s theme is important because the housing sector in Africa is intricately linked to partnerships in the region, influenced by various stakeholders throughout the housing value chain. Understanding these dynamics is essential for addressing the challenges and opportunities in providing affordable and sustainable housing for all,” Mr. Hann concluded.
As the world marked the World Environment Day on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, the Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), a human and environmental rights-focused group based in Abia State and Climate & Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet) Southeast Zone, joined the rest of the world to mark the annual observance.
Malam Balarabe Lawal, Minister of Environment
As an environmental rights advocacy group, FENRAD/CSDevNet envisions a fuller and livable world whose ecosystem carries all lives and supports biodiversity. This, according to Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, Executive Director, FENRAD and Southeast Zonal Coordinator, CSDevNet, should remain a resolute commitment in spite of all the mounting challenges.
The Foundation therefore calls on state and non-state parties, including signatories to protocols, pacts, conventions and agreements on environmental rights and protection to raise the bar of enlightenment to environmental issues as lives on the planet depend on them.
Though a programme of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) observed for the first time in 1973, the World Environment Day creates platforms through which environmental campaigners, states and non-state parties come together to encourage environmental awareness and solutions that enhance Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Nwafor said: “This year’s theme is ideally crucial in many ways, especially for a state like Nigeria and all the subnationals thereof. With the slogan ‘Our land. Our future. We are #GenerationRestoration,’ the 2024 World Environment Day places a call on our humanity to ensure that ecosystem restoration is prioritised as a global initiative.
“Increasingly, the world’s topsoil and the physical spaces which harbour lives are shrinking daily. Desertification is at the core of this problem, occasioned by worsening climatic conditions – the result has always been pastoral conflict in Nigeria where the perennial farmer/herder clash over the control of land and, sometimes, water resource is recrudescent.”
According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, up to 40 per cent of the planet’s land is degraded, directly affecting half of the world’s population. This shows the urgency of the need to take action, he added.
Nwafor noted: “FENRAD/CSDevNet calls on the federal, state and local governments, including all non-state actor groups in Nigeria to ensure that deforestation is drastically addressed through tree planting to ensure land restoration and also serve as a carbon sink mechanism, in line with the African Union’s Great Green Wall Project for which Nigeria promised to plant 25 million trees. Beyond merely advocating mitigation and adaptation, or decarbonisation of the transport sector by transitioning to CNG vehicles, the government should encourage reafforestation, replantation and revegetation as a way out of the deleterious disaster. This is the easiest thing to do.
“Lastly, FENRAD/CSDevNet calls on the Abia State Government to prioritise ecosystem restoration in its environmental regime. It is true that environmental sanitation in Abia State has improved significantly, managing the sector also should involve erosion control and checking of land degradation. Currently, there exist over 300 erosion sites in Abia with many of these sites at the margins of border communities.
“Should Abia fail to adopt restorative measures towards these gully heads, who knows, it could be losing land. This is an awareness that should diffuse to every part of the state to the point where everyone takes responsibility. To restore the ecosystem and put an end to land degradation is a goal whose agenda must be pursued by all.”
New guidelines to support African governments to improve food safety across the continent’s vast informal food sector are set to be developed for the first time.
John Oppong-Otoo, Food Safety Officer, African Union International Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR)
The African Union (AU) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) have joined forces to produce the first framework for addressing the unique challenges faced by a vital but often overlooked informal food sector.
Africa’s informal sector is critical for food security, employment, and livelihoods, particularly for the continent’s urban poor. Roughly 70 percent of Africa’s urban households buy food from informal markets, which includes street vendors, kiosks, and traditional market sellers, among others.
However, food safety in Africa’s domestic markets, including informal markets, has been historically neglected, or mismanaged. Some 90 million Africans become sick from foodborne illness every year, costing an estimated $16 billion in productivity losses. In comparison, the international community invests just $55 million per year in food safety projects on the continent.
The new guidelines seek to reflect the realities of African food systems to improve the ways in which African governments engage with the informal sector in their efforts to improve the safety of foods. Embracing and engaging with the informal food sector as a cornerstone of food systems transformation is likely to play a key role in the post-Malabo agenda.
“Food and nutrition security is a human right, and yet unsafe food undermines this right for millions of Africans every year,” said John Oppong-Otoo, Food Safety Officer, African Union International Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).
“We believe these new guidelines will provide realistic and practical guidance to help governments work with the informal sector and gradually transform it to safely and sustainably sustain the population.”
The draft guidelines have been developed following the AU’s continental-wide Food Safety Strategy for Africa, published in 2021 to encourage improvements in food safety management.
While compliance with food safety standards has improved in Africa’s exported goods, progress has been limited when it comes to the domestic informal sector, which is typically fragmented and under-resourced.
“Western approaches to improving food safety, which include compliance with strict requirements and involve complex documentation processes, are really only suited to the formal sector, which is regularised and has sufficient financial resources,” said Silvia Alonso, Senior Scientist Epidemiologist, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).
“The reality is most African consumers buy food from the informal sector, which requires different approaches for food safety management. With the right support, governments can unlock the informal food sector as a vehicle for healthy and safe foods for all, and a source of decent and dignified employment for men and women, especially youth, in Africa.”
The guidelines are informed by ILRI’s research and interventions for improved food safety across Africa. This has included a “push-pull” approach in Burkina Faso, which involved both food hygiene training for chicken grillers as well as awareness campaigns for consumers, and inclusive professionalization of the informal milk sector in Kenya through training and marketing.
The AU and ILRI will consult with informal sector actors and partners to help refine the guidelines from June 10. The consultation process with member states will continue throughout 2024 and 2025 before the framework is scheduled to be presented to the AU policy bodies for approval in 2025.
Across the globe, biodiversity is in peril with species facing extinction more than any other time in history. Biodiversity hotspots are the world’s most species-rich and threatened regions. There are 36 hotspots around the world, including the Guinean Forests of West Africa which covers about 621,705 square kilometres spanning 11 countries.
Guinea Forests of West Africa
Guinea Forests of West Africa biodiversity hotspot includes parts of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea (Bioko and Annobón), and São Tomé and Príncipe.
The hotspot is home to a wide array of biodiversity including 9,000 species of plants, including 1,800 endemics, 416 mammal, 917 bird, 107 reptile and 269 amphibian species. In addition, the hotspot supports the livelihoods of millions of people in the region. However, the hotspot’s biodiversity is under threat due to land clearance for agriculture, over-hunting and mining as well as climate change. In the face of these threats, communities, civil society organisations and governments across the region are making efforts to stem the loss of habitats and species.
Support from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Since 2001, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), has been active in the Guinean Forests of West Africa, initially with an investment of $8.3 million from 2001- 2012, followed up by a $10 million investment from 2016-2022. The most recent investment programme, from 2016 to 2022, was based on an ecosystem profile that included an extensive analysis of key biodiversity areas (KBAs). The investment ended in 2022 with a detailed assessment of results and a Long-Term Vision, which together provide guidance on future investments.
The Ecosystem Profile
From 2025 to 2029 CEPF plans a new grant-making programme for the Guinea Forests of West Africa hotspot, with a total fund of between $4 million and $9 million, running from at least January 2025 to December 2029.
CEPF’s support starts with a design process, resulting in an ecosystem profile. The profile provides a snapshot of the conservation priorities in the hotspot, and the capacity of civil society to address these priorities. Beginning June 2024, BirdLife International will lead on the process of updating the ecosystem profile for the Guinea forests of West Africa (produced in 2015 in English and French). The update will consist of a range of stakeholder consultations and inputs from experts and aims at producing a new investment strategy (strategic directions and investment priorities) which will be the basis for grant-making in the region.
Pete Wood, Team Leader for the Ecosystem profile update, said: “CEPF’s vision is that civil society organisations across the region have the capacity and resources to lead effective conservation action, in the long-term. The ecosystem profile document will describe how CEPF support can help achieve that vision and guide the CEPF grant-making programme from 2025-2029. The process of updating the ecosystem profile is an opportunity for all stakeholders – governments, donors, and research institutions, as well as NGOs – to contribute information and ideas on how the CEPF can contribute to that vision.”
Tharcisse Ukizintambara, Interim Head of BirdLife Office, Dakar & Partnership and Capacity Development Coordinator, said: “Updating the Ecosystem profile, led by BirdLife and its partners, will be crucial for guiding conservation efforts in the Guinean Forests of the West Africa biodiversity hotspot. With increasing threats to biodiversity, a collaborative approach involving various stakeholders will be essential to address conservation challenges. Existing and new BirdLife partners, along with other identified civil society organisations, will benefit from CEPF grants and coaching sessions to enhance their organisational and programme implementation capabilities.’’
BirdLife International will contact many stakeholders in the region to ask for their input to the design process. Updates and information on how to participate will also be posted here.
Nigeria’s push to expand its Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) production could put the country in a precarious economic situation, prolonging its dependency on fossil fuels and leaving it with stranded assets as international demand for gas falls, according to new research by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo
With the IEA predicting international demand for natural gas will peak this decade amid global decarbonisation efforts, there is a “high likelihood” any scale-up of LNG production could leave Nigeria with unprofitable and abandoned assets, and reduce the available financing for clean energy sources, warns IISD’s brief A Balancing Act: Considerations for the expansion of liquified natural gas projects in Nigeria.
The paper also found that Nigerian LNG exports may struggle to compete in the global market after 2030, while replacing oil revenues with LNG may not generate the expected income.
Bathandwa Vazi, policy advisor at IISD, said: “Nigeria’s LNG dash is short-term thinking that could end up costing the country dearly. Economic diversification away from fossil fuels is critical in building a sustainable future for the country, not locking in further dependence on polluting commodities.
“Nigeria is already up against bigger players in the LNG market, and new LNG developments take 8–10 years to produce gas. As international demand for gas peaks, Nigeria must recognise that a fossil fuel-based economy cannot carry it far into the future.”
Facing declining oil revenues, economic turmoil following the COVID-19 pandemic, and inflated European demand for LNG following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nigeria has moved to address its revenue shortfall by significantly scaling up LNG production.
Oil revenues have long underpinned the Nigerian Treasury, accounting for about two-thirds of government earnings and 90% of its foreign exchange income. However, as production has fallen due to lower levels of investment and regional unrest, there is renewed focus on LNG, which provides considerably smaller, albeit growing, revenues. In 2023, LNG revenues reached N74 billion ($51 million), accounting for around 7% of total government revenues.
As of 2022, Nigeria was already the sixth-largest LNG exporter worldwide, with a 6% market share. As oil contributes less to revenues, the government plans to build on its existing LNG developments, with ministers declaring 2021–2030 “the decade of gas”.
Currently, Nigeria has six operational LNG terminals; nine more are proposed, with LNG construction investment totalling N28.3 trillion ($18.5 billion).
But to replace Nigeria’s falling oil revenues, LNG exports would still have to increase “by an order of magnitude,” IISD experts say. Such a scenario would require sustained international demand and high prices for LNG.
Meanwhile, the assets planned would be operating far beyond the middle of this century. The eventual transition to a low-carbon world, expected to accelerate after 2030, could leave LNG assets stranded as demand dries up.
Underscoring this, the researchers note that Carbon Tracker projects a 69% reduction in Nigeria’s fossil fuel revenues over the next two decades if global energy trends shift toward a low-carbon pathway.
Instead of investing overzealously in the fossil fuel economy, Nigeria “must manage its gas ambitions realistically, align with transition plans, and prioritize community development in gas projects,” the paper’s authors write.
Electricity access challenges can be met by adding more sustainable and affordable energy sources into the energy mix, and LNG expansion “should not come at the expense of addressing inequality, energy access, and socio-economic challenges,” the paper says.
Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), said: “As governments around the world pursue climate targets, it will become increasingly prudent for countries heavily dependent on fossil fuel exports to reconfigure their economies with full recognition of this trend. While increasing LNG production may boost Nigeria’s revenues in the short term, it will only serve to position the country to end up with stranded assets, damaged communities and continued dependence on oil and gas exports.
“Nigeria’s drive for expanded LNG investment is happening at a time when several African countries are being pushed in the same direction basically to meet temporarily inflated European demand. Nigeria will delay the necessary move away from climate-altering fossil fuels and end up fighting for a share of the vanishing market.”
Babawale Obayanju, communications manager, ERA/FoEN, said: “LNG production in Nigeria has proven to serve European, and Asian markets over the people who are plundered and exploited. Exploring more gas would only mean more floods, drought, increased heat waves, and other climate change impacts rather than providing energy for the over 80 million Nigerians who still lack access to electricity. Rather than exploit more fossil fuels, the government must fund locally led, socially owned and people-centered renewable projects.”
Rep. Sam Onuigbo, sponsor of Nigeria’s Climate Change Act, and former Member of the Nigerian House of Representatives, said: “The idea of using gas as a transition fuel is critical to Nigeria’s net zero transition efforts. First, it will help reduce our GHG emissions and provide short-term revenue for a gradual and just phase-out of our dependence on fossil fuels. But we must be smart about this and keep a finger on the pulse of international movements towards net zero transitions and the impact on potential gas revenue.
“It is therefore important to have a proper plan which takes into account the global net zero scenario, the possibility of being left with stranded assets, and thus ensures that we limit investments into LNG and have a fixed date for moving away from it completely.”
Nnaemeka Oruh, Focal Point Administrator of GLOBE Legislators International & National Coordinator, GLOBE Nigeria, said: “While on the surface, it appears that Nigeria’s decision to use LNG as a bridge fuel to her transition, it simply does not appear logical and sustainable. This is primarily because of global clamour for the transition to clean energy sources and the phasing out of fossil fuels. With a great deal of the gas infrastructure still being built, it follows that by the time the country would want to explore this source, global demand for gas would have started plummeting. It is therefore certain that the country would be left with stranded assets if it continues on this path. It will simply lead to a cul-de-sac.”
The IISD is an independent think tank working to accelerate solutions for a stable climate, sustainable resource management, and fair economies.
