A total of 120 active forest fires have been recorded in Mexico, preliminarily affecting 7,137 hectares in 19 states, the Mexican government said on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
Fire fighters battle a forest fire
According to a report by the National Forestry Commission (Conafor), there are 120 forest fires in 19 states, with the central state of Hidalgo worst hit, having so far burnt 1,874 hectares.
Conafor’s preliminary report said there were active fires where an estimate of the affected open field was still not available.
In recent days, 42 fires have been extinguished, preliminarily affecting 2,608 hectares.
Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said at his daily news conference that a total of 6,000 Mexican soldiers, marines, Civil Protection and Conafor personnel were working to control the fires.
He assured that there was no risk to the population caused by the blazes.
The president also lamented the death of four people in fire-fighting efforts, namely two community members, a police officer and a fire-fighter.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says it requires about $5.2 billion to address infrastructure deficit and achieve its core objectives of driving the subregion’s economic growth.
ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, Mr Sediko Douka
The ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, Mr Sediko Douka, made this known while addressing a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, March 28, 2024.
He said that, in order to curb these challenges, the subregion’s leaders had earlier approved the creation of an ECOWAS fund for the development and financing of the transport and energy sectors (FODETE).
Douka explained that the fund was dedicated to financing regional infrastructure, particularly in the transport and energy sectors, and financed by taxing member states’ main export resources like agriculture, oil and gas, natural minerals.
He described FODETE as a viable funding mechanism, which was expected to generate more than $350 million annually, and would continue to grow over a projected 20-year period.
The Commissioner said that to address the numerous infrastructure challenges in West Africa, ECOWAS had implemented various regional electricity and energy programmes and projects towards subregional economic integration and growth.
He said: “To address these challenges, ECOWAS set up specialized agencies in the field of energy, namely, the West African Power Pool (WAPP) in Cotonou, Benin.
“Others are the Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) in Accra, Ghana, the Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) in Praia, Cape Verde, and the West African Gas Pipeline Authority (WAGPA) in Abuja, Nigeria.
“The strategic objective of the WAPP is to integrate the operation of the Community’s national electricity grids into a unified regional electricity market, with a view to providing the citizens of ECOWAS Member States with a stable, regular, and reliable supply of electricity at a competitive cost in the medium and long term.”
According to him, to achieve this objective, WAPP promotes and develops electricity production and transmission facilities and equipment, and coordinates electricity trading among ECOWAS member states.
The Commissioner said that the WAPP investment programme derived from the ECOWAS Master Plan for regional electricity production and transmission facilities, the current one being the 2019-2033 plan.
He said that ECOWAS also embarked on a Regional Electricity Access Project (ECOREAP) and Battery Energy Storage System (BEST) aimed at enhancing member states’ efforts in the field of electricity supply.
The project, he said, was to facilitate the connection to the electrical grid for 1.1 million households in nearly 600 localities and financed by the World Bank with 225 million dollars, targeting 1,075 villages in Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Mali.
He said that ECOWAS also embarked on Regional Electricity Access Project (ECOREAP) and Battery Energy Storage System (BEST), aimed at enhancing member states’ efforts in the field of electricity supply.
“The project aims to increase electricity access for West African populations. It seeks to facilitate the connection to the electrical grid for 1.1 million households in nearly 600 localities.
“Financed by the World Bank with $225 million, the project covers Gambia, Guinea Bissau, and Mali, targeting 1,075 villages.
“The objectives of the project are to increase electricity access in Niger, Senegal and Mauritania and improve the capacity of the electricity system to ensure synchronous operation in the ECOWAS power system through energy storage equipment installation in Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, and Mali,” he said.
Douka said that ECOWAS also embarked on a Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP), which aimed to increase electricity access rates for households, commercial enterprises, and community institutions.
Financed by the World Bank with $338.7 million, he said it was being implemented in 19 countries, including the 15 ECOWAS member states, Chad, Cameroon, Mauritania, and the Central African Republic.
The Commissioner said that ECOWAS had also initiated regional electricity market in June 2018, with its implementation overseen by ERERA and WAPP.
He said that in the realm of renewable energies, several projects were underway with the objective of increasing energy capacity and access to electricity, particularly for rural populations.
“To date, 14 out of the 15 member states are interconnected. In fact, all 14 mainland countries of ECOWAS are interconnected.
“Only the 15th country, Cabo Verde, remains unconnected, which will soon be rectified through the implementation of a high-voltage submarine cable, with feasibility studies due to start shortly.
“Consequently, starting from 2024, electricity exchanges (both purchases and sales) will be possible, making tariffs more competitive and ensuring coverage of demand, which currently stands at only 60%.
“What’s interesting here is that all you need is enough independent energy producers to cover demand,” Douka added.
The Federal Government and Self Help Africa, an NGO, have initiated moves to reduce black carbon emissions by 83 per cent and methane emissions by 61 per cent by 2030.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari
Carbon and methane are climate pollutants.
Mr Temitope Fashedemi, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, disclosed this at a workshop on the Abatement of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) in the Nigerian Agricultural Sector project on Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Abuja.
The inception workshop was organised by the ministry in collaboration with Self Help Africa, and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC).
Fashedemi said that Nigeria was one of the few countries to highlight its commitment to reduce SLCP.
The permanent secretary, who was represented by Mr Osadiya Olanipekun, the Director, Agricultural Lands and Climate Change Management Services, said it was part of the efforts to mitigate the effect of Climate Change in the country.
“The project (SLCP) is to help reduce short lived carbon emission from agricultural waste.
“This will help to increase the adaptive capacity of farmers with the replacement of open field burning of agricultural waste with clean alternatives like conservation agriculture, and briquette making among others,’’ he said.
Earlier, Mrs Joy Aderele, the Country Director, Self Help Africa, Nigeria, said SLCPs was an 18-month pilot programme to work with 500 farmers to reduce open burning.
Aderele said that Gboko Local Government Area in Benue State would be used as a pilot to demonstrate successful approaches to reducing open field burning.
She explained that the 500 farmers would be formed into 20 groups of 25 farmers each, selected from communities in Gboko Local Government Area.
Aderele said that other participants in the project included 45 agricultural extension officers across the geo-political zones in the country.
She said that the projects would facilitate strategic stakeholders’ engagement and capacity building of government agricultural extension officers and farmers.
Aderele said it was to enable the farmers and the extension agents use best practices approaches to reduce the alternatives to open field burning while promoting Climate Smart Agriculture.
She said that one of the objectives of the SLCPs was to contribute towards Nigeria’s goals of Low Carbon Development and emissions reduction promote as set out in Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) document.
“The project will contribute to achieving the goals of Nigeria’s 2019 National Action Plan to Reduce SLCPs.
“This aims to reduce black carbon emissions by 83 per cent and methane emissions by 61 per cent by 2030,” Aderele said.
The 6th Annual World Air Quality Report has revealed troubling details of the world’s most polluted countries, territories, and regions in 2023.
Children exposed to air pollution. The WHO says that more than one in four deaths of children under five years of age are attributable to unhealthy environments
For this year’s report, data from more than 30,000 air quality monitoring stations across 7,812 locations in 134 countries, territories, and regions were analysed by IQAir’s air quality scientists.
Key findings from the 2023 World Air Quality Report:
Seven countries met the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline (annual average of 5 µg/m3 or less):
Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius, and New Zealand.
The top five most polluted countries in 2023 were: Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Tajikstan and Burkina Faso.
A total of 124 (92.5%) out of 134 countries and regions exceeded the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline value of 5 µg/m3.
Africa remains the most underrepresented continent, with a third of the population still lacking access to air quality data.
Climate conditions and transboundary haze were major factors in Southeast Asia, where PM2.5 concentrations rose in nearly every country.
The region of Central & South Asia was home to the top 10 most polluted cities in the world.
Begusarai, India was the most polluted metropolitan area of 2023. India was home to the four most polluted cities in the world.
The most polluted major U.S. city was Columbus, Ohio. Beloit, Wisconsin was the most polluted city in the U.S.
Las Vegas, Nevada was the cleanest major city in the U.S.
For the first time in the history of this report, Canada was the most polluted country in Northern America, with the region’s 13 most polluted cities located within its borders.
70% of the real-time air quality data in the region of Latin America & Caribbean comes from low-cost sensors.
While the number of countries and regions with air quality monitoring has steadily increased over the past six years, there remain significant gaps in government-operated regulatory instrumentation in many parts of the world. Low-cost air quality monitors, sponsored and hosted by citizen scientists, researchers, community advocates, and local organisations, have proven to be valuable tools to reduce gaps in air monitoring networks across the world.
“A clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a universal human right. In many parts of the world the lack of air quality data delays decisive action and perpetuates unnecessary human suffering. Air quality data saves lives. Where air quality is reported, action is taken, and air quality improves,” said Frank Hammes, Global CEO, IQAir.
These independent air quality monitoring stations reveal disproportional exposure to harmful air pollution among vulnerable and underrepresented groups. Glaring gaps in air quality monitoring data, where pollution is likely poor, further underline the need to expand air quality monitoring coverage worldwide.
“IQAir’s annual report illustrates the international nature and inequitable consequences of the enduring air pollution crisis.
“Local, national, and international effort is urgently needed to monitor air quality in under-resourced places, manage the causes of transboundary haze, and cut our reliance on combustion as an energy source,” states Aidan Farrow, Sr. Air Quality Scientist, Greenpeace International.
“In 2023 air pollution remained a global health catastrophe, IQAir’s global data set provides an important reminder of the resulting injustices and the need to implement the many solutions that exist to this problem.”
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has clarified that the rumours suggesting a price adjustment for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) at its retail outlets nationwide are false.
An NNPC station in Lagos
Mr Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd., said in a statement on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, that the reports were untrue.
There were reports in some sections of the media on Monday that the ex-depot price for PMS had reduced from N640 to N630 for the independent oil marketers, while NNPC Ltd. maintained its N570 price.
The N630 new ex-depot price for independent marketers is just one per cent reduction following decision by the NNPC Ltd. to give product directly to the marketers, while maintaining its N570 ex-depot price.
This was against the former arrangement where the independent marketers get supply from private depots.
The development provoked reactions from Nigerians who assumed that NNPC Ltd. had reduced pump price at their retail outlets from N617 to N570.
Soneye, however, urged Nigerians to disregard the reports in its entirety.
He reaffirmed NNPC’s commitment to sustaining the current sufficiency in petroleum products supply across all its retail stations in the country.
Storm overflows dumped sewage into rivers and seas across England for more than 3.6 million hours in 2023, more than double of what obtained the previous year.
Storm overflow
The country’s environmental agency data reveal there were 464,056 spills in 2023, up 54 per cent from 301,091 in 2022.
The agency attributed the situation partly to England experiencing its sixth-wettest year on record.
The figures reveal the frequency and duration of spills from storm overflows, which dump untreated sewage into rivers and seas.
This is usually during heavy rainfall to stop sewers backing up, amid high levels of public concern and anger over the state of England’s waterways and beaches.
The duration of the sewage spills has more than doubled from 1,754,921 hours in 2022, to 3,606,170 hours in 2023, the figures show.
Both the frequency and duration of spills were also up in 2020 levels, which saw comparable amounts of rainfall.
The figures were at their highest ever levels, although officials caution that comparisons over the years are difficult.
This is because an increasing number of storm overflows have been fitted with monitors overtime, with all now having the technology to record spills.
The Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) has trained women to mitigate cooking challenges and improve on health and environmental degradation through clean cooking stoves in the country.
The clean cookstoves imported under the N9.2 billion Federal Government project
Its Director-General, Dr Mustapha Abdullahi, said this on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at the opening of gender sensitisation training on the adoption of clean cooking solutions, organised for women by ECN in Abuja.
The two-day programme focuses on Clean Cookstoves for Sustainable Energy Development for Women aimed at addressing energy challenges through a gender-sensitive lens.
The director-general said the programme would enhance the socio- economic well-being of women and their families.
“This workshop serves as a platform for knowledge exchange, capacity building, and collaborative action towards promoting the widespread adoption of clean cooking solutions.
“This is tailored to the needs and realities of women who bear the brunt of air pollution from the traditional method of cooking.
“Through interactive sessions, insightful discussions, and practical demonstrations, we will explore innovative technologies, and best practices to accelerate the transition towards clean and sustainable cooking solutions.”
Abdullahi said that the training underscored the commission’s commitment to mainstreaming gender considerations in energy policies and initiatives, adding that women were not only disproportionately affected by energy poverty.
According to him, it also possesses unique knowledge, skills, and perspectives that are invaluable in shaping effective solutions.
He urged participants to actively engage, share experiences, and forge partnerships that would contribute to the success of collective efforts.
“Together, we can pave the way for a brighter, healthier, and more equitable future, where clean cooking solutions empower women, protect the environment, and drive sustainable development for generations to come,’’ he said.
In his remarks, Dr Charles Odii, the Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), said the adoption of innovation and technology would bring about significat advancement breakthrough in Various fields.
Odii, who was represented by Assistant Chief Enterprise Officer, Mrs Idorenyi Etim, assured of continued and mutual relationship between SMEDAN and ECN for the growth and development of the nation’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sub-sector.
“This will harness knowledge, expertise and resources to develop initiative solutions that solve problems, improve efficiency, drive progress and deliver,’’ he said.
Alhaji Abdulkareem Aliyu, a resource person, presented a paper titled: “Mainstreaming in Climate Change in Nigeria: Energy Sector”.
According to him, women can play a critical role in responding to climate change due to their local knowledge of sustainable resources at household level.
“Mainstreaming gender in Nigeria’s climate action, particularly within the energy sector of renewable and biomass, is not a social justice issue but a necessity for achieving renewable development.
“By dismantling existing barriers and empowering women, we unlock their invaluable knowledge, leadership and resource management skills.
“This fosters stronger community resilience, unlocks green job opportunities and ensures that climate solutions benefit everyone.
“Nigeria’s transition towards a clean energy must be inclusive and that can only be achieved by placing gender equality at the heart of climate action strategies.
Speaking on behalf of the participating women, Mrs Ngozi Uche, who thanked the commission for the gesture, said the programme would help them to sensitise others to adopt cookstoves as methods of cooking.
The Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Ltd. has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to promoting and accelerating sustainable clean water preservation and stewardship across its plants.
Uncontaminated water. Photo credit: Ravi Kant
The company said this in a statement on Wednesday, March 27, in Lagos, to commemorate the 2024 World Water Day celebrated yearly on March 22.
Mr Temitope Ogunrinde, the National Environment Manager, Nigerian Bottling Company, said the 2024 theme: “Water for Peace” aligned with the company’s mission 2025 aimed at achieving sustainable development in host communities.
Ogunrinde noted the importance of water conservation in fostering global stability and its pivotal role in fostering peace, prosperity, and conflict prevention.
He said as part of the company’s commitment towards water sustainability and stewardship, it had over the years and across all its plants instituted effluent treatment plants and water efficiency initiatives.
Some of which, he stated, included rigorous monitoring of our water usage and promptly repairing leaks.
“At NBC, we are committed to the cause of water sustainability and stewardship, and we recognise the indispensable role water plays in our lives.
“This is why we prioritise using water in environmentally sustainable ways, benefiting both the environment and the communities where we operate and by 2025, we aim to reduce water use in plants located in water risk areas by 20 per cent.
“However, we acknowledge that achieving water stewardship requires collaboration among diverse stakeholders.
“Through collective action with our stakeholders, we are working towards the implementation of sustainable practices that ensure the preservation of this vital resource for both present and future generations,” he said.
Confidence Ebo, Production Manager, NBC, noted that given the environmental challenges impacting water quality, the pursuit of the “Our World Without Waste” agenda had become even more imperative.
Ebo noted that this initiative could be achieved through the adoption of lightweight packaging, exploring alternative materials, and implementing recycling initiatives.
“Through these concerted efforts, we are working to not only mitigate the impact of plastics on water resources but to also foster a more sustainable future for generations to come,” she added.
Also, Mrs Caroline Aladekomo, the Deputy Director, Sanitation and Hygiene, Lagos State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, lauded the company’s proactive steps taken in addressing water sustainability challenges.
Aladekomo highlighted the significance of collaborations between private entities and government agencies in achieving meaningful progress towards water sustainability and stewardship goals.
The Connected Development (CODE), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has called for the review of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 to ensure that host communities benefit from oil exploration.
Hamzat Lawal
Mr Hamzat Lawal, its Executive Director, stated the group’s position at a news conference on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, in Abuja.
The news conference focused on intimating the public on the NGO’s ongoing project tagged “Power of Voices Initiative”.
The PIA, which was recently signed into law, seeks to provide regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry.
Lawal explained that the group was calling for the review of the Act because it found that the host communities were not getting the full gains of the explorations.
He noted, however, that the PIA recommended the setting up of community trust funds with oil producing companies expected to remit a certain percentage into those accounts.
“What we aim to achieve is to identify how the oil companies are supporting community members to set up these accounts for utilisation and disbursement.
“How is the Niger Delta Development Commission using the public resources to ensure that people enjoy the dividends of the ongoing exploration of oil in the states?
“For us, we want to ensure that powers are taken back to the communities and their voices are heard and captured.
“My engagement shows that the oil companies are creating the bottleneck in the disbursement and utilisation of the funds and, in most of these communities we visited, they are aggrieved.
“What the PIA has done is to give so much power to the oil companies. This must be reviewed so that power goes back to the communities where we do our oil and gas exploration.
“The aim of the project is to give the locals and host communities a voice in the matters that affect their environment.
“What we have done is to map out various communities in the Niger Delta and build their capacity around the freedom of information act, giving them the tools.
“We have also met the leadership of state assemblies so that they can domesticate the freedom of information act.
“We have also written some state governors and also engaged with some anti-corruption agencies; we told them we have found some loopholes around abandoned projects or mismanagement of resources so that they can investigate.
“Another thing that is really exciting is how we are engaging young people in secondary schools. To do this, we established civic clubs.
“We want to build the next generation of leaders who will understand that public office is meant to serve a collective interest of the people at the grassroot.’’
Speaking further, he said the organisation had a manual being used to teach children in schools about integrity, transparency and accountability, conflict management and peace building, among others.
He said that CODE’s programmes are centred in the FCT, Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers and Cross Rivers states.
“CODE emphasises the importance of community engagement and collaborative efforts to address challenges such as the abandonment of vital projects like the Primary Health Care Centre, Esuk Mba, and the St. Ebenezer’s African Church School project in Cross River.
“CODE urges relevant authorities to prioritise these projects and work towards their prompt completion.
“As an organisation committed to open data and citizen engagement, we call on the state legislators in Rivers, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Imo states to adopt and pass the FOI bill to law.
“We urge all concerned parties, including the government and oil companies, to fulfil their obligation of establishing and completing the Host Community Development Trust Fund,’’ he said.
Households across all continents wasted over 1 billion meals a day in 2022, while 783 million people were affected by hunger and a third of humanity faced food insecurity, says a UN report.
Food waste
The report, titled “UN Food Waste Index Report 2024”, was released on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) ahead of the International Day of Zero Waste.
The report said food waste continued to hurt the global economy and fuel climate change, nature loss, and pollution.
The report, co-authored with WRAP, provides the most accurate global estimate on food waste at retail and consumer levels.
The document provided guidance for countries on improving data collection and suggests best practices in moving from measuring to reducing food waste.
In 2022, the study notes that there were 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste generated (including inedible parts), amounting to 132 kilogrammes per capita and almost one-fifth of all food available to consumers.
Out of the total food wasted in 2022, it reported that 60 per cent happened at the household level, with food services responsible for 28 per cent and retail 12 per cent.
“Food waste is a global tragedy. Millions will go hungry today as food is wasted across the world.
“Not only is this a major development issue, but the impacts of such unnecessary waste are causing substantial costs to the climate and nature.
“The good news is we know if countries prioritise this issue, they can significantly reverse food loss and waste, reduce climate impacts and economic losses, and accelerate progress on global goals,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.
Since 2021, there’s been a strengthening of the data infrastructure with more studies tracking food waste.
Globally, the number of data points at the household level almost doubled.
Nevertheless, many low- and middle-income countries continue to lack adequate systems for tracking progress to meet Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 of halving food waste by 2030, particularly in retail and food services.
In her reaction, Harriet Lamb, the Chief Executive Officer of WRAP, called for a greater coordinated action across continents and supply chains amidst the huge cost of environment, society and global economies caused by food waste.
“We support UNEP in calling for more G20 countries to measure food waste and work towards SDG 12.3.
“This is critical to ensuring food feeds people, not landfills. Public-Private Partnerships are one key tool delivering results today, but they require support: whether philanthropic, business, or governmental, actors must rally behind programmes addressing the enormous impact wasting food has on food security, our climate, and our wallets,” said the WRAP CEO.
