Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, will serve out her term that ends in July. She has chosen not to seek an extension of her appointment.
In a correspondent on Friday to non-party stakeholders, Ms. Figueres wrote: “I write to confirm that I will serve out my term as the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC which finishes July 6, 2016 and not accept an extension of my appointment. As you well know, the Paris Agreement is a historical achievement, built on years of increasing willingness to construct bridges of collaboration and solidarity across all boundaries.
“Governments deserve much credit for the remarkable outcomes of Paris, but so do you, the wider participants in the UNFCCC process. During many years you held the torch of the imperative high for all of us to see. Your support and your determination were unswerving. Your patience and your urgency were compelling.
“Much remains to be done, especially in the next five years, to ensure we turn good intentions to the reality we all want. I know you will continue to inject the energy, passion and perseverance into the process. You can count on me to do the same.”
Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen is a Costa Rican diplomat. She was appointed executive secretary of the UNFCCC on May 17, 2010, succeeding Yvo de Boer.
Aged 59, she was educated at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Christiana Figueres of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
If we don’t cut greenhouse gases, it’s not just storms and rising seas we’d have to worry about. The heat alone could kill a lot of us, warns Cheryl Katz in the National Geographic
If greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, rising temperatures and humidity wrought by global warming could expose hundreds of millions of people worldwide to potentially lethal heat stress by 2060, a new report suggests.
The greatest exposure will occur in populous, tropical regions such as India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. But even in the northeastern United States, as many as 30 million people might be exposed at least once a year to heat that could be lethal to children, the elderly, and the sick, according to the new study.
It’s the first study to look at future heat stress on a global basis, says Ethan Coffel, a PhD candidate in atmospheric sciences at Columbia University, who presented the results on Monday at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. Coffel and his colleagues used climate models and population projections to estimate how many people could face dangerous heat in 2060—assuming that greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise sharply on a “business-as-usual” course.
The findings are based on forecasts of “wet bulb” temperatures, in which a wet cloth is wrapped around a thermometer bulb. Whereas standard thermometer readings measure air temperature, a wet bulb measures the temperature of a moist surface that has been cooled as much as possible by evaporation.
That reading depends on both the heat and the humidity of the surrounding air. It’s generally much lower than the dry-bulb temperature, and it’s a better indicator of the humid heat that humans and other large mammals find hardest to deal with.
The normal temperature inside the human body is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37 degrees Celsius. Human skin is typically at 35°C. When the wet-bulb temperature of the air exceeds that level, it becomes physically impossible for the body to shed its own metabolic heat and cool itself, especially by evaporating sweat. Even a fit individual would be expected to die from such heat within six hours.
Today, even in Earth’s hottest, muggiest spots, the wet-bulb temperature does not rise above 31°C. (The highest dry-bulb temperature ever recorded is 56.7°C, or 134°F.)
But a study published in October by MIT researchers found that by 2100, in Persian Gulf cities such as Abu Dhabi or Dubai, the 35°C threshold of human survival may occasionally be exceeded—again, assuming that greenhouse emissions continue to rise unabated.
Where Heat, Humidity, and People Intersect
In practice, wet-bulb temperatures below the 35°C threshold are dangerous for children, the elderly, people with heart or lung problems—or anybody actively working outside. By the 2060s, according to Coffel and his colleagues, 250 million people could be experiencing 33°C at least once a year. As many as 700 million could be exposed to 32°C. For many people, those conditions could be lethal.
“You have a large portion of the world that’s very densely populated and potentially at risk,” says Coffel. “Populations which right now work primarily outdoors and have very little access to air conditioning. It’s hard to function outdoors in those kinds of temperatures.”
The MIT study concluded that wet-bulb temperatures of 32°C or 33°C could be expected to arise later this century in Mecca, for example, where they might sometimes coincide with the Hajj, when millions of pilgrims pray outdoors all day long.
But as rising temperatures push more moisture into the atmosphere, particularly near warming oceans, spells of extreme heat and humidity will become more frequent and intense in many parts of the world. Even residents of cities like New York and London could encounter future temperatures that are near the limits of what their bodies can tolerate, according to the Columbia researchers.
“Local ocean temperatures can be a really big driver for the extent of these high heat and humidity events,” says co-author Radley Horton of Columbia. “How far inland away from the coasts will we see some of these really deadly high heat and humidity events penetrate? Will this impact where people are able to live?”
Bryan Jones, a postdoctoral fellow at the City University of New York who also studies future heat exposures but was not part of the Columbia study, said its “projections of exposure to extreme heat stress seem very reasonable. In fact, they may even be conservative, depending on how populations in West Africa, India, and Southeast Asia are distributed in the coming decades.”
Heat Is Already a Big Killer
Heat already kills more people than any other form of extreme weather. In the past decade, heat waves that featured wet-bulb temperatures between 29°C and 31°C have caused tens of thousands of deaths in Europe, Russia, and the Middle East.
Last summer more than 2,300 died from extreme heat in India, where air temperatures reached 122°F. High humidity and temperatures topping 116°F also proved deadly in Egypt this year. And work stopped for several summer days in Iraq while thermometers hovered around 120°F.
Air conditioning protects those who have access to it and can afford it. The spread of high-heat-stress events is likely to produce a surge in demand, says Horton. Air conditioners don’t function as efficiently in humid conditions, however—and as long as the electricity for them is generated with fossil fuels, they add to the underlying problem.
The other approach to coping with dangerous heat, Coffel says, is “reorganising your society, like when you work outside, like giving people the day off when it’s hot.”
Neither air-conditioning nor staying inside is an option for other large mammals, which are affected by climbing heat and humidity in much the same way as humans. The impact on them is a “wild card,” says Horton. Little research has been done.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco has approved the appointment of the COP22 steering committee members, chaired by Salaheddine Mezouar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation said on Thursday.
King Mohammed VI of Morocco
“On Thursday February 11, 2016, HM King Mohammed VI appointed Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar as the chair of the COP22 Steering Committee. The Sovereign also approved the appointment of the 11 members of this committee, which will be in charge of the preparation and organisation of the 22nd United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP22), scheduled on November 7-18 in Marrakech”, the Foreign Affairs and Cooperation ministry pointed out in a statement.
Besides Mezouar, the committee will be composed of Abdelâdim Lhafi (commissioner), Aziz Mekouar (ambassador for multilateral negotiations), Nizar Baraka (president of scientific committee), Hakima Haité (special envoy for mobilisation), Driss El Yazami (in charge of civil society pole), Faouzi Lekjaa (in charge of financial pole), Samira Sitaïl (in charge of communication pole), Abdeslam Bikrate (in charge of logistics and security pole), Said Mouline (in charge of public/private partnership pole) and Mohammed Benyahia (in charge of side-events pole).
The same source noted that upon high royal instructions, an inter-ministerial committee has been created in order to accompany the organisation of this important international event.
The committee is composed of the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Interior, Agriculture and Fisheries, Industry, Commerce, Investment and Digital Economy, Energy, Mining, Water and Environment, and Economy and Finance.
The King also provided guidelines to ensure the full involvement of the government, State, non-State, public and private stakeholders to guarantee the success of this landmark event to combat climate change, the statement added.
The leader also gave guidelines to reaffirm the different commitments of the Kingdom regarding the protection of the environment, development of renewable energies and the fight against climate change, and the defense of the interests of developing countries, especially African and small island States.
He further gave guidelines to coordinate different actions with the French presidency of the 21st United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) in conformity with the “Tangier Call”, the statement concluded.
In line with the policy of inclusion of the current administration in Lagos State, residents of Badagry have been urged to cooperate with the government and support its plans to turn the axis into a haven for commercial activities through the implementation of the Layout and Master Plan for the area.
Tpl. Wasiu Anifowoshe
Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Town Planner (or Tpl.) Wasiu Anifowoshe, who made the call on Thursday at a Stakeholders’ Forum in Badagry town, emphasised the need for residents to embrace government plan to prepare the axis to accommodate future migration of people and businesses from different parts of the state.
He however warned that the success of the proposed plan for Badagry Division depends largely on the cooperation accorded government by beneficiaries, saying: “Let me however state at this juncture that government’s achievements depends largely on the total cooperation of the people. Everyone must therefore be ‘progressive’ and ‘embrace positive change’,”
Responding to complaint of bureaucratic bottleneck in getting planning permit, Tpl. Anifowoshe said that the process is not difficult if relevant documents are presented on time, disclosing that government has moved a step further to introduce E-planning as a way of easing the submission of building drawings electronically.
Anifowoshe, who is also an architect, explained that the Ministry is making moves to develop modalities and consideration that could be given to people who have erected their buildings already but want to have government permit document.
In his remark, The General Manager of Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority, Tpl. Olutoyin Abdul, said that government is trying to avoid haphazard development, but plans to create more employment opportunities and increase the value of properties in a way that will encourage commercial and industrial development.
Abdul added that government is aware of issues of global acquisition, title documents, land regularisation, excised villages, layout approval, and Development Guide Plan, among others issues facing the axis, and will do all within its power to address them.
According to him, “The strategic framework for the Master Plan was based on essential future growth such as the expansion of Lagos-Badagry Expressway into 10 lanes, incorporating BRT Lane as well as provision of Light Rail, establishment of Energy City, Furniture Village, citing of Badagry Sea Port, International Market, Coastline for tourism, Agro-Allied Industry and several others.”
The Executive Secretary of Badagry West, Joseph Agoro, also advised the residents to see the development plans for the area beyond the current situation, noting that the fruits of the sacrifices that would be made for the plans to materialise would turn out to be a gainful investment in the future.
He said that the fall of the oil boom is a blessing to residents of the area as, according to him, Badagry is presently regaining its glory as a town to be reckon with because of its rich natural and tourism potentials.
Representative of the Akran of Badagry, Chief Dr. Wheton Ambe, the Agoloto of Badagry Kingdom, pleaded with the government to grant excision from the globally acquired land in the suburbs of the area, establish sub offices of the Ministry within Badagry, intensify enlightenment programmes and periodically monitor construction sites.
He advised government not to neglect the agricultural and tourism potentials of the area in the Master Plan, saying: “Government should assist in renovating all our heritage sites to international standard in order to generate more revenue.”
Present at the meeting were the Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Physical Planning and Urban Development, Setonji Davids; Special Adviser to the Governor on Civic Engagement, Kehinde Joseph; General Managers of agencies under the Ministry; Chief Consultant, Lagos State Material Testing Laboratories, Mr. Sola Famakin; Royal Fathers and Community Development Associations, amongst others.
The Cross River State Government has commenced the clearing of the pristine Ekuri community forest, preparatory to the construction of a 260km, six-lane highway.
Snail farming in Ekuri forest community. Photo credit: thegef.org
The dissipation of the forest is coming despite appeals by Ekuri community leaders to Governor Ben Ayade to re-route the course of the controversial road as, according to them, it will have telling consequences on the forest resources, which they claim is the major source of their lifestyle and livelihood.
Initially, the community was in support of the project, in the belief that having an arterial road passing by their community would bring to an end the perpetual struggle to secure access to the outside world through the earth road they had built by community effort.
But a Public Notice of Revocation signed by the Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development and published in a local newspaper on 22nd January 2016 decreed that a large piece of land bordering the proposed Super Highway from Esighi, Bakassi Local Government Government Area to Bekwarra Local Government Area of has been revoked for “overriding public purpose absolutely”.
Upon studying the notice and the line profile, the community found that some of the coordinates show that their forest, community lands and settlements would be taken up by the Super Highway and the right of way of 10 Km claimed by the government – beyond the 200 metres right of way allowed from the centre line on each side of the road.
In a petition to the governor, the community tagged the seeming usurpation as a case of “land grabbing.”
The Ekuri Community in the petition dated 6th February 2016 reminded the Cross River State Government that they had for centuries conserved and managed the forest for its rich biodiversity and ecosystems services not only for the community’s sustainable development but for the entire world.
“Since 1992, we pioneered formal community forestry in Nigeria and established the Ekuri Initiative (an NGO registered with the Federal Government) with a mandate in forest conservation, sustainable forest management, community development and poverty reduction,” community members stated in the petition.
The community therefore rejected the passage of the Super Highway through their forest and demand a realignment of the road.
But the petition appears to have irked the government. According to community sources, the letter received a quick but shocking response.
They said: “At the receipt of the protest letter, the governor has quickly sent a bulldozer this morning to Ekuri to begin the destruction of the Ekuri community forest in the name of the Super Highway. This is to show power and strength against poor communities and in defiance of the dictates of the rule of law.”
In a swift response, environmental activist, Nnimmo Bassey, has described the development as a challenge, not just for Ekuri Community but for the entire global community.
He stated: “If the world keeps quiet and allows the bulldozers to have their way, they would not only bulldoze the future of the Ekuri people, the act would entrench impunity, satisfy the lust for capital, promote deforestation in one of the last remaining pristine forest in Africa and blunt our collective hope for tackling global warming.”
Bassey, in a recent article titled: “Dialogue with Bulldozers at Ekuri Community Forest,” described the Ekuri Community Forest as an acclaimed example of how communities can sustainably manage their forest.
“Now, this forest is under threat from the state government that has embarked on the construction of a 260 Km, six-lane dual carriage super highway through their forest, using the highly controversial Land Use Act of 1979 as a cover for dispossessing the people of their land, forest and patrimony.”
According to him, some critics of the project such as the Rainforest Resource Development Centre (RRDC) had stated: “The blue prints of such a huge 260km six-lane Super Highway project running across the entire Cross River State of Nigeria was not made public before the commencement of construction at the ground breaking event. Significantly also, the blue print of the said project has not been made public till this moment. This is a contravention of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 of the National Assembly as well as other related legislations…”
Bassey, who is director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), stressed that other significant issues raised include the fact that no credible Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been conducted before the taking off of the project. According to him, the project threatens the Cross River National Park as the highway traverses the buffer zone of the forest.
“In its press briefing of 6th November 2015, the RRDC expressed the fear that, contrary to the requirement of the Land Use Act, no schedules of compensation (including the names of beneficiaries) had been made public.
“The risk is that this project could end up escalating rural poverty if the issues of compensations are neglected. This is so because the affected indigenous people and communities of Cross River State of Nigeria who own these resources could end up losing their sources of livelihoods, income and wellbeing, as well as their natural heritage and and territories.”
The fumes. The horns. The shouts. Add those to the damaging pressure of vehicles on the built environment and you understand how the vehicle traffic situation in densely populated parts of the country comes at a huge cost to our natural habitat and health. That the traffic situation has had so much of an effect on the time, and thus, productivity of the average motorist which translates into less productivity for the society in general is well-known as this economic downside has been emphasised at several forms but what hasn’t been given the proportionate attention is the environmental cost.
Lagos traffic
Lagos State is the commercial capital of Nigeria, referred to as the “Centre of excellence” (one would be forgiven to mistake excellence for vehicular traffic) and no other place in Nigeria is the traffic situation as bad as the most densely populated state which continues to endure an overstretch of its resources by its geometrically increasing population. For passengers travelling into the country through the capital, it is not unusual that the longer journey is not the one from another continent into this one but that from the airport in Lagos to the final point of the journey, because of the huge traffic on the roads.
The natural environment is a direct victim of this anomaly in the city and this, while being partly an offshoot of the intense traffic situation, is as well a product of poor environmental management by relevant authorities. The high rate of release of CFCs into the atmosphere via fuming vehicles which, at times, are unbearable even to the lungs of nearby people, is a disgrace in this modern world. That this fuming situation has been allowed to go on unabated over time is another indication of environmental negligence. It is unthinkable that even when African neighbours have taken steps to de-smoke their air by looking to keep vehicles of high fumes off the roads, as in Ghana, we are still paying lip-service to it. The troposphere is badly polluted from these activities and aerial pictures show a marked distinction in purity between the third world and the developed areas so one expects that with CFCs as ammunition for global warming, this would be a key area in trying to limit climate change but alas, the rate of releasing fumes is only increasing, if anything and with the traffic situation still worsening, vehicles spend more time on the road, and consequently more of carbon monoxide emitted into the already polluted atmosphere.
Air pollution is not where it stops. The noise generated in an average “bumper-to-bumper” traffic is enough to make people develop the most severe of headaches. From the horn-blaring drivers of majorly commercial buses called “danfo” to their “conductors” who never stop screaming, there is the perfect set-up for disturbing the peace of any neighbourhood. The Lagos State Government, in the last year, had set aside a day for non-usage of vehicle horns in recognition of how its usage had been bastardised on the roads in the state; how effective it was is however another story. It was however commendable that it was felt necessary to act on the noise generated by vehicles in the state, and this must be encouraged for progress to be made.
The roads are not left out. The increased pressure on the roads brought about by a multitude of almost stagnant vehicles is again very damaging to the roads themselves. The Nigerian transport system, with an almost dormant rail sector, has always been pointed to as a problem of the roads with heavy-duty trucks having to ply same roads with saloon cars. What results is weakening of these roads, some of which were never of premium quality, development of potholes and consequently, the complete decay of the roads. So the cycle begins again: contract award, construction, heavy traffic, potholes, and death.
In some cases, the heavy traffic is a factor in causing motor accidents which sometimes result in collateral damage to nearby developments. In all, the built environment is not safe from the ills of the unfavourable traffic situation as well. So it clearly goes way down, as far as our habitat as a race is concerned.
Government in Lagos and beyond must address the issue of stagnant traffic on our roads, with as much environmental consciousness as economic. A stand must be taken, as a matter of emergency, and enforced against the emission of fumes by vehicles. Until that is taken seriously, whatever commitment made to the Paris Agreement by the Federal Government will look like mere talk. It is time to match talking with walking. Let the wise take heed.
Experts say Zika has ‘explosive pandemic potential.’ Here’s what you should know, writes Abby Haglage in The Daily Beast
Zika is a mosquito-borne illness named for the forest in Uganda where it originates
A mysterious virus called Zika is spreading rapidly around the globe, leading the World Health Organisation (WHO) to issue a global emergency. The mostly mild virus is raising concerns because of a condition it’s linked to called microcephaly, a birth defect characterised by an irregularly small head.
The outbreak began in Brazil in May 2015 and has since affected at least 1 million people in more than 30 countries. Experts say the disease has “explosive pandemic potential” and could infect more than four million by the end of the year.
If you’re just joining the story, here’s what you need to know:
What it Zika?
Zika is a mosquito-borne illness named for the forest in Uganda where it originates. American and European scientists unintentionally discovered it in 1947 while studying a rhesus monkey for yellow fever. It did not appear in humans until 1952 when it was reported in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.
Is this the first outbreak of this scale?
Yes. The first major outbreak of Zika occurred in Micronesia in 2007. There were just 49 confirmed cases and no hospitalisations. The next was 2013-2014 in French Polynesia, which resulted in a total of 19,000 suspected cases. Experts estimate that the number of those affected in the current outbreak has already passed one million.
What happens to those infected?
In one out of five cases, nothing. Only 20 percent of those infected show symptoms – the most common of which include fever, joint pain, red eyes, and a bumpy rash. The illness is generally mild, rarely fatal, and typically gone in a week.
Why is it so dangerous?
Zika has been linked to two serious autoimmune and neurological complications. The first is microcephaly, a severe birth defect characterised by an abnormally small head. The underdeveloped brain can lead to a host of other problems, including behavioral delays, trouble walking, and blindness. There is no cure.
Second is Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare disorder in which the body’s immune systems attack its own nerve cells, resulting in weakened muscles or, less commonly, paralysis. Some recover fully from GBS, while others have it for life.
Is there proof that Zika causes these things?
No. Since the first major outbreak of the disease did not occur until 2007 there is limited research on the topic. At the moment, the virus is showing a stronger link to microcephaly than GBS, with Brazil reporting nearly 3,500 suspected cases in newborns since last fall.
It’s important to note that whether or not all of these infants have microcephaly remains unclear. Brazilian authorities have reportedly only tested 720 of the 3,448 suspected cases – of which, just 400 have been confirmed. Scientists are still trying to determine the reason for false positives.
How is Zika spread?
The main route of transmission for the disease is Aedes mosquitoes – “yellow fever mosquitoes,” which are distinguishable through white markings on their legs. They are most active in the morning and evening; at night they hide in dark, cool places. Originating in Africa, they now fly on every continent but Antarctica.
Can Zika be sexually transmitted too?
Yes, but its unclear how often this happens. Previous to the current outbreak, scientists had identified just two cases of sexual transmission. But this week in Texas, authorities confirmed that a man had been infected after having sex with someone who just returned from Venezuela.
Why didn’t scientists study that connection earlier?
They tried. A researcher named Brian Roy wrote a 2011 paper published in the journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases arguing that there was evidence of sexual transmission and that it warranted further study. His requests for additional funding to continue his work were denied.
Is it safe to travel?
U.S. authorities have issued travel warnings for the 20 countries in which Zika is spreading, suggesting travel to those countries be delayed indefinitely (especially for pregnant women). The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that those who travel take every precaution to prevent mosquito bites and practice safe sex.
Once someone has had Zika, how long does it remain in his or her system?
This is one of the biggest questions facing researchers. Most scientists agree that the virus remains in the blood for no more than a week, but they are generally unclear whether it stays active in other bodily fluids.
Of particular concern is semen, which was found to be carrying Zika in one man 10 weeks after he was diagnosed. On Friday, Brazilians scientists discovered the virus in saliva and urine as well, which is likely to prompt even tighter travel restrictions.
Is there a vaccine to fix this?
Not yet. Several groups of scientists have been hard at work on Zika vaccines for the past few years, but none are close to getting their medicine on the market. An Indian biotech firm which claims to have two Zika vaccines has requested that the WHO fast track the process of getting approval – which takes years.
How will we stop it?
The CDC and WHO are adamant that, despite its ability to be spread by humans, mosquitoes are the “real culprit” of Zika. Experts worldwide have been weighing in on possible solutions, with some suggesting we eliminate the yellow fever species of mosquitoes. Others have a more ambitious vision: “Kill them all.”
President Barack Obama has signed into law a measure aimed at expanding electricity to millions of households in sub-Saharan Africa. Observers say the act will save lives and accelerate growth on the continent.
US President Barack Obama has signed into law a measure aimed at expanding electricity to millions of households in sub-Saharan Africa
The Electrify Africa Act, which unanimously passed the House of Representatives and Senate, leverages partnerships with the private sector in order to bring first-time electricity access to some 50 million people in underserved parts of Africa.
Virtually no new US federal funds are allocated for the project, which instead will use a system of loan guarantees to add 20,000 megawatts of electricity to the continent’s grid by 2020.
Access to power is a fundamental development challenge in Africa, and boosting it will stimulate economic growth and improve access to education and public health, the bill’s backers argue.
“It’s a game-changer for small businesses that have to close at dark, and school children who are often forced to study by dangerous, inefficient kerosene lamps,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce.
“And too many families resort to using charcoal or other toxic fuel sources, whose fumes cause more deaths than HIV/Aids and malaria, combined.”
The law aims to build on a “Power Africa” initiative Obama promoted during a trip to Kenya in July.
It would see the investment of about $7 billion in US funds, largely financed through the US Export-Import Bank, in order to create 30,000 megawatts of clean energy generation.
Through the plan, “we can make great strides in addressing African energy poverty and promote inclusive economic growth for communities in Africa and at home,” Senate Democrat Ben Cardin said.
The US-backed Power Africa initiative was launched in Cape Town, South Africa by Obama. The aim is to to double the number of people with access to power in sub-Saharan Africa, starting with six countries that include Nigeria, Liberia, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Nigeria’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US to formally activate the Power Africa initiative has reportedly opened the door for more investors who have shown significant interests in ramping up the country’s power supply profile.
They were the MoUs to construct a $2.5 billion, 1500 megawatts (MW) gas power plant in Anambra State within the Power Africa initiative as well as the Liaoning Efacec Electrical Equipment Company China (LEEEC) MoU for the financing and execution of turnkey Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects for power schemes in Nigeria.
The LEEC MoU include the financing and execution of mobile power generations, mobile substations, E-House package substations and power transmission infrastructures such as high voltage transmission lines and associated substations.
Obama at the launch of Power Africa stated his recognition of the importance of electricity to the economic development of emerging economies. He expects from the initiative that about 20 million Africans will have access to electricity by the completion of the first tranche of the initiative in the six countries.
Through Power Africa, African governments, private sector and other development partners such as the World Bank and AfDB are expected to improve their power generation by 10,000MW, by unlocking the substantial wind, solar, hydropower, natural gas, and geothermal resources in the continent.
The initiative is primed to further enhance energy security, decrease poverty and advance economic growth by building up clean, efficient electricity generation capacity as well as expanding mini-grid and off-grid solutions.
It is believed that the level of funding needed to electrify Africa far outstrips the capacity of African governments and foreign donors.
Power Africa will in view of Nigeria’s appetite for electricity, directly address constraints to investments to accelerate progress. The US further stated that instead of taking years or even decades to create an enabling environment for energy sector investment, the initiative will take a transaction-centered approach to propel governments, private sector and donors into palpable actions.
In a presentation in Abuja at the National Assembly’s Interactive Session with civil society organisations (CSOs) on the 2016 Budget convened by the Senate President (Dr Bukola Saraki) on Wednesday (February 10, 2016), Nnimmo Bassey (Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation – HOMEF) raises questions regarding some key sectors. He also charges the National Assembly to publish details of its expenditure
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki
We applaud the leadership of the Nigerian National Assembly (NASS) for convoking a consultation with civil society over the 2016 National budget. This level of engagement points to an era of openness and inclusiveness that will ensure that the voices of the people are heard.
My contribution is restricted to a few aspects of the capital expenditure earmarked for the Petroleum Resources, Power Sector and for the Ministry of Environment. These sectors undergird other areas of our national endeavour and deserve close scrutiny.
We do not wish to get entangled with recurrent expenditure issues as these comprise mostly personnel costs, some of whom may be ghosts!
Petroleum Resources
With the budget still largely predicated on crude oil revenues, an unpredictable and increasingly negative resource, the budgetary provisions here require plenty of questioning. However, it is most surprising to see a whopping N200,000,000 proposed for the “Passage of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).” We would like to see the detailed breakdown of this sum in order for us to be able to make sense of the proposal. Which PIB is this provision referring to? The same goes for the proposal to spend N200,000,000 for the “Review of Gas Master Plan.”
Nnimmo Bassey
Power
We note that the power distribution aspects of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) had been privatised and handed over to companies that have gone ahead to increase electricity tariff before providing commensurate services. The question needs to be asked why there should be a budgetary provision of N397m for purchase of 75 pieces of 500 KVA transformers for Abuja and four States? There are three other lines for procurement and installation of transformers for other locations at N262,414,132, N20,683,949 and N250,401,152. If privatisation means that the distribution sub-sector of the defunct PHCN was taken over by private investors, why is the government still buying and installing transformers?
Another concern is about the N1 billion budgeted for generation of 10MW of electricity at the Katsina Wind Farm. This Wind Farm is on record as having been fully paid for in the past. If this budgetary allocation, broken into two subheads are NEW, as stated, is there a confirmation that the OLD installation is already working?
The Environment
The Federal Ministry of Environment is not one of the best resourced ministries. It, however, is one of the most vital ministries for the fact that most Nigerians depend essentially on the natural environment.
Considering the level of pollution in the oil fields and the handicap of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in terms of facilities, one would have expected this agency to be well resourced. A well equipped NOSDRA would be better positioned to independently detect and respond to oil spills rather than depending on the oil companies that may actually be the offenders.
There is nothing in the budget submission for vital equipment such as boats or helicopters that could facilitate monitoring in the creeks as well as offshore. We recommend that the NASS trims down the huge departmental subheads and properly equip this agency and others that are sorely needed to curtail reckless pollution and degradation of our environment.
It would be helpful to better fund the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) as well as the National Parks and the restoration of our wetlands, including the highly degraded Nguru Wetland.
NASS Cuts
Considering that we are on a limited time budget at this consultation, permit me to end this short submission by requesting that the NASS publishes details of its expenditure and also to review the controversial Constituency Projects concept as these projects can easily be taken care of by the various ministries and agencies.
Chiefs, elders, women leaders and youth leaders in Ekuri community, Akamkpa Local Government Area in Cross River State of Nigeria in a recent correspondent to Governor Ben Ayade flay government’s revocation of the community’s Right of Occupancy of square kilometres of community forestry lands to make way for the realisation of the controversial Super Highway project. Community members describe the revocation as a “pogrom” against them.
Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State. Photo credit: yohaig.ng
Our attention was drawn to a recent media publication, a Public Notice of Revocation, that stated that “all rights of occupancy existing or deemed to exist on all that piece of land or parcel of land lying and situate along the Super Highway from Esighi, Bakassi Local Government Government Area to Bekwarra Local Government Area of Cross River State covering a distance of 260km approximately and having an offset of 200m on either side of the centre line of the road and further 10km after the span of the Super Highway, excluding Government Reserves and public institutions are hereby revoked for overriding public purpose absolutely”.
We have studied the published Notice of Revocation including the line profile and found out that some of the coordinates as published are in Ekuri community forest.
The Notice of Revocation has alarmed us greatly. Your good gesture has turned sour and bitter in our mouths, and even the vulnerable and defenceless rivers and streams and every living plant and creature in our forests are complaining bitterly for the following reasons:
The exclusion of Government Forest Reserves and the public institutions as published in the revocation’s notice without “settlements” being also excluded means that we will become strangers on our ancestral land and likely to be evicted anytime to become squatters in unknown lands. This will lead to loss of culture against UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The right of way of the Super Highway measuring 400m wide (200m on each side of the road from the centre line), being the width of four standard football fields is too large and will destroy our forest and farms that we have labored to conserve and cultivate crops. This is considering the fact that there will be no adequate compensation because the Land Use Decree of 1978 does not recognise customary rights.
The further 10km on either side of the Super Highway from where the 200m ends totaling 20km width is appalling, meaning that the whole of our Ekuri community forest totaling 33,600ha, all our farms and community settlements would have been revoked, leaving us landless against our Fundamental Human Rights as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Article 169.
We have for centuries conserved and managed our Ekuri community forest for its rich biodiversity and ecosystems services not only for our sustainable development but for the entire world. Since 1992, we pioneered formal community forestry in Nigeria and established the Ekuri Initiative (an NGO registered with the Federal Government) with a mandate in forest conservation, sustainable forest management, community development and poverty reduction. Since its inception, we have recorded inspiring successes. We have developed and implemented a land use plan which we jealously adhere to, a flagship community forestry project in Nigeria (a credit to Cross River State), the largest and best community managed forest in West Africa totaling 33,600ha. We received the UNEP Equator Award in 2004 for our outstanding passion, commitments and efforts to reducing poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of our biodiversity. We have been visited by several communities from Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique and a host of researchers to learn from our experiences. Our activities have been replicated by international development agencies and local NGOs and has brought fame to Cross River State and Nigeria as a whole. The planned destruction of our community forests which we have labored so hard to protect and conserve is not a welcome development. The resolve of our forebears to conserve our forest must be continued in perpetuity being a bequest and legacy to all the Ekuri people living and yet unborn.
The Ekuri community forest stores several million tons of carbon, contributing substantially to climate change mitigation at the local, national and global levels. The destruction of this forest due to the planned revocation and the resultant forest destruction will release a huge quantum of carbon into the atmosphere and will aggravate climate change with attendant negative effects on humanity in general. This is against the Governors’ Climate & Forest Task Force (GCF) focus and programme of: “Working to protect tropical forests, reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and promote realistic pathways to forest-maintaining rural development.” As the representative of Cross River State which is the only African member of the GCF, we expect that your role should be to strengthen our conservation efforts and those of other forest communities in the state to achieve the foregoing and not otherwise. Also, this revocation is against the focus and programmes of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) whose conference you participated in December 2015 in Paris, France and even the UN-REDD+ programme, for which Cross River State is the pilot state to set an example for the rest of Nigeria.
Our forest is our wealth and the beacon of our hopes and aspirations. It provides us food, meat and fish for our protein, herbs for our wellbeing, poles, cane ropes, and wood for building our houses, fuelwood for energy, incomes for our daily living and building of facilities; it sustains our culture and spirituality, a fallback in times of need and recreation, and provides habitats for animals, birds, reptiles, insects with whom we share common affinity. Thus, taking away our forest and the benefit therefrom is likened to taking a fish out of the water onto land to die painfully and this is what the revocation means to us.
The goodwill, funding and support of the Federal and Cross River Sate governments, international agencies, foundations, donors, corporate entities and individuals for the conservation and sustainable management of our forest for the benefit of humanity cannot be obliterated in a twinkle. The Super Highway should have strengthened such commitments and efforts and should not aim to destroy our forest considering the huge resources spent over the years to keep it intact for the wellbeing of all in Cross River State. We are happy that you are an environmentalist, and thus you must understand what we are talking about. We strongly believe that the decision to revoke our rights to our forests and to exile us will have dire consequences on the state’s reputation in terms of credibility with national and international NGOs and international development agencies worldwide.
In the light of the above, we consider the revocation a pogrom against us as published and a land grab in the guise of Super Highway. Therefore, we have no option but to withdraw our support for the Super Highway and do not want it to pass through our Ekuri community forest. Our ancestral deities in the forest are crying against this injustice of the highest magnitude in our history and their cries will never stop and we cannot disobey them knowing the likely implications on us. We request that the Super Highway route should be changed to run to the immediate north of our community lands rather than going through the middle of our forests as currently planned.
