Two young climate activists from Tunisia and Vietnam who tell their inspiring stories of climate action and building public awareness have been selected as the winners of the 2016 Global Youth Video Competition on Climate Change.
UNFCCC Spokesperson, Nick Nuttall. He says that young people around the world, such as the victorious climate activists from Tunisia and Vietnam, are intensely engaged in helping to construct greener, safer and more prosperous societies
The winners, chosen through online public voting, are Faouzia Bahloul from Tunisia and Phuong Vu Hoang from Vietnam. They will travel to the UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech in Morocco in November and will work with the communications team of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in covering highlights of the meeting.
The video “Think Renewable” by the young Tunisian Faouzia Bahloul is about the need to increase the use of renewable energy, and explains the research she has been doing on biogas produced with the help of microalgea. In his video entry, Phuong Vu Hoang talks about the vulnerability of Vietnam to climate change explains how he deploys his graphic design skills to make posters to inform the public about more sustainable lifestyle choices.
UNFCCC Spokesperson Nick Nuttall said: “In Marrakech, countries will be celebrating the entry into force of the historic Paris Climate Change Agreement, and taking the next crucial steps towards low carbon and resilient societies. As they do so, they can be heartened by the enthusiasm and commitment of young people working on concrete ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
“The video contributions underscore the fact that governments are not alone in constructing a more sustainable world – civil society, cities, businesses, investors and not least young people around the world are intensely engaged in helping to construct greener, safer and more prosperous societies and envision a better world for their communities and for the globe.”
Young people between the ages of 18 and 30 took part in the competition, with entries submitted from young people in 77 different countries, from France to Fiji.
The competition was launched by the UNFCCC secretariat’s “Action for Climate Empowerment” initiative, in partnership with Television for the Environment (tve) and supported by the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grants Programme, which is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme.
Following his nomination and subsequent approval as AMCOW Executive Secretary by African Water Ministers during the last 10th General Assembly of the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Dr. Canisius Kanangire has affirmed his readiness to stimulate the dawn of a new era for the African water and sanitation sector.
Dr. Canisius Kanangire, AMCOW Executive Secretary
Declaring his agenda on Thursday in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire during the training workshop on web-based monitoring and reporting framework for stakeholders and francophone member-states that coincided with his assumption of duties as the head of the continent’s highest decision-making body on water and sanitation, Dr. Kanangire restated his commitment to “strengthening AMCOW’s capacity to provide the needed political leadership and direction for the sector as well as reinforce its fiduciary mechanisms to achieve more accountability, transparency and value for money.”
The new Executive Secretary believes that strengthening AMCOW in its mission of ensuring the effective and efficient management of the continent’s water resources directly translates to the provision of adequate and equitable access to safe water and sanitation for all.
This, according to him, “carries the possibility of making critical contributions to Africa’s progress towards sustainable growth and development and setting us on the on the path to actualising the Africa Water Vision 2025.”
Dr. Kanangire who hails from Rwanda is the immediate past Executive Secretary of Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) Kisumu, Kenya and he brings to AMCOW over two decades of experience in integrated water resources management and transboundary natural resource management. He succeeds Bai Mass Taal, whose tenure ended August 2016.
Established since 2002, the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) seeks to promote cooperation, security, social and economic development and poverty eradication among member states through the effective management of the continent’s water resources. As the Specialised Technical Committee for Water and Sanitation of the African Union, AMCOW contributes to Africa’s progress towards sustainable growth and development by providing political leadership in the continent’s efforts at achieving effective and efficient management of water resources through the provision of adequate and equitable access to safe water and sanitation.
A leading Nigerian Civil Society Organisation (CSO), the Abuja-based Connected Development (CODE), has been granted Observer Accreditation status in the State of Colorado for the upcoming November 8th, 2016 US Presidential Elections.
Hamzat Lawal, chief executive of CODE
The participants, comprising young people, are expected to join other observers in the United States to ensure a credible and transparent polls in the coming elections.
Through the International Republican Institute (IRI) recommendation for CODE’s accreditation, the key objective of observing the US Presidential election is to learn the state-of-the-art electoral process using creative technology tools that would be deployed while empowering young minds to inform decisions around future elections in Nigeria and across Africa, one centred on civic engagement and democratic processes for accountability.
In a statement made available to EnviroNews on Thursday, Amina Mohammed,
CODE’s Communication Officer, disclosed: “It is true that Youth participation in electoral processes in Nigeria has been weak. Rather, they are usually used as tools for violence, ballot snatching, thuggery and other electoral crimes before, during and after elections.
“However, it’s high time we changed this trend in our country. The elderly people have the experience, no doubt; but the youths, who make up over 60% of the electorate, have the knowledge, and should be encouraged to participate more positively in the electoral process that bring in the leaders who are expected to make policies that will shape their future. This trend must be encouraged by our political elites and key political actors in the country. Leadership, government and the political infrastructure influenced by youths is essential for positive transition and the future at large.”
During the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, CODE used citizen’s observers to play a critical role in enhancing the credibility and integrity of the election.
Chief Executive of CODE, Hamzat Lawal, expressed his excitement over the development, adding that it would encourage young minds to be more proactive in relevant affairs that affect the country at large.
“At CODE, we believe that youth participation in elections is very vital and relevant in democratic transition and it is only right that the country’s development and awareness should be raised on that in fostering transparency and democratic governance,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.
Lawal said that observing the US presidential elections from a youth perspective and publicising the reports would highlight youth issues of democratic engagement, engage young minds in active democratic processes and also offer professional experience to other young observers.
He noted that young minds could be fully engaged in electoral process with the use of technology, in particular social media, which he added would enable speed in delivery of results globally.
As Philippines hands over the presidency to Ethiopia, the Vulnerable 20 (V20) Group of Finance Ministers of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) at the World Bank and IMF Fall meetings on Thursday in the US reacts to recent Paris Agreement developments
Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator. She assured the V20 of the UN System’s support in accomplishing its mission. Photo credit: twitter.com
On the day after the Paris Agreement on climate change became law, finance ministers representing more than 40 emerging economies that form the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group met in Washington, DC to discuss how finance is key to driving the urgent action required at home. At the event, on the sideline of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group, Ethiopia assumed the Chair of the V20 Group, which was founded in 2015.
Carlos Dominguez, the Secretary of Finance of the Philippines, called for a clear roadmap towards the mobilisation of $100 billion in additional financing flows to help the most vulnerable countries deal protect themselves. He said V20 international cooperation would “provide our domestic economies with vital support and confidence we need to excel in fighting climate change”.
Abdulaziz Mohammed, the Minister of Finance and Economic Cooperation of Ethiopia, highlighted devastating effects and “lethal excesses caused by the world’s most gigantic externality”, adding that “we would like to express Ethiopia’s commitment for its candid leadership for the achievement of the V20 vision, and to work towards the fulfilment of the Paris climate agreement at large”.
Speaking at the V20 Ministerial, Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator, recognised the role of the vulnerable countries in the Paris Agreement through convincing the international community that a world where warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees was worth fighting for.
“UNDP, and the entire UN development system, will work to support you in accomplishing your mission,” she said.
Evidence is increasing that climate change is taking the largest toll on poor and vulnerable people, and these impacts are largely caused by inequalities that increase the risks from climate hazards, according to a new report launched by the United Nations on Tuesday.
Inequalities: The impact of climate change is affecting Lesotho’s progress towards development in a number of areas, including agriculture, food security, water resources, public health and disaster risk management. Photo credit: FAO
“Sadly, the people at greater risk from climate hazards are the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised who, in many cases, have been excluded from socioeconomic progress,” noted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the World Economic and Social Survey 2016: Climate Change Resilience, produced by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
“We have no time to waste – and a great deal to gain – when it comes to addressing the socioeconomic inequalities that deepen poverty and leave people behind,” he added.
Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on the launch of the report, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Lenni Montiel, said: “Persistent inequalities in access to assets, opportunities, political voice and participation, and in some cases, outright discriminations leave large group of people and community disproportionally exposed and vulnerable to climate hazards.”
He added that through transformative policies, the government can “address the root causes of inequalities, to reduce the vulnerabilities of people to climate hazards, building their longer term resilience.”
On transformative policies, the Chief of Development Strategy and Policy at UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Diana Alarcon, said such policies could help build climate change resilience, close inequality gaps, provide access to financial services, to diversification of the livelihoods, to quality education and health and social security. She added: “it is that kind of transformation that leads to development.”
While there is considerable anecdotal evidence that the poor and the vulnerable suffer greater harm from climate-related disasters, the report determined that much of the harm is not by accident, but that it is due to the failure of governments to close the development gaps that leave large population groups at risk.
In the past 20 years, 4.2 billion people have been affected by weather-related disasters, including a significant loss of lives. Developing countries are the most affected by climate change impacts. Low-income countries suffered the greatest losses, including economic costs estimated at five per cent of gross domestic product.
The report argues that while climate adaptation and resilience are overshadowed by mitigation in climate discussions, they are vital for addressing climate change and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Specifically, the report found that families living in poverty systematically occupy the least desirable land to damage from climate hazards, such as mud slides, periods of abnormally hot water, water contamination and flooding. Climate change has the potential to worsen their situation and thereby worsen pre-existent inequalities. The report shows that structural inequalities increase the exposure of vulnerable groups to climate hazards.
According to the latest data, 11 per cent of the world’s population lived in a low-elevation coastal zone in 2000. Many of them were poor and compelled to live in floodplains because they lacked the resources to live in safer areas. The data also underscore that in many countries in South and East Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, many people have no other option than to erect their dwellings on precarious hill slopes.
The report also found a larger concentration of poor and marginalised groups in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid aridity zones which cover about 40 per cent of the Earth’s land surface. About 29 per cent of the world’s population live in those areas and are facing additional challenges owing to climate change.
Transformative policies for addressing root causes
According to the report, building resilience to climate change provides an opportunity to focus resources on reducing long entrenched inequalities that make people disproportionately vulnerable to climate hazards. The best climate adaptation policies, the report states, are good development policies that strengthen people’s capacity to cope with and adapt to climate hazards in the present and in the medium term.
Looking ahead, the report recommends the use of improved access to climate projections, modern information and communications technologies, and geographical information systems to strengthen national capacity to assess impacts of climate hazards and policy options statistically.
The report voices a concern that international resources to support climate change resilience are insufficient. At last year’s Paris climate conference, informally known as COP21, countries committed to setting a goal of at least $100 billion per year for climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in developing countries. However, adaptation costs alone range from $70 billion to $100 billion per year by 2050 in the developing countries, and these figures are likely to underestimate real costs, according to the report.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for transformative policies to deliver on our collective promise to build a life of dignity for all on a cleaner, greener planet.
“The challenges are enormous, but the world possesses the know-how, tools and wealth needed to build a climate-resilient future – a future free from poverty, hunger, discrimination and injustice,” the Secretary-General stressed in the report, noting the importance of the enabling policy environment as well as the support of the international community.
The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Catholic institutions and communities from all over the world celebrated the culmination of the month-long Season of Creation with the largest joint announcement on Tuesday of their decision to divest from fossil fuels.
Pope Francis. Catholic communities have committed to switch the management of their finances away from fossil fuel extraction. Photo credit: dailytimes.com.ng
The Catholic communities committing to switch the management of their finances away from fossil fuel extraction include: The Jesuits in English Canada; the Federation of Christian Organisations for the International Voluntary Service (FOCSIV) in Italy; the Presentation Society of Australia and Papua New Guinea; SSM Health in the United States; the Diocese of the Holy Spirit of Umuarama in the Brazilian state of Paraná; the Missionary Society of St. Columban, based in Hong Kong and with a global presence in 14 countries; and the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco – Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Milan and Naples (Italy).
Commitments range from divesting from coal, as is the case of the US healthcare institution SSM, to redirecting the divested funds into clean, renewable energy investments, as FOCSIV has announced. As for the Brazilian Diocese of Umuarama, it is both the first diocese and the first Latin American institution to commit to divest from fossil fuels; the Diocese is taking steps to become low-carbon and is part of COESUS, a coalition fighting fracking in Latin America.
The fossil fuel divestment movement was acknowledged during the presentation of Pope Francis’s message on the World Day of Prayer for Creation by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, when he pointed out that Pope Francis suggests that “social pressure – including from boycotting certain products – can force businesses to consider their environmental footprint and patterns of production. The same logic animates the fossil fuel divestment movement.”
Major Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Anglican organisations came together between September 1st (World Day of Prayer for Creation) and October 4th to observe the Season of Creation, calling on the 2.2 billion Christians worldwide to pray and take action to care for the Earth.
The urgent need to stop all new fossil fuel infrastructure was highlighted by a recent report which found that the potential carbon emissions from the oil, gas and coal in the world’s currently operating fields and mines would increase our planet’s temperature beyond 2°C by the end of this century, and even with no coal, the reserves in oil and gas fields alone would cause warming beyond 1.5ºC.
The campaign to divest from fossil fuels is the fastest growing divestment campaign in history, according to a report by the University of Oxford. Up to date, nearly 600 institutions worth over $3.4 trillion globally have announced divestment commitments.
This is the latest in a row of recent announcements involving faith communities and climate change. Earlier this month, it was announced that over 3,000 UK churches had switched or planned to move to green energy in 2016; Morocco, where COP22 will gather this December, will give 600 mosques a green makeover by March 2019: in September, the Indian government asked ashrams to invest in solar power; and just last week theAnglican Church of Southern Africa passed a motion during its provincial Synod to divest from fossil fuels.
“Climate change is already affecting poor and marginalized communities globally, through drought, rising sea levels, famine and extreme weather. We are called to take a stand,” says Peter Bisson sj, Provincial of the Jesuits in English Canada.
“This announcement is for FOCSIV an important commitment on climate justice: we strongly believe that in order to fight climate change we need to act at the root causes removing financial support at fossil fuel industry and reinvest it in renewable. VIDES, a catholic NGO member of FOCSIV, has positively welcomed the message of Laudato Si’ and Divestment, obtaining the important announcement of the Italian Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco. We will continue in addressing religious institutes: together, as Catholics, we have the moral duty of being the proofs of a concrete commitment to stop the climate crisis and promote environmental justice,” according to Gianfranco Cattai, President of FOCSIV.
“The Presentation Society of Australia and Papua New Guinea has made the commitment to work towards divestment of investments that are at the expense of the environment, human rights, the public safety and local communities. Presentation Sisters in Australia and Papua New Guinea believe that the healing of the planet will only come about with care for Earth and the whole community of life. We are one planet and one Earth community and we have a common destiny,” submits Sr Marlette Black, pbvm, President of the Presentation Society of Australia and Papua New Guinea.
“As a Mission-based Catholic organization, SSM Health has always been deeply aware of the importance of caring for our natural resources. Our renewed commitment to the environment keeps us consistent in word and deed with the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, our founding congregation, and with the climate change encyclical released by Pope Francis in June 2015,” contends William P. Thompson, SSM Health President/Chief Executive Officer.
“As Bishop of Umuarama Diocese, in communion with the Catholic Church and attentive to the calls of the Gospel, I clearly understand the message of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’, which calls us to care Common House through initiatives that protect all forms of life. We can not accommodate and continue allowing economic interests that seek exorbitant profits before the well being of people, to destroy biodiversity and ecosystems, nor continue dictating our energy model based on fossil fuels. We know that Brazil has abundant sources of clean and renewable energy that do not harm our common home. Therefore, I believe that the proposal to turn the Diocese of Umuarama into low-carbon is a practical way to achieve what Laudato Si’ calls for,” stresses Dom Frei João Mamede Filho, Bishop of the Diocese of Umuarama, Brazil.
“Columbans have a long history of commitment to caring for the Earth as part of our missionary identity. We see our Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investment policy as an important expression of that commitment and therefore are exploring ways to direct our investments towards funds which respond positively to our issue priorities such as renewable energy, community-based microenterprise, and peace initiatives,” Fr. Kevin O’Neill, Columban Superior General says.
“All Bishops Conferences of the world called for ‘an end to the fossil fuel era’ in a powerful statement last year. The divestment announcement of these Catholic institutions simply is an update to their investment policies following the Bishops’ appeal,” discloses Tomás Insua, Global Catholic Climate Movement Global Coordinator.
“The diversity and global distribution of the organisations taking part in this joint announcement show the leadership of the Catholic communities in going beyond prayers and taking concrete action in response to the repeated calls of Pope Francis to preserve our common home. We celebrate this announcement and hope that the message it conveys reaches people of all faiths and inspires more Catholic institutions, including the Vatican itself, to take away the harmful influence of the fossil fuel industry’s ambition over our economies and societies, and push for clean and just energy sources for all humanity,” adds Yossi Cadan, 350.org Senior Divestment Campaigner.
“For religious people, the aim of divestment is to bankrupt the fossil fuel industry morally, not financially. Hopefully, because of their duty to manage their resources, these companies will invest in renewable forms of energy,” Columban Fr. Sean McDonagh, leading international eco-theologian, notes.
“As Catholic Christians we know that our participation matters. It matters morally; it matters to God. Divestment from companies that continue to mine fossil fuels is a necessary and significant step toward building a world which is powered by the gifts God gave – like the sun and the wind. We can turn the course of our momentum away from greenhouse gasses and death and toward creativity, clean energy sources, and hope,” says Nancy M Rourke, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of Catholic Studies Programme at Canisius College.
Indian scholar, environmental activist and anti-globalisation author, Vandana Shiva, in the company of several other campaigners like Nigerian architect and rights activist, Nnimmo Bassey, will be main speakers at the Monsanto Tribunal and People’s Assembly scheduled to take place at The Hague from 14 to 16 October 2016.
Vandana Shiva
Other speakers include: Andre Leu, Ronnie Cummins, Hans Herren, Dr. Eric Seralini and Percy Schmeiser.
Navdanya, the organisation founded and led by Shiva, is co-organising the event, along with multiple civil society organisations.
The Monsanto Tribunal will hold Monsanto accountable for alleged crimes against humanity, human rights violations and ecocide, in tandem with the People’s Assembly, a gathering of leading movements and activists working to defend earth’s ecosystem and food sovereignty, to lay out the effects of industrial agrochemicals on lives, soils, the atmosphere and climate.
Over 800 organisations from around the world are supporting and participating in this process while over 100 people’s assemblies and tribunals are being held across the world.
Navdanya, a movement for Earth Democracy based on the philosophy of “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam”, disclosed in a statement: “In the last century, giant agribusiness interests which came out of the war industry, have poisoned life and our ecosystem, are destroying our biodiversity and the lives of small farmers, appropriating their land, in an attempt to control and profit from these essentials for life on earth. The risks keep increasing as these multinationals diminish in number as a result of aggressive takeovers and mega-mergers – such is the case with the recent $66 billion Bayer-Monsanto merger. A merger which serves to further extend the control of these multinationals over agricultural and food production systems. There is only one way to translate this process: maximum focus on potential profit, and a minimal concern towards the environment, to the quality of our food, to consumers and to workers in the sector.
“Large multinationals are lobbying democratically elected governments to take on neoliberal policies and international ‘free’ trade agreements such a TTIP and TTP: the race towards deregulation is an unprecedented attack on biodiversity and to life itself on Earth.
“Multinationals like Monsanto have already expanded their control over our seeds, our food and our freedom, depriving us of our basic human rights and our right to democracy. With patents and international property rights (IPRs) as their tools, they have established monopolies and threatened the rights of farmers and consumers.”
Participating at the People’s Assembly, according to the group, will be leading representatives of movements and associations, seed custodians, farmers and journalists from all over the world. The aim of the Assembly, it adds, is to shine the light on crimes against nature and humanity of mega chemical and biotechnological industrial corporations which through patents on seed have opened the doors to the invasion of GMOs.
Based on the ecocide and genocide of the past century, the Assembly will lay out the necessary actions for a future based on the rights of small farmers to save and exchange seed, on self determination of food, on agroecology, the rights of consumers and workers in the sector, on the commons and a sharing economy, as well as on the rights of nature and a true Earth Democracy.
The Paris Agreement’s entry into force was extremely swift, particularly for an agreement that required a large number of ratifications and two specific thresholds.
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She says the entry into force of the Paris Agreement is more than a step on the road
Adopted on 12 December 2015 in Paris during the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the treaty marks a watershed moment in global efforts to address climate change. Its central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The Agreement calls on countries to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future, and to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change. Additionally, the Agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change. It calls for scaled up financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity-building framework to support action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for enhanced transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework and a stocktaking mechanism to ramp up ambition over time.
Additionally, many countries have announced they are committed to joining the agreement this year. For a country that joins the Agreement after it enters into force, the Agreement will become binding 30 days after it deposits its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Secretary-General.
Entry into force triggers a variety of important consequences, including launch of the Agreement’s governing body, known as the CMA. In the parlance of the UN climate change process this stands for the Conference of the Parties to the Convention serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement.
Given that the count-down to entry into force has now been formally triggered, the CMA will take place at the upcoming annual UN climate conference, known as COP22, in Marrakesh, Morocco from November 7-18. Precise dates will be announced in the coming days.
Moreover, the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) – national climate action plans – of Parties which have joined or subsequently join the Agreement transform into Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which can always be resubmitted as more ambitious plans at any point. A key feature of the Agreement is that these plans can be strengthened at any time but not weakened.
“Climate action by countries, companies, investors and cities, regions, territories and states has continued unabated since Paris and the full implementation of the agreement will ensure that this collective effort will continue to double and redouble until a sustainable future is secured,” said Patricia Espinosa, head of the UNFCCC.
Governments will also be obligated to take action to achieve the temperature goals enshrined in the Agreement – keeping the average global temperature rise from pre-industrial times below 2 degrees C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees.
The fact that somewhere around one degree of this rise has already happened and global greenhouse gas emissions have not yet peaked underlines the urgency of implementing the Paris Agreement in full.
Another key milestone will be the successful conclusion of negotiations to develop the Paris Agreement’s implementation rule book. Completion of what is, in effect, a global blueprint for reporting and accounting for climate action, need to be completed as soon as possible.
Countries are also not starting from scratch. The many successful models and mechanisms for international climate cooperation set up under the UNFCCC over the past two decades, including the Kyoto Protocol, have built up a deep level of experience and knowledge on how this can be done effectively.
It is the completed rule book that will make the Agreement work and that will make it fully implementable, setting out the detailed requirements under which countries and other actors will openly report and account for the climate action they are taking in a way which promotes trust and confidence across nations to boost their own comprehensive response to the challenge of climate change.
Another key issue is to ensure that the $100 billion, pledged by developed countries to developing ones, is truly building in the run up to 2020 and that even larger sums are being leveraged from investors, banks and the private sector that can build towards the $5 to $7 trillion needed to support a world-wide transformation.
Securing a world which is safer from the extreme climate change that would undermine any attempt at future sustainable development will still take decades of rising action and constant improvement.
“The entry into force of the Paris Agreement is more than a step on the road. It is an extraordinary political achievement which has opened the door to a fundamental shift in the way the world sees, prepares for and acts on climate change through stronger action at all levels of government, business, investment and civil society,” said Ms Espinosa.
As more countries joined the Paris Agreement, paving way for its full implementation, the global accord designed to address climate change challenges will officially enter into force on Friday, 4 November, the United Nations announced on Wednesday.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at COP21 in Paris, where the treaty was adopted. Photo credit: ibtimes.co.uk
Widespread optimism has trailed this disclosure, with stakeholders – diplomats, civil society and business – saying that, even though its celebration time for now, the real work has only just begun.
The Agreement provides that it shall enter into force 30 days after 55 countries, representing 55 percent of global emissions, have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance or accession with the Secretary-General. As at Wednesday, 73 countries and the European Union have joined the Agreement, exceeding the 55 percent threshold for emissions.
The requirements for entry into force were satisfied on Wednesday when Austria, Bolivia, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Nepal, Portugal and Slovakia, as well as the European Union, deposited their instruments of ratification with the Secretary-General.
These countries were the latest to join the Agreement this week, following New Zealand and India, and the 31 countries which joined at a special event at the UN on 21 September during the General Assembly high-level week. In early September, the world’s two largest emitters, China and the United States, joined the Agreement, providing the impetus for other countries to quickly complete their domestic ratification or approval processes.
The Agreement will now enter into force in time for the Marrakech Climate Conference (COP 22) in Morocco on 6 November, where countries will convene the first Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement.Countries that have not yet joined may participate as observers., according to the UN.
“This is a momentous occasion,” says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as the latest instruments of ratification were accepted in deposit. “What once seemed unthinkable, is now unstoppable. Strong international support for the Paris Agreement entering into force is a testament to the urgency for action, and reflects the consensus of governments that robust global cooperation, grounded in national action, is essential to meet the climate challenge.”
But he cautions that the work of implementing the agreement still lay ahead. “Now we must move from words to deeds and put Paris into action. We need all hands on deck – every part of society must be mobilised to reduce emissions and help communities adapt to inevitable climate impacts.”
Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), says: “Above all, entry into force bodes well for the urgent, accelerated implementation of climate action that is now needed to realise a better, more secure world and to support also the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
She adds: “It also brings a renewed urgency to the many issues governments are advancing to ensure full implementation of the Agreement. This includes development of a rule book to operationalise the agreement and how international cooperation and much bigger flows of finance can speed up and scale up national climate action plans.
“The speed at which countries have made the Paris’s Agreement’s entry into force possible is unprecedented in recent experience of international agreements and is a powerful confirmation of the importance nations attach to combating climate change and realizing the multitude of opportunities inherent in the Paris Agreement.
“Climate action by countries, companies, investors and cities, regions, territories and states has continued unabated since Paris and the full implementation of the agreement will ensure that this collective effort will continue to double and redouble until a sustainable future is secured.”
350.org Executive Director, May Boeve, reacts: “The entry of the Paris climate agreement represents a turning point in the fight against climate change: the era of fossil fuels is finally coming to an end. Now the real work begins. The only way to meet the 1.5 or 2°C target is to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The fossil fuel industry’s current ‘drill and burn’ business plan is completely incompatible with this agreement. Investors and governments have a responsibility to both divest from climate destruction and accelerate the just transition to an 100% renewable energy economy.
“Here in the United States, the first test of President Obama’s commitment to this agreement will be his administration’s decision on the Dakota Access Pipeline. He rejected the Keystone XL pipeline because it was bad for the climate, Dakota Access is exactly the same. You can’t be a climate leader if you’re not keeping fossil fuels in the ground.”
Wael Hmaidan, International Director, Climate Action Network: “The unprecedented speed at which countries have come together to move this Agreement forward, in less than a year since it was negotiated, is commensurate with the urgency that we need to tackle the pace and scale at which climate change is damaging our economies, threatening livelihoods and destroying the planet. Galvanising action to implement the Paris Agreement must now begin in earnest by leaving the era of fossil fuels behind us and embracing a 100% renewable energy future.”
Wendel Trio, Director at Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe: “This early entry force of the Paris Agreement is a huge step forward in the fight against climate change. All eyes now turn to Marrakesh where the EU can prove that its fast-track ratification was not just an act of political grandstanding, but a testimony to support the need to urgently scale up climate action in all countries and across all sectors. To show the world that it’s serious about reaching the objectives of the Paris Agreement, the EU must bring to COP22 in Marrakesh a concrete plan for how to scale up action before 2020 as well as a plan for how they will review its inadequate 2030 target by 2018 the latest.”
Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director, Greenpeace International: “The unprecedented speed of the entry into force of the Paris Agreement demonstrates that Paris was not a one-off deal, but rather a long-term commitment to climate action. It also demonstrates the urgency of the matter. Now that a truly global binding climate agreement is in place, governments should have the confidence to not only meet but also beat their national targets and provide support to the poorest countries. This means a managed decrease in fossil fuel dependency and increasing investment in renewable solutions. The opportunities for communities for a clean and just future that Paris signals are tremendous.”
Mohamed Adow, Senior Climate Advisor, Christian Aid: “The speed at which the Paris Agreement has come into force has been remarkable. But we now need to see tangible actions to follow just as quickly. As Hurricane Matthew leaves destruction across Caribbean we’re reminded that our climate continues to undergo rapid change and we are continuing to pollute it.
“The Paris Agreement was like a breakthrough at a rehab centre. World leaders admitted for the first time they had a fossil fuel addiction problem and would clean up their act. The question now is will they stick to this new path or will they fail at the first difficult decision. Like a junkie coming off drugs they need to actually wean themselves off the damaging substance. Their attitude to their Paris Agreement promises will be tested in the coming few days. It’s imperative that they agree an ambitious global phase down of climate warming HFCs in Rwanda next week.”
Alden Meyer, Director of Strategy and Policy, Union of Concerned Scientists: “The fact that the Paris Agreement is taking effect much earlier than anticipated shows that leaders understand the need for collective action to confront the growing climate threat. Last month’s joint announcement by the U.S. and China that they had joined the agreement clearly spurred other countries to speed up their domestic processes, ensuring that the first meeting of parties to the Paris Agreement will take place next month in Marrakech. While this milestone is certainly cause for celebration – perhaps with a glass or two of French Champagne—much hard work lies ahead. Countries must now move aggressively to implement and strengthen their emissions reduction commitments under the agreement if we are to have any chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.”
Srinivas Krishnaswamy, CEO, Vasudha Foundation, India: “It is great to see countries rallying behind each other to ratify the Paris Agreement, resulting in perhaps the fastest every multilateral agreement to come into force. I do hope that this speed of action continues in the implementation of the Paris Agreement too, particularly urgent and comprehensive actions to drastically cut GHG emissions and countries cooperate and work together to collectively keep temperature rise to under 1.5 C degrees.”
Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever and Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development: “The entry into force of the Paris Agreement just ten months after COP21 is a defining moment for the global economy. It sends an unmistakable signal to business and investors that the global transition to a low-carbon economy is urgent, inevitable, and accelerating faster than we ever believed possible.”
Peter Bakker, President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development: “There is the world before Paris and the world after Paris. We are entering an era of system transformation. Business is already playing a leadership role through global collaboration and low carbon partnership initiatives to drive innovation and structural change. We now need to scale up and speed up the implementation of the Paris Agreement through more ambitious NDCs supported by leveraged financial resources.”
Richard Lancaster, CEO of CLP: “Successful ratification of the Paris Agreement demonstrates clearly the political will of the signatories. Now businesses are enabled to work together with governments and communities to shape the policies and take the actions necessary to transition to a low carbon future.”
Neil McArthur, CEO of Arcadis: “This milestone agreement is an important step in ensuring we can maintain quality of life on our planet for future generations. Arcadis is eager to collaborate with its clients across the public and private sectors to support them in achieving the targets set out in this agreement. We can bring the detailed business and technological insights and innovative prowess to make it real.”
Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer of IKEA Group: “The Paris agreement represents a turning point for business. The certainty of ever stronger policies to reduce emissions creates clarity and unlocks opportunities for developing products, services and operations for a low-carbon economy. We are only at the beginning, but the pace at which countries have been ratifying the agreement shows that the policy leadership is there to achieve real change. Now we need to work together for a rapid transition to a future built on clean, renewable energy.”
Keith Tuffley, CEO and Managing Partner of The B Team: “The Earth’s ecosystems don’t have time for politics — only science. Today, the nations of the world said they agree. With surprising speed, they have ensured that the Paris Agreement will enter into force this year. It’s an historic moment — but our work must now accelerate. Now is the time for businesses to seize the economic opportunity before them, and shift rapidly toward zero greenhouse-gas emissions to create a sustainable, clean energy economy. And to do so in a just manner that respects human rights, creates millions of new jobs, lifts millions out of poverty and reduces inequality in all its forms.”
Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP on behalf of the Science Based Targets initiative: “This is a historic moment which confirms the momentum and appetite in the business community and beyond to rise to the challenge of climate change. More and more companies are setting emission reduction targets in line with what the science says is necessary to keep global warming below 2 degrees. They are the leaders of tomorrow’s zero-carbon economy.”
Damian Ryan, Acting CEO of The Climate Group: “Much like the adoption of the Paris Agreement itself in December last year, the entry into force of the treaty today is a truly historic moment. Few international agreements have entered into force at such speed and arguably none have been so important to our common future as the Paris Agreement. The decision by many world leaders to act quickly and boldly over the past 10 months is to be applauded. Thanks should also go to the business leaders and politicians in state and regional governments whose actions and policies, such as committing to 100% renewable power, have helped create the momentum and political belief that a better, safer and more prosperous world can be created through bold climate action.”
Jill Duggan, Director of The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group (CLG): “The unprecedented speed which is driving an early entry into force of the Paris Agreement shows the huge significance of the climate challenge for governments worldwide, in spite of the political turmoil emerging across many economies.
“By fast tracking its ratification of the Agreement, the EU has been pivotal to this great momentum, taking its rightful position at the forefront of climate action.
“The significance of the Paris Agreement and its universal impact cannot be underestimated. The transition to a zero carbon economy is inevitable. Now is the time for companies to start preparing for a zero carbon future.”
Aron Cramer, President and CEO of BSR: “We are delighted that this crucially important milestone is here, earlier than expected, and not a moment too soon. The Paris Agreement is more than a multilateral climate deal. It is a stimulus package for the global economy. Paris will move more than $13 trillion to support a clean energy future creating sustainable livelihoods and new market opportunities. We celebrate the courage of governments as they commit to protecting our common home while driving equitable access to sustainable development. We acknowledge the thousands of companies and investors who are responding to new policy incentives by being bold in their own climate commitments. Over the coming years they will reduce emissions, enhance resilience, and mobilize the finance that will bring Paris to life. Working together — governments and business — will turn the promise of Paris into real inclusive and sustainable economies.”
Nigel Topping, CEO of We Mean Business: “The Paris Agreement could go down in history as the most impactful multilateral treaty of all time. By acting with unprecedented speed to bring the agreement into force, the world’s governments have given global business a powerful signal to drive investment, innovation and growth in the zero carbon economy. And this signal will only get stronger over the next four years as countries take note of technology trends and corporate action in revising their national plans as required by the agreement.”
Climate Reality: “It’s time for our leaders to stop talking about climate change and start working together to solve it. Because now a bright, sustainable future for our planet is finally in sight – and its time to make it a reality. It’s time for our leaders to honor – and strengthen – their commitments to climate action.”
The Police Command in Kaduna State on Tuesday confirmed the kidnap of the immediate past Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam, and her husband, Pius.
Mrs. Laurentia Laraba Mallam
The Command’s spokesman, ASP Aliyu Usman, told newsmen in Kaduna that the two were abducted along Bwari/Jere axis on Kaduna-Abuja highway on Monday evening.
Usman said the abductors took away the former minister and her husband, but spared their driver unharmed.
He assured that the Police was tracking down the perpetrators and would ensure the release of the victims unharmed.
Sources indicated that the abductors had reached out to the minister’s family demanding for ransom.
The command’s spokesman, however, said the police was not aware of any demand by the abductors.
Usman said: “All what we are doing is to see that the victims are freed from captivity and returned to their home unhurt.”
