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Fresh initiatives to restore degraded African land emerge

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Fresh initiatives to restore degraded African land emerge

Two ambitious initiatives to restore 100 million hectares of degraded and deforested land in Africa by 2030 were on Sunday (December 6, 2015) launched at the Global Landscape Forum, an event organised alongside the UNFCCC COP21 in Paris.

Dr. Vincent Biruta, Minister of Natural Resources in Rwanda. Photo credit: ubukungu.rw
Dr. Vincent Biruta, Minister of Natural Resources in Rwanda. Photo credit: ubukungu.rw

The Forum created a platform for positioning landscapes in the new international agreements on climate and sustainable development.

The African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative – dubbed AFR100 – is a pan-African, country-led effort endorsed by the African Union with ten countries so far agreeing to commit at least 31.7 million hectares for the restoration.

The countries include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi and Niger. Others are Rwanda, Togo and Uganda.

“Restoring our landscapes brings prosperity, security and opportunity,” said Dr. Vincent Biruta, Minister of Natural Resources in Rwanda. “With forest landscape restoration we’ve seen agricultural yields rise and farmers in our rural communities diversify their livelihoods and improve their well-being. Forest landscape restoration is not just an environmental strategy, it is an economic and social development strategy as well.”

AFR100 partners – including the AU’s NEPAD Agency, the World Resources Institute and the German Government – are earmarking more than $1billion in development finance and additional $540 million in private sector impact investment to support restoration activities.

“The scale of these new restoration commitments is unprecedented,” said Wanjira Mathai, Chair of the Green Belt Movement and daughter of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai. “I have seen restoration in communities both large and small across Africa, but the promise of a continent-wide movement is truly inspiring. Restoring landscapes will empower and enrich rural communities while providing downstream benefits to those in cities. Everybody wins.”

AFR100 recognises the benefits that forests and trees can provide in African landscapes: improved soil fertility and food security, greater availability and quality of water resources, reduced desertification, increased biodiversity, green jobs, economic growth, and increased capacity for climate change resilience and mitigation.

Commitments made through Initiative build on significant climate pledges made by many African countries to support a binding global climate agreement.

So far, 13 of the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted by African countries include restoration, conservation of standing forests, or “climate-smart” agriculture.

The AFR100 will work alongside the African Resilient Landscapes Initiative (ARLI) which leverages previous experience from Africa-led partnerships such as TerrAfrica.

“The ARLI will mobilise African countries and partners to leverage sectorial interventions and collectively ensure the integrity, resilience, restoration and sustainable management of landscapes across regions,” said Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, CEO of NEPAD. “We need to scale up restoration across the whole continent – more than 700 million hectares of land in Africa have potential for restoration. AFR100 provides a platform to work together more effectively to accelerate the achievement of restoration successes to benefit tens of millions of people who are currently searching for ways to adapt to climate change and improve their well-being.”

The ARLI will be implemented through the African Landscapes Action Plan, a roadmap prepared by the African Union NEPAD and partners from the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative to advance landscape governance, research, and finance through priority actions that embrace all land actors and all sectors.

“Sustainably developing the drylands and conferring resilience to their inhabitants will require addressing a complex web of economic, social, political, and environmental vulnerabilities,” said Makhtar Diop, Vice President for Africa Region, World Bank Group. “Good adaptive responses have the potential to generate new and better opportunities for many people, cushion the losses for others, and smooth the transition for all. Implementation of these responses will require effective and visionary leadership at all levels.”

The ARLI and its supporting initiatives will contribute to improved soil fertility and food security, improve access to clean water, combat desertification, increase biodiversity and habitat, create green jobs, bolster economic growth and livelihood diversification, and increase the capacity for climate change resilience and adaptation.

Dr. Andrew Steer, President and CEO, World Resources Institute, describes restoration as Africa’s gift to the world.

“As the world forges a climate agreement in Paris, African countries— which bear the least historic responsibility for climate change– are showing leadership with ambitious pledges to restore land. These countries are well on their way to meet the goal of restoring 100 million hectares of land, which will help sequester carbon and bring economic benefits to low-income, rural communities. These African leaders are turning their words into action and making a real contribution to respond to the global threat of climate change,” he said.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh (PAMACC Team in Paris

Africa should stop playing the climate victim game – Okonjo-Iweala

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Africa should stop playing the climate victim game – Okonjo-Iweala

The African continent has been asked to urgently turn around its current attitude in the realms of climate change diplomacy and quit playing the victim game.

Mrs Ngozi Okonji-Iweala. Photo credit: flickr.com
Mrs Ngozi Okonji-Iweala. Photo credit: flickr.com

Mrs Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, member, Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, who made the submission on Monday (December 7, 2015) at the ongoing UN climate talks (COP21) in Paris, stated that, contrary to popular belief, Africa is the solution and not the victim.

She said: “We are not supposed to be going to the West to beg as victims. Rather, we should be telling them (the West) that the solution is in Africa. Our infrastructures are just developing and so we have the opportunity to build in a climate-friendly way and avoid the mistakes of the developed nations. So, we are actually the solution not the victim.”

Okonjo-Iweala, a former Minister of Finance in Nigeria, underlined the need for a low carbon growth in Africa while also putting a price on carbon, a major component of greenhouse gases that is attributed to climate change.

“Almost three quarters of infrastructure that Africa needs are yet to be in place, meaning that the power we need, as well as the roads and the railway lines and coaches, we can still get (these infrastructures) and have them in a way that is friendly to climate change, that lowers emission and puts us on a low carbon growth path,” she said.

She clamoured for private sector involvement in the process, adding: “We are looking at power. Look at renewables; we are not saying renewables should be everything because Africa should have a mix. We need to have a mix, we can still use gas to some extent, but we should increase the renewables. Our companies that are investing should look at off-grid solutions for our people before other people come into it because that is what always happens.”

She went on: “Instead of flaring, we can use gas, we can convert this gas for our use and I know government has the power to do that. Then there are ways that you build the roads and the railway that uses technology that are climate friendly, that is really what I mean by all that.”

She described the African Risk Capacity, an initiative of the African Union, as an insurance agency, in respect of which member countries pay an insurance premium.

Her words: “When you have weather event like drought or flood you join and pay a premium. This organisation has developed a module for three years with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and DFID. The module was developed using all the climate information over the years of all the countries; the module is now working.

“When an event is triggered in your country, whether it is climate related or a natural disaster, you pay the premium, and get this insurance money fast. When there is a drought, the United Nations will raise an appeal and we are very grateful to them but between the two months of waiting what do we see? The picture of African children with flies over their body and nothing being done.

“We said no, let us have this organisation so that when it happens you have about $9 million immediately, and move the people into places where they can be rehabilitated. This is what the African risk capacity does.”

Issues unaddressed in climate smart agriculture discourse, by Nwajiuba

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Issues unaddressed in climate smart agriculture discourse, by Nwajiuba

Challenges related to rising temperature and farm labour, changing rainfall in a dominantly rainfed system as well as increased frequency of occurrence of extreme weather events have either been partly addressed or totally neglected in the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) discourse.

Prof Chinedum Nwajiuba. Photo credit: newtelegraphonline.com
Prof Chinedum Nwajiuba. Photo credit: newtelegraphonline.com

This was the submission of Prof Chinedum Nwajiuba of the Imo State University, Owerri in a presentation at the sidelines of the ongoing 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) holding in Paris, France.

Prof Nwajiuba, who is also of the Nigeria Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST) in Ibadan, Oyo State, listed the CSA Framework to include productivity, resilience and mitigation. According to him, climate change has today compounded old and new problems like low productivity, rapidly increasing population, ageing farming population, rapid urbanisation, reliance on human labour, and rainfed systems.

The CSA is defined as agricultural practices that sustainably increase productivity and system resilience while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. CSA, according to scientists, helps ensure that climate change adaptation and mitigation are directly incorporated into agricultural development planning and investment strategies. Indeed, CSA is being widely promoted as the future of African agriculture and as a viable answer to climate change.

However, under challenge of rising temperature and farm labour, the don believes that farm mechanisation should be adopted, with it (mechanisation) powered in a manner to minimise emissions.

“This will raise productivity, and may be considered simultaneously an adaptation and mitigation. Measure,” he stated, pointing out that successful experience with this may be out-scaled, supported by building the capacity of public and private extension services.

To address challenge of changing rainfall in a dominantly rainfed system, Prof Nwajiuba stressed that, in addition to breeding for drought resistance and shortening of growing seasons of crops and sturdiness of livestock, there is need to develop irrigation schemes suited to various locations and conditions.

“This will raise productivity, and may be considered an adaptation measure. This should be of interest to research, policy, and investment. This should be supported by building the capacity of public and private Extension services,” he declared.

On increased frequency of occurrence of extreme weather events, he emphasised that innovative early warning systems and information provisions are required.

He stressed that farmers’ insurance schemes should further be out-scaled based on experiences and lessons from places where that is already in practice. He added that this would raise productivity, and may be considered an adaptation measure.

Prof Nwajiuba identified slash and burn land management as major sources of farmers’ emissions, adding that they are practices farmers are reluctant to stop because recommended alternatives make additional labour demand.

Additionally, he listed successful CSA practices to include:

  • Nitrogen fertilisers (eg urea), Integrated nutrient mgmt. (eg microdosing, efficient fertiliser use)
  • Reduced residue burning, Reduced tillage/no till
  • Green manures (reduced fallows), Fertiliser trees (e.g., Faidherbia)
  • Conservation agriculture (mulch, no till), Conservation Agriculture with fertiliser trees
  • Grain, livestock, and fertiliser tree integration
  • Genetics, Improved crop varieties (breeding and engineering)
  • Water use, Water pumps for irrigation (petrol), Irrigation techniques (amount, timing, technology)
  • Micro-catchment (eg zai, microbasin, Terracing)
  • Rainwater catchment, storage, Delivery eg farm pond)
  • Livestock, Rotational Grazing, Improved breeding, Stocking density management (e.g., herd size/land area), Improved feed management (higher feed quality), Manure management (barn design)
  • Information technology, Planting date recommendation, Sentinel warning system (droughts, pests)

GOCOP urges Senate not to deny Nigerians freedom of expression

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GOCOP urges Senate not to deny Nigerians freedom of expression

The Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) has called on the Senate not to deny Nigerians of their universally recognised right to freedom of expression.

Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki

In a statement in Lagos on Sunday by its Publicity Secretary, Olumide Iyanda, the Guild said the draft bill to “Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and Other Matters Connected Therewith,” which passed Second Reading in the Senate last week, poses a threat to the freedom of expression and obligation of the media as enshrined the Nigerian Constitution.

It noted that the bill proposes up to two years in prison or a fine of N2 million or both for anyone who posts an “abusive statement” via text message, Twitter, WhatsApp, or any other form of social media.

The bill also proposes varying penalties for false publications by print, radio and TV outlets.

GOCOP said on the proposed bill: “We wish to call the attention of the Senate to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

“Nigeria is also a signatory to other international statutes like the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention against Corruption, among others.”

The Guild expressed concern that given the inadequate media and internet penetration in the country, the Senate will lend itself to any move to discourage further growth.

It said: “As other countries adopt more generous and dynamic approach to the protection of free speech to allow citizens access to information without fear of intimidation, the National Assembly should not shackle the very media for which our present democracy owes it survival.

“Having benefitted from a vibrant media, it is worrisome that the lawmakers have turned around to debate a law which seeks to punish users of online media platforms.”

GOCOP, therefore, called on the lawmakers to desist from any action that will create fear among media practitioners, online activists and whistleblowers who may become likely targets if the bill becomes law.

“While we continuously campaign for responsible, objective and transparent practice among media practitioners and social media users across platforms, members of the Senate should not restrain access to information to protect politicians and other high ranking individuals who do not want to be held accountable for their actions,” GOCOP said.

Africa demands more funding for climate change adaptation

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Africa demands more funding for climate change adaptation

More finance, capacity building for communities and institutions and use of technology are vital to making Africa adapt to climate change.

Alex Rugamba, AfDB’s Director of Energy, Environment and Climate Change. Photo credit: www.usaid.gov
Alex Rugamba, AfDB’s Director of Energy, Environment and Climate Change. Photo credit: www.usaid.gov

Speakers during a side event at the ongoing COP21 conference in Paris on “Climate Change Adaptation funding in Africa: Experience from the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) and Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) and African Development Bank (AfDB)” have expressed the need for more money for adaptation and resilience building since Africa bears the brunt of climate change.

The discussion which took place at the Africa Pavilion at the global summit and moderated by AfDB’s Alex Rugamba focused on adaptation financing needs for Africa and innovative approaches to adaptation for the continent.

It also focused on building community resilience in a rural to urban development set-up and the role of adaptation using a green economy model.

“Africa bears a disproportionate burden of the adverse impacts of climate change. Adaptation is therefore of immediate concern to Africa. It is therefore incomprehensible that of the issues that are so keenly important to the continent would receive such little global attention. OECD has noted that currently, only about 14 per cent of the resources mobilised for climate change is allocated to adaptation,” noted Mr Rugamba, AfDB’s Director of Energy, Environment and Climate Change.

He added, “It is also on record that only about 4% of ends up in Africa. To quote my President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, ‘Africa has been short-changed by climate change. It must not be short-changed by climate finance’.”

The director noted that AfDB has done its part in financing adaption $2.3 billion over the last four years and lauded donors who have channeled finance through the AfDB and Climate Funds hosted by the multilateral development banks including AfDB.

“I thank African leadership through Committee of African Heads of State on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) and African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) for stressing the urgency of adaptation in Africa. The African Group of Negotiators stands with the Group of 77 and China in calling for the new agreement to include provisions for support to enhance adaptation action and implement approaches to address loss and damage that is not avoided through adaptation,” Mr Rugamba said.

David Chama KALUBA of Zambia’s Ministry of Finance and a Green Climate Fund (GCF) board member stressed the need for investing in people.

“We need to invest in people so that they are able to access risks and be able to determine whether the projects should focus on floods or drought management or be invested in economic projects. This way, funds will not go to waste,” Mr Kaluba said.

He added, “We should empower rural communities with the right technological tools to invest in agriculture for enhanced food security and seek for alternative sources of livelihoods other than planting main crops like maize which is vulnerable to climatic changes.”

Fishani Gondwe, Global Environment Facility (GEF) council member for Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, urged African governments to develop rural areas with a view to facilitating the movement of people and their products in order to access markets.

“We need to develop infrastructure like roads with good drainage systems to tackle floods, promote tourism and save lives,” Mr Gondwe said.

Gustavo Fonseca, Director of Programmes, GEF Secretariat, said GEF is helping countries plan on how they use the money they get from the institution.

We have already disbursed $1.6 billion dollars and 30 per cent of the money goes to adaptation. We are targeting to achieve 50:50 ratio for adaptation and mitigation,” Mr Fonseca said.

He revealed that donors have pledged $248 million and expressed hope that this will help bridge the gap in adaptation financing.

He also thanked the French government for pledging to give 25 million Euros to GEF.

Tao WANG, Director of Mitigation and Adaptation at GCF, noted that the institution had mobilised $10.2 billion and have embarked on projects meant to combat effects of climate change.

“We have accredited 20 national, regional and international entities to help us get this money to the beneficiaries that include LDCs, small island nations and Africa. We want to interact more with credit entities, contributing and implementing countries to make our projects a success,” Mr Wang said.

Ingrid Levavasseur from the Directorate General Treasury of France said France is working with adaptation projects should involve communities and the environment and link them to national action plans if Africa is to move towards green economies.

All the speakers expressed the need for more money to Africa for adaptation, pointing out that the $100 billion already pledged for adaptation and any other funds should be given to Africa.

They opposed the idea of 50:50 ration, noting that Africa bears the brunt of climate change yet they contribute less than 4 per cent and that if the continent experiences more than 3 degrees centigrade, more than $10 billion will be required yearly for adaptation.

By Protus Mabusi (PAMACC Team in Paris)

We need a legally binding agreement in Paris, African ministers insist

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We need a legally binding agreement in Paris, African ministers insist

African Ministers for Environment (AMCEN) held a high-level meeting at the Africa Pavilion at the on-going climate change conference in Paris, France.

Nigeria's Environment Minister, Mrs Amina Mihammed, with President Muhammadu Buhari at COP21 in Paris, France
Nigeria’s Environment Minister, Mrs Amina Mihammed, with President Muhammadu Buhari at COP21 in Paris, France

The ministers from Africa’s 54 nations were briefed on the status of the 21st Session of the Conference of Parties (COP21) and key points which they should focus on in the penultimate session of the discussions.

Speaking to the ministers, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stressed that Africa is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Much of its economy depends on a climate-sensitive natural resource base, including rain-fed subsistence agriculture, he said.

“In July, we adopted the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development. At the historic gathering in New York in September, we adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Mr Ki-moon stated.

He added, “Now, here in Paris, governments have the opportunity to secure a global climate change agreement that can pave the way towards a safer, healthier, more prosperous and sustainable future.”

The UN scribe noted that climate change may be just one of the 17 SDGs, but without addressing it properly, all remaining 16 goals cannot be fully implemented.

“Africa has a great opportunity for adaptation and mitigation. Africa has launched the African Adaptation Initiative and the African Renewable Energy Initiative. These two initiatives clearly demonstrate Africa’s leadership by example,” Mr Ki-moon said.

He added, “Through cooperative action, countries and regions can accelerate the transformation to low-emissions climate-resilient economies that meet the development needs of citizens in a sustainable manner.”

The COP21 agreement is scheduled to be signed on Friday. The African Group of Negotiators (AGN) led by its lead negotiator Xolisa Ngwadla from South Africa has identified five priority areas which need political backing for a fruitful outcome.

The key political and cross-cutting issues include adaptation, ambition, differentiation, flexibility for Africa and finance.

The AGN team also pointed out that the Paris agreement should be in the form of a protocol or another legal instrument with legally binding form as a matter of international law.

“The legal instrument should encompass all issues in a balanced manner with progression above the existing obligations of the Convention on mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, finance, technology, capacity and transparency,” said Selam Kidane of AGN.

Ngwadla echoed her sentiments. “We should take the first step towards achieving material parity between mitigation and adaptation. Parity for adaptation should be operationalised in the 2015 agreement through a definition of the global goal for adaptation (GGA).”.

He is of the view that the Paris agreement must deliver ambition that keeps Africa safe, by referring to and demonstrating feasibility of keeping global temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“The Convention provides for all countries to act, outlines further obligations for developed and rich developed countries to take the lead in emission reductions and providing support to developing countries respectively and includes specific provisions for countries with specific needs such as Africa, least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states. This should be achieved,” Ngwadla stressed.

He cautioned ministers to realise that Africa has above global temperature increases, deep development challenges and chronic poverty and can’t be expected to divert resources away from development or be excluded as a block from receiving climate finance.

“The Paris agreement should address transparency and adequacy of the financial support by developed countries based on analysis of the funding gap. Rich countries should continue to provide support to developing countries based on clearly defined obligations. We need to double the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and triple it by 2020,” said Seyni Safo, the AGN’s spokesman.

Dr Khaled Fahmy, Minister of Environment of Egypt, and President of the AMCEN, called for a united African voice so that Africa wins as a continent.

“Statistics paint a bleak future for Africa. The sea level has risen. People and animals are dying. The stakes are high for us. We need a coherent voice to get solutions to these problems,” Mr Fahmy said.

Patience Tumusiime of the African Union Commission (AUC) noted that in the coming few years, 200 million Africans will be exposed to water scarcity calling for a political backing to solve the problem.

Kenya’s Environment Minister Prof Judi Wakhungu said ministers are determined to find a lasting solution to the effects of climate change

“Agriculture yields are projected to reduce by 50 per cent. This will lead to malnutrition and deaths due to malaria in East and South Africa. We need to come up with solutions to climate change,” she said.

Dr Fatima Denton, Director, Special Initiatives Director, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), called for international support.

“Let us implement sustainable development programmes to save our continent. We are leading the way as a continent and our partners should support us financially because we know that Africa’s global emission percentage is negligible,” Ms Denton said.

By Protus Mabusi (PAMACC Team in Paris)

UN lists climate funding commitments

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UN lists climate funding commitments

A number of climate funding announcements by developed country governments, multilateral development banks and multilateral climate funds have been made in the run-up to and at the COP21 UN climate change conference holding in Paris, France.

UNFCCC, Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres
UNFCCC, Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres

The secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has compiled the list below from public sources. The UNFCCC added that the compilation was made at the request of the French Presidency of COP21.

Announcements by Developed Country Parties

  • Austria will strive to provide at least EUR half a billion in climate finance between 2015 and 2020, in addition to the current Austrian pledge to the GCF.
  • Belgium announced at the Leaders Event a commitment to provide EUR 50 million annually until 2020, and recalled its EUR 51.6 million contribution to the Green Climate Fund.
  • Canada will provide CAD 2.65 billion over the next five years in international climate finance to support a transition to low-carbon economies that are both sustainable and more resilient.‎
  • The Czech Republic recalls its announcement to contribute approximately USD 5.3 million to the GCF for the initial replenishment period and additional approximately USD 2 million for the climate finance readiness activities.
  • Denmark announced that it would commit DKK 270 million (approximately USD 38 million) in earmarked climate finance in 2016, including DKK 156 million to the Least Developed Countries Fund (approximately USD 22 million) (subject to parliamentary approval).
  • Estonia has announced its intention to provide EUR 6 million between 2015 and 2020 for climate finance; from that EUR 1 million has already been pledged to the Green Climate Fund.
  • European Commission announced its intention to more than double climate finance grants from the EU budget up to 2020, reaching EUR 2 billion per year on average.
  • Finland intends to provide over EUR half a billion in new investment funding for developing countries over the next four years, a substantial part of which will contribute to climate finance.
  • France announced that it would, by 2020, (i) increase annual climate finance from current EUR 3 billion level to more than EUR 5 billion; and (ii) within this target, triple its annual adaptation finance to reach 1bn EUR by 2020.
  • Germany recalled that it aimed at doubling its international climate finance by 2020 compared to 2014.
  • Iceland will strive to provide around USD 10 million annually to climate related development efforts. Focus will be placed on geothermal development, sustainable land and ocean management, as well as gender equality in climate action.
  • Ireland will continue public funding ensuring EUR 175 million in climate finance over the period 2016 to 2020 mainly for adaptation and will increase our contribution to the Least Developed Countries Fund. Furthermore, Ireland will commence contributions to the GCF in 2016, and is exploring avenues for mobilizing private climate finance.
  • Italy announced that it will increase its support for international climate finance reaching at least USD 4 billion between 2015-2020.
  • Japan announced that it would provide, in 2020, Yen 1.3 trillion of public and private climate finance, 1.3 times up from the current level, to developing countries.
  • Lithuania will continue to finance the implementation of official development cooperation projects by mobilizing additional private sector investments for transfer of the Lithuanian renewable energy and other technologies and pledge EUR 100 000 to Green Climate Fund in 2015.
  • Luxembourg reiterated that its climate finance contribution would reach the cumulative amount of EUR 365 million over the 2014-2020 period, which would include EUR 245 million of climate-related ODA and an additional EUR 120 million for international climate finance.
  • The Netherlands reiterated that it will increase its climate finance to EUR 440 million in 2015 and another 20 per cent in 2016 to EUR 550 million.
  • New Zealand announced it will provide up to NZD 200 million for climate-related support over the next four years, the majority of which will benefit Pacific nations. This builds on the NZD 65 million New Zealand has already spent over the last three years to help Pacific Nations secure reliable and clean energy.
  • Norway has announced its intent to maintain its finance for REDD+ on at least today’s levels until 2020, which amounts to approximately USD 400 million per year. Norway intends to remain a major contributor of climate finance in the years to come.
  • Poland has announced its intention to provide USD 8 million until 2020 for climate finance, including for Green Climate Fund.
  • Slovenia announced its intention to increase its climate finance support by 50 per cent in 2016 compared to previous levels and will strive to maintain this level until 2020.
  • Sweden announced its intention to nearly double multilateral climate support in 2016 compared to 2015.
  • Spain announced it aims at doubling its international climate finance by 2020 compared to 2014, by mobilizing an amount of EUR 900 million by 2020.
  • The United Kingdom recalled that it would increase support for international climate finance by at least 50 per cent, providing at least GBP 5.8 billion between 2016-2021, aiming to spend  half on adaptation.

Announcements by Multilateral Development Banks

  • The African Development Bank announced that it would triple its climate financing to reach nearly USD 5 billion annually by 2020.
  • The Asian Development Bank announced that it would more than double its annual climate financing, up to USD 6 billion by 2020. USD 4 billion will be for mitigation, USD 2 billion for adaptation.
  • The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development indicated that it would increase the share of environment/climate financing from 25-40 percent of annual commitments by 2020; this will provide USD 20 billion over the next five years, versus USD 20 billion over the last ten years.
  • The European Investment Bank will finance USD 20 billion a year globally for the next five years under its recently announced climate strategy commitments, a total of USD 100 billion, equal to at least 25 percent of its overall lending for the period. In order to strengthen the impact of EIB’s financing, notably in developing countries, the EIB aims to increase its lending for climate action in those countries to 35 percent of total lending by 2020.
  • The Inter-American Development Bank announced its aim to double the volume of its climate finance by 2020, provided support of its Governors, this would mean increasing from an average of 14 percent of annual commitments over the last three years to 25-30 percent average commitment by 2020.
  • The World Bank Group, provided support of its Governors, pledged a one-third increase in climate financing, from 21-28 percent of annual commitments by 2020. If financial capacity were maintained at today’s level in real terms, this means reaching USD 16 billion a year in public finance. The Bank Group intends to continue leveraging its current levels of co-financing for climate-related projects, which could mean up to an additional USD 13 billion a year in 2020. The direct financing and leveraged co-financing together represent an estimated USD 29 billion.

Multilateral Climate Funds

  • Developed countries announced pledges totaling USD 10.1 billion during the initial resource mobilization of the Green Climate Fund.
  • A group of 11 ‎countries announced contributions totaling USD 248 million to the Least Developed Countries Fund, hosted by the Global Environment Facility.

According to UNFCCC officials, the secretariat has captured as many anouncements as possible but does not make any claim that it is exhaustive and announcements will be added as they are identified and announced.

COP21 will produce a universal agreement, says Ban Ki-moon

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COP21 will produce a universal agreement, says Ban Ki-moon

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has expressed optimism that the ongoing climate change summit in Paris will produce a universal and binding agreement.

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon at COP21. Photo credit: ibtimes.co.uk
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon at COP21. Photo credit: ibtimes.co.uk

He made the disclosure on Sunday (December 6, 2015) while speaking to media executives during a visit to the research vessel, Tara.

According to him, there was a strong commitment demonstrated by the over 150 world leaders, including President Hollande of France, at the conference last week.

“I am optimistic and confident that we will have a universal and ambitious agreement,” he disclosed when asked how he felt the conference would end. “I sincerely hope that our world leaders, our negotiators, our ministers will adopt a strong, ambitious, universal climate change agreement. There is no time to lose.”

He added: “I am urging member states to look beyond their national boundaries. Climate change does not respect national boundaries. It impacts all throughout the world and, therefore, we have to have a global vision, global solidarity. The sea level is rising. Global temperatures are warming. This year, 2015, is the warmest year in human history. Therefore, there is not time to lose. We need to take action now. The time for action is now.”

According to him, for 10 years, Tara has sailed the oceans, monitoring the marine changes in the ocean, particularly degradation of marine environment.

“They (the vessel and crew member scientists) have been measuring and providing data to our scientific community so that we can better address climate change. It is important that we must preserve our oceans healthy so that we can have a healthy and prosperous planet. Our planet is 70% oceans. It is the basis of our life,” Ban Ki-moon added.

Pope Francis prays for climate summit, charges delegates

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Pope Francis prays for climate summit, charges delegates

According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis on Sunday (December 6, 2015) morning prayed for the success of the ongoing UN climate summit in Paris (COP21). Speaking to crowds in St Peter’s Square, he said he is following the talks closely.

Pope Francis. Photo credit: dailytimes.com.ng
Pope Francis. Photo credit: dailytimes.com.ng

He added he was reminded of a question he asked in his recent encyclical, this morning saying: “What kind of world do we want to pass on to those who come after us, to the children who are growing up?

“For the sake of the common home we share and for future generations, every effort should be made in Paris to mitigate the impact of climate change and, at the same time, to tackle poverty and to let human dignity flourish.”

According to Vatican Radio, the Pope added: “Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten all who are called to take such important decisions and give them the courage to do what is best (for the) greater good of the whole human family.”

Reacting to the Pope’s intervention, Martin Kaiser of Greenpeace said: “The Pope’s words are very welcome indeed. He brings a powerful moral weight to this issue, and his intervention will be felt in the halls of the conference centre. As we move into the crucial final week, the Paris summit needs all the help it can get.

“The Pope has previously said we need to phase-out fossil fuels, but if we’re going to achieve that by 2050, as the science says we must, then any deal in Paris needs to explicitly state it. This conference is finely balanced, there’s no guarantee we’ll get a decent agreement, and the opponents of progress will be plotting how to crash the talks. It would be nice to think that the Pope’s words will give some of them pause for thought.”

Québec boosts GEF’s LDCF with $CAD 6 million

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Québec boosts GEF’s LDCF with $CAD 6 million

First-ever pledge by sub-national government to GEF climate fund boosts total new financing for LDCF to over $US 252 million

Premier of Québec, Philippe Couillard. Photo credit: cbc.ca
Premier of Québec, Philippe Couillard. Photo credit: cbc.ca

The Premier of Québec, Philippe Couillard, announced on Saturday in Paris a contribution of $CAD 6 million to the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), the GEF-hosted climate fund for the most vulnerable countries. The commitment, made at the Paris COP21 climate talks, is the first-ever by a sub-national government, and brings total new financing to the LDCF to more than $US 252 million.

Thanking Québec for its generous support to the LDCF, Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), said: “This groundbreaking commitment by Québec shows the growing international cooperation to help the most vulnerable and most exposed to the impacts of climate change.”

The support for the LDCF was included in an announcement by the Québec government today of new international funding for climate cooperation. See the Québec press statement below.

“By contributing to the Least Developed Countries Fund, Québec, as a federated state, is setting a precedent in international climate funding. This new gesture is yet another demonstration of the essential contribution of federated states in the fight against climate change and Québec’s leadership in this area,” underscored the Premier.

Earlier this week, 11 donor countries pledged $US248 million to the LDCF.

Welcoming the injection of more money for adaptation support to some of the most vulnerable countries on the planet, Naoko Ishii, added: “Given that we’re already locked into climate change trajectories for many years to come, increased investment in adaptation has to be at the core of the new climate agreement.”

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