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Achieving 2 degree objective reliant on renewed spirit – UNEP

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Achieving 2 degree objective reliant on renewed spirit – UNEP

Existing policies and strong engagement by nations submitting their contributions ahead of the Paris climate meeting will limit anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, but a new climate agreement can encourage further action to limit global temperature rise to 2°C by 2100, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP. Photo credit: www.spiegel.de
Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP. Photo credit: www.spiegel.de

The Emissions Gap Report is an authoritative assessment undertaken by a team of leading scientists and modelling experts from around the world. It presents an assessment of the 119 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submitted the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by 1 October 2015, covering 146 countries (including the European Union submitting as a bloc) and up to 88 per cent of global GHG emissions in 2012.

The INDCs represent GHG emission reductions of 4 to 6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year (GtCO2e/yr) in 2030 compared to projected emissions under current policy trajectories. 2030 projections based on current policies are themselves 5 GtCO2e per year lower than the estimate of 65 GtCO2e, based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report scenarios, which assumed no additional climate policies are put in place after 2010.

This indicates that efforts to tackle climate change, including those taken before the Paris agreement and full implementation of the INDCs, could cut up to 11 GtCO2e from projected emissions in 2030.  This is however around half of the total required to reach the global emission level of 42 GtCO2e in 2030 consistent with having a likely chance (>66 percent) of staying below the 2°C target in 2100.

The challenge is to bend the emissions trajectory down as soon as possible to ensure that the net zero emissions goal in 2060-2075 is within reach.

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, “The current INDCs, combined with policies over the last few years, present a real increase in ambition levels and demonstrate an unprecedented commitment and engagement by member states in tackling this major global challenge.

“The INDCs assessed in this Emissions Gap report signal a breakthrough in terms of international efforts to bend the curve of future emissions. While in themselves not sufficient to limit global temperature rise to the recommended level of 2°C this century, they represent a historic step in the direction of decarbonising our economies. However, in order to close the gap it is essential that the Paris Agreement adopt a dynamic approach in which ambitions, the mobilisation of climate finance and other forms of cooperation can be adjusted upwards at regular intervals.”

If all INDCs are fully implemented, the 2030 emissions gap would still be 12 GtCO2e, putting the world on track to a temperature rise of around 3°C by 2100, and bringing significant climate impacts. However this scenario assumes that nations would not review and further accelerate efforts in subsequent years – i.e. in 2025 or 2030.The report also shows the uncertainties that exist for different scenarios based on the best available scientific evidence.

The report also recommends early action on climate to keep costs as low as possible and avoid deeper and more challenging cuts later.

With regard to the various potential scenarios for the emissions gap in 2025 and 2030, the report finds the following:

  • The global emission levels consistent with a chance of staying below the 2°C limit, following a least-cost pathway from 2020,  48 GtCO2e (range 46 to 50) in 2025 and 42 GtCO2e (range: 31 to 44) in 2030.
  • Emissions are projected to be 54 GtCO2e (range 53 to 58) in 2025 and 56 GtCO2e (range 54 to 59) in 2030, if all unconditional INDCs are implemented. This gives emission gaps of 7 GtCO2e (range 5 to 10) and 14 GtCO2e (range 12 to 17) in 2025 and 2030 respectively.
  • If conditional INDCs are included, the global emissions projection is 53 GtCO2e (range 52 to 56) in 2025 and 54 GtCO2e (range 52 to 57) in 2030. This would give emission gaps of 5 GtCO2e (range 4 to 8) and 12 GtCO2e (range 10 to 15) in 2025 and 2030 respectively.
  • If countries that have not yet submitted an INDC were to reduce their emissions at the same percentage as those that have already submitted, the gap would narrow by a further 0.5 GtCO2e in 2025 and 1 GtCO2e in 2030.

INDC process as foundation for closing the gap

The INDCs will likely have benefits beyond the estimated reductions to GHG emission levels as new climate policies and actions are being galvanised by the process, the report says. The preparation of the INDCs has incentivised the exploration of links between development and climate, and the development of new national climate polices, and may be considered as the first step in a transition towards low-carbon economies.

The Paris Agreement could build on and support these processes and provide the framework for mobilisation of the enhanced mitigation efforts required, the report says.

Further options available

Enhanced energy efficiency – with a particular emphasis on industry, buildings and transport – and expanded use of renewable energy technologies for power production will be critical. Other key sectors emphasised in the studies include forestry, agriculture and waste.

In recognition of the significant opportunity for climate change mitigation through forest-related actions, the report includes a focus on REDD+ and finds the theoretical potential of reducing forest loss and restoring forests could be 9 GtCO2e/yr in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean combined. However, economic and land-use factors are likely to reduce this theoretical potential.

This reflects the fact that forest loss, which reached 7.6 million ha per year between 2010-2015 accounts for the largest portion of emissions from land use. While the full potential of REDD+ has not yet been reached, many countries are expressing their willingness to undertake large-scale forest-related mitigation.

REDD+ also has the potential to contribute to the large-scale restoration of degraded forest landscapes, which would boost food production and support adaptation to climate change.

The impact of actions by International Cooperative Initiatives – such as the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the Compact of Mayors, and the Cement Sustainability Initiative – can also be significant, the report finds. Preliminary assessments indicate an emission reduction in the range of the range of 0.75 to 2 GtCO2e in 2020.

Pope Francis influenced US’ climate conversation, says report

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Pope Francis influenced US’ climate conversation, says report

Today more Americans and more American Catholics are worried about global warming than six months ago and more believe it will have significant impacts on human beings, says the report from a newly conducted study.

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

Titled “The Francis Effect: How Pope Francis changed the conversation about global warming,” the study was conducted by the Centre for Climate Change Communication at the George Mason University, USA.

According to the report, some of the changes in Americans’ and American Catholics’ views can be attributed to the Pope’s teachings, as 17 percent of Americans and 35 percent of Catholics say his position on global warming influenced their own views of the issue.

The report’s results draw from a unique study design of within-subject surveys of a nationally representative sample of American adults conducted in the Spring, prior to the release of the Pope’s encyclical Laudato Si’, and again in the Fall, after the Pope’s visit to the United States.

Key findings include:

Americans have become more concerned about global warming

  • More Americans say that global warming is happening (Americans: from 62% in March to 66% in October, +4 points; American Catholics: from 64% in March to 74% in October, +10 points).
  • More Americans have become worried about global warming (Americans: from 51% in March to 59% in October, +8 points; American Catholics: from 53% to 64%, +11 points).
  • More Americans say that the issue of global warming has become very or extremely important to them personally (Americans: from 19% to 26%, +7 points; American Catholics: from 15% to 23%, +8 points).

More Americans think global warming will harm people here and abroad

  • More think global warming will cause a great deal or moderate harm to people in developing countries (Americans: from 48% to 63%, +15 points; American Catholics: from 45% to 62%, +17 points).
  • More think global warming will harm the world’s poor (Americans: from 49% to 61%, +12 points; American Catholics: from 42% to 62%, +20 points).
  • More think global warming will harm future generations of people (Americans: from 60% to 70%, +10 points; American Catholics: from 63% to 74%, +11 points).
  • More Americans (from 48% to 57%, +9 points), and more American Catholics (from 45% to 58%, +13 points), think global warming will harm people in the United States a great deal or a moderate amount.

Aligned with Pope Francis’s message, Americans are more likely to think global warming is:

  • A moral issue (Americans: from 32% to 38%, +6 points; American Catholics: from 34% to 42%, +8 points).
  • A social fairness issue (Americans: from 21% to 29%, +8 points; American Catholics: from 21% to 25%, +4 points).
  • A religious issue (Americans: from 8% to 12%, +4 points; American Catholics: from 6% to 13%, +7 points).

According to the Centre, the report “includes many more fascinating results, including public views of Pope Francis, the salience of global warming as an issue, changes in key beliefs, feelings and thoughts about global warming, changes in how the issue is conceptualised by Americans, their moral responses, and their support for climate action.”

BoI/UNDP initiative retrofits rural homes with solar systems

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BoI/UNDP initiative retrofits rural homes with solar systems

Foremost development finance institution, Bank of Industry (BoI) in a collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), recently commissioned 48KW pilot model off-grid solar home systems in two rural communities in the North-East and South West zones of the country. Olufemi Adeosun writes that the initiative will not only help to cater for the energy needs of the people in these areas, but also preserve the environment

BoI Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, at the Osun event
BoI Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, at the Osun event

While inadequate supply of electricity has been identified as one of the factors responsible for collapse of industries in the country, little has been said about its impacts of on the lives of thousands of rural dwellers who are not connected to the national grid and, as such, denied access to basic amenities that make life worth living.

In order to meet their energy needs, these neglected members of the society are consigned to hewing firewood for cooking, rely on kerosine lanterns and oil lamps for illumination, as well as adopt other sources of power which are not only inimical to their healthy, but also harmful to the environment.

It is these thousands of off-grid communities that the BoI is targeting through its Solar Energy Partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Under the programme, the development finance institution is providing long-term financing for the installation of off-grid solar home systems in six communities under a pilot phase.

The decision of BoI to fund renewable energy projects, company officials say, is in line with the policy direction of the present administration. According to them, apart from being the first President that openly  made concerns for climate change as part of his campaign issues, Mohammadu Buhari had during the Nigeria Alternative Power Expo (NAEE), called on investors in the power sector to shift emphasis towards environment friendly alternative sources of power generation in order to protect the ecosystem.

Apart from the already commissioned 24KW micro-grid solar electrification each in Bisanti (a remote village in Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State) and in Ife-North LGA in Osun State, the project is to be replicated in four other communities, namely: Ogbekpen, Ikpoba in Okha LGA, Edo State; Kolwa Kaltunga LGA, Gombe State; Onono, Anambra West LGA, in Anambra State; and Carwa/Cakum, Markarfi LGA, Kano State.

The over 200 rural dwellers in each of the communities captured under the project are expected to have sufficient solar electricity to power three LED light bulbs, one electric fan, one radio/TV set and a mobile phone charging system. Unlike in the grid system in which electricity bill is by fiat, the solar power system will be anchored on Pay-as-You-Go prepaid technology.

BoI Managing Director, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, underlined the need to impact on the lives of thousands of people in remote villages that are not connected to the national grid, saying that this was the driving force behind the project. According to him, the rural electrification solution would not only help in reducing the rural-urban migration, it would help to preserve the lives of the people as well as the ecosystem.

He said, “Those that are worse hit by the current electricity situation in the country are the rural communities, especially the off-grid areas which have always been without electricity and have resigned their fate to the use of kerosine lanterns, oil lamps and other types of dangerous and unhealthy sources of light to be able to live their daily lives.

“Firstly the installation of off-grid solar home systems in the two communities will help develop the communities. Secondly, we can begin to see a slowdown in rural-urban migration, and possibly a reversal. It is a model we are deploying in six communities across the six geopolitical zones.

“Solar is a green energy that relies on energy from the sun. The solar panel stores energy and the one that is not used during the day is stored in a battery. It is a self-sustaining model, environmentally friendly and we are proud to be supportive of the process.”

Olaoluwa, who said the bank’s medium term vision was to install solar systems through the combination of micro-grid and stand-alone solar systems in 100,000 homes in the next five yearss, also expressed his readiness to partner with state governments and private investors with a view to replicating the project in other communities across the country.

While urging the nation to tap into the abundant renewable energy sources in the country, he emphasised: “Renewable energy such as hydro, wind and solar are growing in relevance and commercial adoption on a global scale. The critical role of renewable energy was re-emphasised at the G7 summit which held in June 2015, where the leading industrial nations agreed to decarbonise the global economy by phasing out the use of fossil fuels by the end of this century.”

An environmentalist, Dr. Patric Tolani, noted that the project would help to stem the tide of deforestation occasioned by felling of trees to generate energy. He said that preliminary studies carried out by Community Energy Africa had revealed that the project was also capable of offsetting thousands of carbons per year.

He added, “A cursory look at this community will no doubt reveal that the people depend wholly on wood and kerosine for their energy needs. In this case, they rely on trees, which they constantly cut down for domestic use, causing deforestation with its attendant consequences on the lives of the people and the environment. Having a project like this will offset carbon that goes to the environment.

“Also, against the backdrop of the community reliance on lanterns, people inhale a lot of smoke in the process and that definitely affects their health. We have calculated that, through this project, we are going to offset several thousands of carbon units a year. And I can assure that the offset, in the near future, can translate into carbon credit which I can categorically say can be fed back into the community for development.”

On ways of ensuring the sustainability of the project, Tolani, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, Charity Aid and Development Foundation for Africa, explained that, apart from the fact that GVE, the project contractor, would be available to provide a stand-on assistance in the engineering aspect, the most viable way to make it enduring was through community ownership.

His words: “This commissioning will not end the relationship, GVE would have their engineers here, like the one in Igbeke. The one in Igbeke has been running now for three without one day downturn. This project will be run by GVE Project Limited to manage the engineering aspects. The good thing about solar is that you don’t need to buy diesel, you don’t need to buy any fossil fuel. It is from the sun.

“However, it is also important we make the community part of the project so that they see it as their own. We are looking at the opportunity of issuing shares to members of the community so that they can see the asset as their own. They can have share ownership, and not just that, shared posterity. I can say to you that if we are able to work that out, when there is profit, they will get dividend,” he added.

Managing Director, GVE Project Limited, Ifeanyi Orajaka, stated that the project would help the beneficiaries to conserve money, adding that the cost of purchasing kerosine lamp, candles and generators was capable of constituting a strain on the pockets of ordinary people.

He noted, “Before now, this community used to rely on kerosine lamps, candles and generators. You and I know that, apart from being unclean and unhealthy to both human and the environment, they are generally expensive to operate. But, with this solar energy system, they are now introduced as a clean, reliable and affordable power solution.”

Buhari, at planners’ forum, commits to sustaining key lands, housing policies

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Buhari, at planners’ forum, commits to sustaining key lands, housing policies

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that, in order to grow the sector and harness its potential for sustainable national development, his administration remains committed to sustaining key lands, housing and urban development policies. He listed these to include the Housing Policy, National Urban Development Policy, National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan, Vision 20:2020, National Building Code, and the ongoing Medium Term Successor Plan (2016-2020).

President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari

In a keynote address he delivered last week at the 46th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) held in Ilorin, Kwara State, the President stated that, to complement these efforts, government has activated the Roadmap for Nigeria’s Housing and Urban Development Sector while producing a National Land Policy to induce far-reaching reforms in land administration and management in the country.

The conference had “Making cities in Nigeria functional” as its theme.

“I am delighted to be informed that, in preparing these strategic documents, members of your esteemed Institute served creditably as the core consultants and resource persons,” said Buhari, adding that effective design, provision, maintenance and improvement of public spaces on a continuous basis in all facets of physical planning and development activities.

Buhari, who was represented by the Parmanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing & Urban Developmet, Mr George Ossi, added: “In addition to the human management skills, we need the technology and sustainable flow of finance to fully exploit the city’s transformative potential to spur the informal sector, infrastructure, productivity, mobility, and gainful employment for our citizens. Here, the issues of urban governance, urban transportation, planning for the socially disadvantaged, parking facilities and open spaces become critical.

“Human settlements can only facilitate the growth and development of the various aspect of our national life if it is inclusive and properly managed. In Nigeria, the emergence of cities that will serve as engine of growth and development will depend to a large extent on the collaboration and partnership between the public and the private sectors of the economy, as well as broad-based consultation, such professional town planners. It is only then that we will truly be able to achieve Goal 11 of the SDGs of ‘making our cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’.”

Dr Femi Olomola, President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP)
Dr Femi Olomola, President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP)

President of the NITP, Dr Femi Olomola, solicited the cooperation of the National Assembly to ensure the success of the Landuse Planning and Analysis Report (LUPAR) project. The LUPAR document contains templates that would provide realistic, comprehensive and relevant data on all facets of physical development.

Initiated by the present administration, LUPAR’s production took off early in the year and has been completed, disclosed Dr Olomola, adding that the Institute would interface with the National Assembly, Corporate Affairs Commission (for registration of business names), Central Bank and other financial institutions (for opening of accounts to checkmate fraud), and security institutions (for security check).

“It is envisaged that LUPAR would equally generate more than 5,000 units of jobs for planners, and even others in the allied professions.”

Besides seeking the cooperation of the National Assembly to ensure the success of the LUPAR project, Dr Olomola appealed to Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, to ensure that Urban and Regional Planning is included in the Concurrent List of the Constitution – a matter in respect of which the NITP made a submission to the National Assembly in the last dispensation.

“No meaningful economic planning/development can be achieved without good physical planning/development which is the main thrust of Urban and Regional Planning,” submitted the NITP president, even as he solicited the support of the Kwara State Government to:

  • Ensure the preparation of Physical Development Master Plans for major urban centres like Ilorin, Offa, Lafiagi and Omu-Aran; as well as preparation of Regional Plans for socio-economic and physical development of the state.
  • To see to the implementation of the URP Law in Kwara State.

Chairman, Kwara State Chapter of the NITP, Deacon Atoyebi Mike Tunde, stated that, besides producing vibrant leaders in the past, the state chapter had contributed immensely to the growth and practice of the profession.

“It is on record that the state has produced a past president in the person of late Chief C O. Aimola. It is also germane to mention that the planning instrument for the processing of titles and other documents, called Site Analysis Reports (SAR), originated from Kwara State Chapter of NITP. The instrument is in use all over the country presently. The instrumently has recently been improved upon by the national body,” declared Deacon Tunde.

Besides the induction of 237 new members by the NITP, an AGM that led to the re-election of Dr Olomola and the entire National Executive Council for a second one-year term, and the 2015 conference of the Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP) (that had “Planning for tourism in the West African sub-region” as its theme), the week-long gathering likewise featured the main conference that entailed the presentation of five papers, and listed to include:

  • Urban planning and community resilience: Towards building functional cities in Nigeria (by Dr Kingsley Ogboi, David Osiyi and Gladys Chukwura);
  • Planning for physical and social infrastructure and services for cities in Nigeria in the context of resilient cities (by Prof Joy Ogbazi);
  • Planning for parking facilities and complementary services for cities in Nigeria (by Ayo Adediran);
  • Planning for the informal economy: The spatial dimension (by Lekwa Ezutah); and,
  • Planning for the socially disadvantaged (by Mohammed-Bello Yunusa).

Papers presented at the CAP conference were:

  • Need to plan and develop ecotourism potentials of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria for sustainable development: Ecological inputs into regional master plans in focus (by Dr Edem Eniang);
  • Sustainable tourism development in the Niger Delta Region: Prospects and challenges (by Faith Ekang); and,
  • Prospects and challenges of revenue mobilisation from tourism by local government authorities in Africa: Lessons from the Yilo Krobo Municipal Assembly in Ghana (by Dr. Ronald Adamtey).

By Michael Simire

Buhari: How to achieve ‘change’ in a changing climate

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Buhari: How to achieve ‘change’ in a changing climate

President Muhammadu Buhari will fail to keep his vow that, under his watch, Nigeria will become a “forceful and constructive player” in the global fight against climate change if he ignores five actionable suggestions highlighted in this article. Climate change is a global emergency with local consequences.

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria

This article was inspired during a reception hosted by the Presidency of African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) – Egyptian Ministry of Environment where I had a deep but honest discussion with one of the key administrators of the AMCEN secretariat who was with one of the United Nation’s environmental agencies before his appointment to serve his country. In the third week of August 2015, I had been working from the Dusit Thani Lakeview Hotel, Cairo, Egypt as part of a team of experts from Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDC) and Africa convened by the UN Secretary-General’s office on Climate Change to brainstorm on Climate Resilience under the proposed Anticipate, Absorb and Reshape (A2R) framework. On the sidelines of this event, the African experts had been brainstorming on how to deliver on an African Heads of State mandate to the African Ministerial Conference on Environment (AMCEN) to develop with the African Group of climate change Negotiators (AGN) a proposal for enhanced support to Africa on Adaptation, Loss and Damage, in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as the momentum peaks for the upcoming 21st meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 21) in Paris, France this December where a legally binding global agreement on climate change is expected to be agreed.

You see, when push comes to shove, the African continent stands on a tripod of Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria as the arrow head but that is where the problem starts. Egypt and South Africa have been doing their best in responding to the climate challenge, harnessing opportunities thrown up by a changing climate and leveraging on climate diplomacy to advance the best interests of their countries. Where is Nigeria? Gone missing in action as usual but while we are so used to carefree attitude of successive governments in Nigeria on a critical issue that has local, national, regional and global ramifications like climate change, this has become a source of pain and heavy burden for other countries in Africa – with far reaching consequences for our citizens, communities, country and continent. If Nigeria walks, Africa runs and if Nigeria runs, Africa flies! This opinion paper triples as an encouragement and guide as well as a direct challenge to President Buhari and the 36 state governors to go ahead and do the needful to protect Nigeria’s economy from the ravaging impacts of climate change!

It is unpardonable for the “Giant of Africa” to stay aloof while countries such as Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya access far more climate finance than Nigeria. This is shameful, unacceptable and does not fit our status as the biggest economy in Africa!

In his acceptance and inauguration speeches, Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari assured all foreign governments and our long suffering citizens that Nigeria will become a major influential country in the global fight against climate change. For those of us in the climate change community championing the mainstreaming of climate change into Nigeria’s infrastructural development master plans and economic growth blueprints, this statement of intent from a man who would steer the destiny, dreams and aspirations of over 170 million people in the next four years, is as reassuring, relieving and refreshing as it gets. But he needs our support and here is mine! These are the five actions President Buhari must take before the end of 2015 in order to put Nigeria in the driver’s seat and provide climate leadership for Africa and other developing countries.

Firstly, President Buhari should tap into Nigeria’s avalanche of best brains in the field of climate change by inviting Nigerians who are members of the United Nations Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to a breakfast meeting in Abuja. The IPCC is a global group of scientists and experts who provide the scientific body of evidence encapsulated in their series of periodic Assessment Reports upon which the UNFCCC has been trying to surmount the challenge of climate change. President Buhari will come out of this meeting with deeper insight and broader perspective on the best way forward after initiating an honest discussion with these Nigerians who are part of the team advising the United Nations on climate change.

Secondly, President Buhari should appoint and empower a Presidential Special Envoy on Climate Change whose main duty is to champion Nigeria’s climate diplomacy as well as lead both regional and international action to mobilise multilateral resources in pursuit of mainstreaming climate change into Nigeria’s development blueprints like MDGs and Vision 2020. Few weeks ago, I was involved in an expanded version of Climate Finance workshop with Ministry of Environment, Nigeria Infrastructural Advisory Facility (NIAF), UNDP and the Intended Nationally Determined (NAPA/NAMA) Contributions (INDCs) forum – a Paris COP21 preparatory platform for Nigeria where I made it clear that Nigeria was not accessing enough of green funds and punching far below her belt – as usual, in harnessing benefits and opportunities presented by UNFCCC backed Climate Finance.

Many countries are already realising and tapping into the manifold benefits of having a Presidential Special Envoy on Climate Change (PSECC). Indonesia is a good reference point with Dr. Rachmat Witoelar driving their international climate change diplomacy in the capacity of a Presidential Special Envoy on Climate Change. As someone who has been proactively working to encourage the local, national and global transition to low carbon economy while also encouraging public and private sector institutions and businesses to embrace environmental responsibility and climate change governance as veritable foundation to build national and corporate sustainability frameworks in Africa, I can authoritatively affirm that Nigeria has a lot to gain by empowering a “Climate Change Czar” in the person and office of the Presidential Special Envoy on Climate Change!

Thirdly, President Buhari should enable Nigeria’s institutional framework to address climate change by quickly signing into law the Nigeria Climate Change Commission (NCCC) Bill presently oscillating between the National Assembly and Presidential Villa. President Buhari should also re-tool and redirect part of the resources in the Ecological Fund Office towards meeting Nigeria’s climate change capacity building and knowledge management needs. The Ecological Fund has become another slush fund source for idle minds loafing around the corridors of power. This is unacceptable and must change! Entrenched bureaucratic interests feeding fat on the status quo are contented with the business as usual approach to responding to matters of national security like climate change ganged up against the coming into being of the NCCC. President Goodluck Jonathan had a rare opportunity to give life and meaning to the NCCC Bill but his choice of absenting his signature and allowing such an innovative enterprise to wallow in coma, sadly ever after, speaks volumes of a dearth of leadership vision. Never again!

Fourthly, President Buhari should practically demonstrate Nigeria’s new status as a “forceful and constructive player” in the global fight against climate change by personally leading Nigeria’s delegation to the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) after ordering an urgent review, update and public communication of Nigeria’s Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), National Programme of Adaptation Actions (NAPAs) and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to ensure they are aligned with Nigeria’s extant economic development realities while adding value to existing initiatives like NEEDS, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Vision 20:20:20. This symbolic gesture of personally attending the COP 21 in Paris this December would elevate Nigeria’s status as leading African voice and force, especially providing another platform to work together to tackle climate change with the Presidents of the G-7 countries who few weeks ago hosted President Buhari in Germany.

Finally, President Buhari should launch the “Nigeria beyond Oil” marshall plan in line with the reality and necessity of weaning Nigeria’s dangerous dependence on hydrocarbon resources which has in itself proved a national security risk. Renewable energy has come to stay and will increasingly take up huge chunks of the energy mix in the years and decades ahead. Nigeria must adjust to this reality and start thinking and working out actionable plan for life without overflowing petro-dollars. Africa’s biggest economy cannot afford to miss out on the fast emerging global low carbon economy. The choice facing Nigeria is simple: adjust and align to ride the crest of this raging storm of climate change or get drowned in its fury!

By Stanley Igwebuike Ijeoma (World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) Country Representative for Nigeria and CEO, Schrodinger Limited, Abuja. Email: schrodinger.limited@gmail.com)

Egba Summit asks govt to resume Lagos-Ibadan road repair

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Egba Summit asks govt to resume Lagos-Ibadan road repair

The Egba Economic Summit, a socio-economic group in Ogun State, has called on the Federal Government to resume the on-going reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and prevent it from deteriorating further.

The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Photo credit: .naijaloaded.com.ng
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Photo credit: .naijaloaded.com.ng

The Lagos-Ibadan road is being redeveloped at a cost of N167 billion. The Lagos-Sagamu stretch of the road is being redeveloped by Julius Berger while the Sagamu-Ibadan axis is being handled by RCC, but work on both sections ceased when the President Muhamadu Buhari administration began.

President of the Egba Economic Summit, Mr. Ayobami Biobaku, said in a statement on Wednesday that the Federal Government should recall the contractor handling the Lagos-Sagamu interchange stretch of the road to improve economic activities in the area and to reduce the agony of the people who use the road.

He added that it was also important for the Ogun State Government to contract a construction company to do palliative rehabilitation of some sections of that road that have deteriorated since the main contractor left the site.

Biobaku said, “We noticed that the contractor has moved out of site, leading to dilapidation of the road to the deplorable state it was in about two and a half years ago. The bad road adversely affects the socio-economic life of our people and negates the purpose of reconstructing the road.”

He added that good roads were indispensable to the economic growth of any community where they are built.

The deplorable state of the road, according to him, has made it difficult for the state government to carry out some developmental projects in that axis of the state, because it is important for there to be coordinated flow of infrastructure from the expressway to the inner roads.

He said the government plans to develop that area of the state, which hosts mostly industries but has been unable to do so in the last four years because of slow pace of work on the expressway that has eventually ground to a halt.

Biobaku said it was now very difficult to predict travel time on that road, adding that travel time between the former toll gate at the Lagos end and the Sagamu interchange, before work on the road got stalled, was barely 30 minutes but that presently it could take between one and three hours to cross that same stretch.

He said the traffic is made bearable by officers and men of the Federal Roads Safety Corps who are always there to ensure there is traffic flow.

At the start of work on the road, former president, Goodluck Jonathan, said basic infrastructure, particularly roads belonging to the federal, states or local governments are meant for the use and benefit of the generality of all Nigerians.

“All of us belong to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we are free to reside in any part of the country.

“My belief is that, whether a project is delivered by the federal government or the state government or local government, what Nigerians need is basic infrastructure.

“Therefore, good partnering by all the tiers of government, federal, states and local governments and good spirited individuals will make us deliver the dividends of democracy to our people.

“And I assure you that we will continue to work together,” he said.

“With over 250,000 vehicles plying the road daily, the road is an important economic artery that connects the nation’s economic nerve centres,” he added.

“It a major link to the important nerve centres to evacuate goods and ease movement of people.

“The infrastructure is of great socio economic importance, not only to Nigeria but also to the people of Africa,” he said.

Morocco builds world’s largest concentrated solar power plant

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Morocco builds world’s largest concentrated solar power plant

It may be famous for its meandering medinas and the scenic Atlas Mountains, but Morocco might soon make its name as a solar superpower.

The plant is being constructed in a 30 square kilometre area outside the city of Ouarzazate, on the fringe of the Sahara desert
The plant is being constructed in a 30 square kilometre area outside the city of Ouarzazate, on the fringe of the Sahara desert

The north-western African nation is building the world’s biggest concentrated solar power plant, which will supply electricity to 1.1 million Moroccans by 2018, according to the World Bank.

The plant is being constructed in a 30 square kilometre area outside the city of Ouarzazate, on the fringe of the Sahara desert, famous as the filming location of Hollywood blockbusters like “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Gladiator,” and the TV series “Game of Thrones.”

The first phase, titled Noor 1, will be operational in the next few weeks, according to officials.

“Morocco stands at the forefront of climate-friendly policies in the region,” Inger Andersen, World Bank Regional Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, says in a report.

“The country is well positioned to benefit from its head-start at a time when other regional powers are beginning to think more seriously about their own renewable energy programmes,” he adds.

Energy even at night

The Noor complex will use a technology called Concentrating Solar Power (CSP), which is more expensive to install than the widely used photovoltaic panels, but unlike them, allows to store energy for nights and cloudy days.

It uses mirrors to focus the sun’s light and heat up a liquid, which is mixed with water and reaches a temperature close to 400 degrees Celsius. This produces steam, which in turn drives a turbine to generate electrical power.

It’s hoped that the project, whose construction was officially launched by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI in 2013, will reduce carbon emissions by 700,000 tons per year and even generate an energy surplus for exports.

Morocco heavily depends on fossil fuel imports at the moment, which currently provide over 97% of its energy, making the country vulnerable to their fluctuating price.

An unreliable supply of electricity causes daily obstacles to lives of tens of thousands of people in Morocco’s rural areas — from flickering light bulbs to malfunctioning hospital equipment.

To tackle the problem, the country is hoping to install enough diverse clean-energy plants to meet42% of its demand for power, including 14% from solar, by 2020.

The African nation already hosts the Turfaya wind farm which, with 131 turbines, is the largest on the continent, and it is rapidly becoming a mainstream market for renewable energy investment according to Ernst and Young. The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy was established in 2010 to spearhead new and ongoing projects.

Gateway to Africa

“There is a very strategic sense in Morocco of diversifying energy sources,” says energy specialist, Roger Coma-Cunill in a World Bank blog, “and a clear sense, with all these targets to reach by 2020, of adding to a green growth plan and being a model for Africa. Morocco is trying to be a gateway to Africa – that’s part of this endeavor,” he adds.

A lack of reliable power has long been Africa’s Achilles heel, blamed for stunting the continent’s development.

Only 24% of population in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity, which is the worst rate in the world. Excluding South Africa, the region’s entire installed generation capacity is equivalent to that of Argentina.

In rural areas connectivity falls even lower to 5% in Kenya, 4% in Mali and just 2% in Ethiopia, according to the African Development Bank.

By Milena Veselinovic, for CNN

Household biogas systems improve lives in Nepal

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Household biogas systems improve lives in Nepal

Health and wellbeing in Nepal are being improved, thanks to a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) programme bringing clean-burning cookstoves to households in place of smoky traditional stoves.

The film focuses on the health benefits and improvement to livelihood that the biogas system can bring to rural communities in Nepal. Photo credit: ashden.org
The film focuses on the health benefits and improvement to livelihood that the biogas system can bring to rural communities in Nepal. Photo credit: ashden.org

The inspiring story of the Nepal Biogas Support Programme was on Tuesday, November 3 told with the premiere of video screened for climate change officials from across Asia taking part in a workshop organised by the United Nations Environment Programme’s Southeast Asia Climate Change Network (SEAN-CC).

The film focuses on the health benefits and improvement to livelihood that the biogas system can bring to rural communities through prevention of smoke-related illnesses and by removing the need to collect firewood for cooking.

The premiere was organised by the CDM Regional Collaboration Centre (RCC), Bangkok, a partnership of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Japan.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc1Q6vH3R4M

The Nepal film is the latest in a series of films highlighting the benefits of the CDM. Other films have featured household energy saving in Kuyasa, South Africa, reducing emissions through mass transit in Bogota, Columbia, and offsetting the emissions of the football World Cup in Brazil.

Working primarily through the UNFCCC National Climate Change Focal Points designated in each country and mobilising other key actors, SEAN-CC promotes sound policy, technology and investment choices at the national level that lead to reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and co-benefits. The focus of the initiative, funded by the Government of Finland, is on promoting action on energy efficiency and energy conservation and clean and renewable energy sources.

To see more CDM films, visit its YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCDMvideos

The CDM allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2. CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialised countries to meet a part of their targets under the Protocol. The CDM assists countries in achieving sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialised countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission targets.

Climate Neutral Now is part of the UNFCCC and is intended to help more individuals and organisations measure, reduce and offset their climate footprints.

Star-studded climate reality broadcast to usher in COP 21

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Star-studded climate reality broadcast to usher in COP 21

Former US Vice President and Climate Reality Chairman Al Gore to lead round-the-clock call to action on Nov. 13-14 from climate experts, activists, celebrities and musicians

Seeking to generate momentum for strong action on climate from world leaders in the final days before the UN climate talks in Paris, former US Vice President and Chairman of The Climate Reality Project Al Gore will lead the global broadcast of 24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth: The World Is Watching, airing from 6pm CET, Friday, November 13 to 6pm CET, Saturday, November 14.

Former US Vice President and Chairman of The Climate Reality Project, Al Gore. Photo credit: cfact.org
Former US Vice President and Chairman of The Climate Reality Project, Al Gore. Photo credit: cfact.org

This round-the-clock programme will unite a global audience in demanding a strong climate agreement in Paris and include presentations and performances from leading climate experts and activists and award-winning celebrities and musicians.  French leaders President François Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will join in the broadcast, which is produced by The Climate Reality Project and Live Earth.

Anchored from Paris, The World Is Watching will broadcast live from the Champ de Mars in the Seventh Arrondissement and feature both live and pre-recorded segments from other spotlight locations in the United States, Australia, Brazil, India, Canada, China, the Philippines, and South Africa. The broadcast will focus on the local and global impacts of climate change, as well as promising solutions that can be found around the world today. In addition to President Hollande and Mayor Hidalgo, experts like glaciologist Claude Lorius, elected leaders like California Governor Jerry Brown and other special guests like film and television actor Ryan Reynolds will join throughout the 24-hour programme. These include:

Government Officials

President François Hollande, France

Brian Deese, Senior Advisor to United States President Barack Obama

Governor Jerry Brown, California, United States

Dr. Ernest Moniz, Secretary, United States Department of Energy

Dr. Steven Miles, Queensland Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection, Australia

Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris, France

Mayor Philip Levine, Miami Beach, United States

Media Personalities 

Patrick J. Adams, actor and activist

Atom Araullo, News Reporter, ABS-CBN News

Sarah Backhouse, Founder & CEO of Future360.tv

Ed Begley Jr., Actor and Activist

Sam Champion, Weather Anchor, The Weather Channel

Barkha Dutt, Television Journalist, NDTV

Maria Paula Fidalgo, Actor and Activist

Porter Fox, Author and Editor at POWDER magazine

Vanessa Hauc, Journalist, Telemundo

Nicolas Hulot, Media Personality and Activist

Nicolas Ibarguen, Environmental Correspondent, Fusion and Univision

Africa Melane, Presenter, CapeTalk and 702

Ryan Reynolds, Actor and Activist

Calum Worthy, Actor and Activist

NGO and business leaders

Dr. Anish Andheria, President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust

Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General

Chinmaya Acharya, Chief of Programs, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation

Yoca Arditi-Rocha, Director and Founder, No Planeta B

Ken Berlin, President and CEO, The Climate Reality Project

Wang Binbin, Manager of the Climate Change and Poverty Team, Oxfam

Keith Brooks, Clean Economy Programme Director, Environmental Defence

Ian Bruce, Science and Policy Manager, David Suzuki Foundation

Dr. Fuqiang Yang, Senior Advisor, Climate and Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council China

Daniela Ibarra-Howell, CEO, Savory Institute

Claude Lorius, Glaciologist, Director Emeritus of Research at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Alix Mazounie, Climate Action Network – France

Mithika Mwenda, Head of Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance

Evan Rice, CEO, GreenCape

Juliette Rousseau, Coalition Climat 21

Mauricio Ruiz, Executive Secretary of Terra Institute of Environmental Preservation

Bittu Sahgal, Founder of Sanctuary Asia

Wang Shi, Chairman, China Vanke Co. Ltd.

Zhang Xiangdong, Co-Founder and CEO of 700Bike

Adrian Yeo, CAN’s Leadership Development Programme Fellow

In addition to featuring engaging stories of climate impacts and solutions, each hour of the broadcast will be punctuated by thought-provoking, knockout appearances from all-star participants (which will be announced in a separate release). The broadcast is aimed at urging world leaders to push for the strongest possible climate agreement at the upcoming UN conference in Paris and at urging people to take action in their own communities and homes.

The Climate Reality Project’s partnership with Live Earth for this fifth-annual 24 Hours of Reality broadcast will give the program an unprecedented artistic lineup and distribution platform to maximise its global reach.

“‘24 Hours of Reality and Live Earth’ is about mobilising people around the world to help solve the climate crisis and making our voices heard in national capitols and at the negotiating table in Paris,” said Vice President Al Gore. “The UN climate talks have the potential to produce a breakthrough that changes the dangerous course on which we are presently headed and put us instead on a path to a truly sustainable and prosperous future. We want leaders from every country to know that the world is watching, and that it’s time for them to take climate action.”

“We have to get every major country to make a strong commitment at COP 21,” said Climate Reality President and CEO Ken Berlin. “The time is now for world leaders to sign an emissions reduction agreement that includes five-year reviews of their commitments, a long-term goal, and the global prioritisation of renewable energy. It is time for global action – the world is watching.”

“The media landscape is cluttered, people’s lives are busy and the way people access information and connect with each other varies from person to person. To cut through, you have to provide truly compelling content and match it with multiple distribution streams that reach people in their homes and on the go,” said Live Earth Founder Kevin Wall. “The climate crisis is grave, so we are harnessing the best content and the latest in mobile, social media, and online distribution to make sure we can connect with people everywhere.”

The broadcast will be seen all over the world across numerous media outlets and platforms, even as Renaud Le Van Kim and his company Together Media have been chosen by The Climate Reality Project to produce the event in Paris. The entire production is being overseen by Executive Producer Peter M. Green and his partners at ShoulderHill Events.

Nations agree on actions to save saiga antelopes

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Nations agree on actions to save saiga antelopes

Saiga range countries and experts convene in Tashkent following saiga mass mortality event

A saiga antelope. Photo credit: cdn.images.express.co.uk
A saiga antelope. Photo credit: cdn.images.express.co.uk

At a UN backed meeting organised by the UNEP-Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) from 26 to 29 October 2015 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, governments and conservationists agreed on a concrete set of measures to restore saiga populations in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. More than 70 participants attended the Third Meeting of Signatories to the CMS Memorandum of Understanding concerning Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelopes (Saiga MOU), which was hosted by the Government of Uzbekistan.

Latest figures presented at the meeting show that more than 150,000 adult saiga antelopes died during the mass mortality event which hit the species in central Kazakhstan earlier this year. The catastrophic collapse of this already critically endangered species has halved the global population size of this iconic migratory species of the steppes and deserts of Eurasia. New survey data also showed that the transboundary Ustiurt population between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is at the brink of extinction, not least due to a border fence and railroad dissecting the migration.

These findings are a major blow for conservation efforts given that saiga populations were only just recovering from an all-time low of less than 50,000 animals at the start of the century following a 95% crash in numbers. Prospects for recovery of the species are being hindered by infrastructure developments such as railway, roads and border fencing which are obstructing part of the saiga’s migration. Continuing poaching and illegal trade in and beyond range states pose additional threats to the species.

CMS Executive Secretary, Bradnee Chambers, stated: “This has been a catastrophic year for saiga antelopes. We have lost half the global population as a result of the mass die-off in May and I am devastated to learn that one of the transboundary populations is at the brink of extinction. Exceptional efforts will be required to restore the populations and we are pleased to see that countries in the region have agreed on strong actions in Tashkent to tackle the many challenges ahead.”

One of the key outcomes of the Tashkent meeting is the review and adoption of a detailed set of measures until 2020 for Range States and consumer countries. This includes the alteration of border fencing and infrastructure obstructing saiga migration, anti-poaching action and strengthened wildlife health management. The process of regular national reporting by signatory states was updated to ensure that progress and compliance with the Saiga MOU can be measured effectively. An overview report on the current conservation status of the species across all range states was reviewed and adopted.

Wildlife health management was high on the agenda of the preceding Technical Workshop, given the mass mortality event in the Betpak-dala population in Kazakhstan in May 2015. Scientists confirmed that the proximate cause of the catastrophic die-off was haemorraghic septicaemia, a sometimes fatal disease occurring in domestic buffalo, cattle and wild ruminants. Two opportunistic bacteria, Pasteurella multocida serotype B and Clostridium perfringens, contributed to the rapid die-off and loss of the entire population of saiga in each birth site in May. However, the infection was thought not to be transmitted from one animal to the next, because it independently occurred across 13 calving sites spread over 250,000 square kilometres in central Kazakhstan. This almost synchronous die-off is believed to be due to underlying environmental triggers and drivers acting simultaneous at each individual across the landscape. However, the precise factors and mechanisms remain unclear. It is likely that sudden variation in the weather at the time of each die off may have played a role and this might also implicate climate change as an underlying factor although it is too early to confirm this. Analyses continue to be undertaken by an international consortium of laboratories and research groups, which are assisting Kazakhstan in their investigations.

Both meetings were supported by the UNEP Regional Office for Europe, UNDP Uzbekistan, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety of Germany, the State Committee for Nature Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) and the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU).

NABU, the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, signed the Saiga MOU on 29 October and is now one of nine cooperating organizations, which formally support saiga conservation, in addition to all Range States. The Saiga MOU is part of the CMS Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI), a framework for the conservation of large mammals across the region, which was adopted by the CMS Conference of the Parties in November 2014.

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