The year 2012 saw the shocking melt of the Arctic, leading our greatest climatologist to declare a ‘planetary emergency,’ and it saw weather patterns wreck harvests around the world, raising food prices by 40% and causing family emergencies in poor households throughout the world.
Bill McKibben
That’s what happens with 0.8ºC of global warming. If we are going to stop this situation from getting worse, an array of institutions have explained this year precisely what we need to do: leave most of the carbon we know about in the ground and stop looking for more.
If we want a 50-50 chance of staying below two degrees, we have to leave 2/3 of the known reserves of coal and oil and gas underground; if we want an 80% chance, we have to leave 80% of those reserves untouched. That’s not “environmentalist math” or some radical interpretation–that’s from the report of the International Energy Agency last month.
It means that–without dramatic global action to change our path–the end of the climate story is already written. There is no room for doubt–absent remarkable action, these fossil fuels will burn, and the temperature will climb creating a chain reaction of climate related natural disasters.
Pablo Solon
Negotiators should cease their face-saving, their endless bracketing and last minute cooking of texts and concentrate entirely on figuring out how to live within the carbon budget scientists set. We can’t emit more than 565 more gigatons of carbon before 2050, but at the current pace we’ll blow past that level in 15 years. If we want to have a chance to stick to this budget by 2020 we can’t send to the atmosphere more than 200 gigatons.
Rich countries who have poured most of the carbon into the atmosphere (especially the planet’s sole superpower) need to take the lead in emission reductions and the emerging economies have also to make commitments to reduce the exploitation of oil, coal and gas. The right to development should be understood as the obligation of the states to guarantee the basic needs of the population to enjoy a fulfilled and happy life, and not as a free ticket for a consumer and extractivist society that doesn’t take into account the limits of the planet and the wellbeing of all humans.
Nnimmo Bassey
There’s no longer time for diplomatic delays. Most of the negotiators in the Eighteenth Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) know that these are the facts. Now is the time to act for the future of humanity and Nature.
By Bill McKibben, Nnimmo Bassey & Pablo Solon
(Bill McKibben is founder of 350.org, Nnimmo Bassey is of the Environmental Rights Action & Coordinator of Oilwatch International, and Pablo Solon is Executive Director of Focus on the Global South, former Bolivian Ambassador to the UN and former chief negotiator for climate change).
As the flood that ravaged the entire Bayelsa State finally recedes, many of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were contemplating on how to live their lives after the flood. While many of them left voluntarily for fishing and farming activities, others waited for government support for proper resettlement.
Welcome to where?
This, however, was not the case as the Bayelsa State Government, through the State Flood Management Committee, forcefully ordered the evacuation of all IDPs from all the various camps in the state.
Stern-looking police officers as well as members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) were stationed at the various camps to forestall any resistance from the flood victims.
“Most of us in our villages the houses have fallen down, so no where to stay; no food to eat and no money to start a new life, the government should have at least assisted us to start a new life,” one of the flood victims who identified himself as Ebidou said.
With over 2,000 communities in all the eight Local Government Areas (LGAs) as well as over 10,000 homes submerged by the flood including the home of President Goodluck Jonathan in Otuoke, many of the elderly and the pregnant women were also forced out of the relief camps and transported back to their unhealthy homes.
“Now, they want to force us to leave this place, as I am going home now I don’t have any money in my pocket. My tears shall fall on those that are doing us these things,” a 70-year-old man, Pa Ezekiel, laments.
According to the state government, the evacuation was informed by the need to allow proper resumption of academic activities in the state. Government spokesman, Markson Fefegha, noted that the present administration places a very high premium on education, adding that the call to ask IDPs to leave the relief camps is also hinged on the fact that government needs to renovate the schools.
The IDPs Camp in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State
In a statement, Fefegha stated further that government had observed that a lot of nocturnal meetings ere being held across the various camps, thereby posing security threat to the administration.
Fefegha disclosed that government hads begun the process of supporting all IDPs returning home with transport fares and supplies, “just as government will identify public facilities affected by the flood, with a view to renovating them,” he added.
Bayelsa is a lowland state characterised by tidal flats and flood plains. It is a picturesque tropical rain forest, with an area of about 21,110 square kilometers. More than three quarters of this area is covered by water, with a moderately low land stretching from Ekeremor to Nembe and lying almost entirely below sea level with a maze of meandering creeks and mangrove swamps.
Like any other state in the Niger Delta region, the vegetation of Bayelsa State is composed of ecological mangrove forest and fresh water swamp. These vegetation types are associated with the various soil units in the area and they constitute part of the complex Niger Delta ecosystems. Parts of the fresh water swamp forests in the state constitute the home of several threatened and even endangered plant and animal species.
Bayelsa State lies within the heavy rainfall belt in Nigeria, so it rains for a better part of the year, with just a dry season running from November to April. There is a network of several creeks and rivers in the south, leading into the Atlantic Ocean via the major rivers.
The wealth of Nigeria is largely from oil and it is centralised mainly within the Niger Delta region. In as much as it puts a smile on the faces of Nigeria, it also accounts for some negative effects especially when it concerns damaging the environment through oil spills and gas flaring.
Oil spills are a common event in Nigeria and occur due to a number of causes, including: corrosion of pipelines and tanks (accounting for 50 percent of all spills), sabotage (28 percent), and oil production operations (21 percent), with 1 percent of the spills being accounted for by inadequate or non-functional production equipment.
The largest contributor to the oil spill, corrosion of pipes and tanks, is the rupturing or leaking of production infrastructures that are described as “very old and lack regular inspection and maintenance,” according to an environmental activist and Chairman, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in Bayelsa State, Alabo Nengi James.
He said that corrosion accounts for a high percentage of all spills, adding that, as a result of the small size of the oilfields in the Niger Delta, there is an extensive network of pipelines between the fields, as well as numerous small networks of flowlines – the narrow diameter pipes that carry oil from wellheads to flowstations – allowing many opportunities for leaks.
In onshore areas, most pipelines and flowlines are laid above ground. Pipelines, which have an estimatede life span of about 15 years, are old and susceptible to corrosion. Many of the pipelines are as old as 20 to 25 years.
Sabotage is performed primarily through what is known as “bunkering”, whereby the saboteur attempts to tap the pipeline. In the process of extraction, the pipeline sometimes is damaged or destroyed. Oil extracted in this manner can often be sold, even as sabotage and theft through oil siphoning has become a major issue in the Niger Delta states, contributing to further environmental degradation. Damaged lines may go unnoticed for days, and repair of the damaged pipes takes even longer. Oil siphoning has become a big business, with the stolen oil quickly making its way onto the black market.
While the popularity of selling stolen oil increases, the number of deaths is increasing. In late December 2006, more than 200 people were killed in the Lagos region of Nigeria in an oil line explosion. Nigerian regulations of the oil industry are weak and rarely enforced allowing, in essence, the industry to self-regulate.
Many environmentalists in the Niger Delta region have cried out loud over incessant oil spillage in the region, one of which is Morris Alagoa of the Environmental Rights Action (ERA).
Alagoa believes oil spillage has a major impact on the ecosystem into which it is released and may constitute ecocide, immense tracts of the mangrove forests, which are especially susceptible to oil have been destroyed, spills in populated areas often spread out over a wide area, destroying crops and aquacultures through contamination of the groundwater and soils. The consumption of dissolved oxygen by bacteria feeding on the spilled hydrocarbons also contributes to the death of fish.
In agricultural communities, often a year’s supply of food can be destroyed instantaneously. Because of the careless nature of oil operations in the Delta, the environment is growing increasingly uninhabitable; people in the affected areas complain about health issues including breathing problems and skin lesions. Many have lost basic human rights such as health, access to food, clean water, and an ability to work.
Vegetation in the Niger Delta consists of extensive mangrove forests, brackish swamp forests, and rainforests. The large expanses of mangrove forests are estimated to cover approximately 5,000 to 8,580 km² of land, mangroves remain very important to the indigenous people of Nigeria as well as to the various organisms that inhabit these ecosystems. Human impact from poor land management upstream coupled with the constant pollution of petroleum has caused five to 10 percent of these mangrove forests to disappear.
“We can no longer fish in our waters and farmland. Everywhere has been polluted by oil spills. We now buy fish from outside,” a local farmer, Tubokekere Otuan, explains.
Chairman of Bayelsa CLO, Alabo Nengi James, said poor policy decisions regarding the allocation of petroleum revenue have caused political unrest in Nigeria, noting that the clash among governing bodies, oil corporations, and the people of Nigeria has resulted in sabotage to petroleum pipelines, further exacerbating the threat to mangrove forests.
The fishing industry is an essential part of Nigeria’s sustainability because it provides much needed protein and nutrients for people, but with the higher demand on fishing, fish populations are declining as they are being depleted faster than they are able to restore their number.
Water hyacinth is an invasive species that was introduced into Africa as an ornamental plant, and which thrives in polluted environments. Water hyacinth has the capability to completely clog the waterways in which it grows, making it nearly impossible to navigate fishing boats. In recent years it has found its way into the Niger Delta especially in Bayelsa State choking out both sunlight and oxygen to the marine organisms that live there. When a species such as water hyacinth makes its way into the ecosystem, it competes with native plants for sunlight, diminishing energy resources within the marine environment, according to Alagoa.
With the loss of energy some populations will not be able to survive, or their numbers may drop beyond a point of no return, creating a threatened environment. Added to the loss of energy, water hyacinth also takes up and depletes the water of oxygen which is essential to the livelihood of all marine organisms.
According to researchers, Nigeria flares more natural gas associated with oil extraction than any other country in the world with estimates suggesting that of the 3.5 billion cubic feet (100,000,000 m³) of associated gas (AG) produced annually, 2.5 billion cubic feet (70,000,000 m³), or about 70 percent is wasted via flaring. This equals about 25 percent of the UK’s total natural gas consumption, and is the equivalent to 40 percent of the entire African continent’s gas consumption in 2001. Statistical data associated with gas flaring are notoriously unreliable, but Nigeria may waste US $ 2 billion per year by flaring associated gas.
Flaring is done as it is costly to separate commercially viable associated gas from the oil. Companies operating in Nigeria also harvest natural gas for commercial purposes, but prefer to extract it from deposits where it is found in isolation as non-associated gas. Thus associated gas is burned off to decrease costs. Gas flaring is generally discouraged as it releases toxic components into the atmospshere and contributes to climate change. In Western Europe, 99 percent of associated gas is used or re-injected into the ground. Gas flaring in Nigeria began simultaneously with oil extraction in the 1960s by Shell-BP. Alternatives to flaring are gas re-injection, or to store it for use as an energy source. If properly stored, the gas could also be utilized for community projects.
Gas flaring releases large amounts of methane, which has a high global warming potential. The methane is accompanied by the other major greenhouse gas (GHG), carbon dioxide, of which Nigeria was estimated to have emitted more than 34.38 million metric tons of in 2002, accounting for about 50 percent of all industrial emissions in the country and 30 percent of the total CO2 emissions. While flaring in the west has been minimised, in Nigeria it has grown proportionally with oil production.
It was around 10 in the morning that day. Abies (not her real name) has just been asked out of the class. She had been down with illness and has not been in school for about a week and half now. Her peasant mother said the nurses at the health centre, (not too far, from the school premises) had diagnosed stubborn malaria. But it looks like there is more to it than meets the eyes.
Abies managed to show up in school today but, midway between her classes, she began to throw up. The “Arithmetic Auntie” (as the subject teacher is fondly addressed) had asked the six-year-old girl to go out of the class so as not to vomit inside the jam-packed classroom, and avoid the possibility of infecting the other pupils.
She had barely reached the corridor when her bosom friend and playmate, Kate (not her real name), also in Primary 2, met her in an unusual position and gestures, and became curious.
“Your belle dey pain you?” kate queried her friend in pidgin English, meaning “Is your belly aching?’’ But Abies was busy battling for her life. She held her stomach a second time and in a split second resumed her vomiting. “Doe o!” Kate quipped in vernacular, meaning “Sorry!”
“Your belle dey pain you?” she asked a second time, inquisitively. “No. E dey turn me and I dey feel cold,” Abies managed to reply at last but instantly resumed the battle for her health. Just then my camera’s lenses clicked to record the ensuing drama from my (investigative) “hide out”.
There is an apparent state of emergency here! The rains this year have refused to stop and the daily misery, environmental/health hazards and pains borne by inhabitants and indigenes of this large community and their immediate neighbours in Egor Local Government Area (LGA) in Edo State, Nigeria, are now a normal ritual and culture of sorts; and if the predictions by environment and climate change experts are anything to be taken serious, next year’s rains and its resultant flooding , erosion menace and health havoc should be worse than this year’s experience – just as this year’s rains and its resultant floods have eclipsed the 2011 flood furies in this part of the state.
Alas! Here at Evbuotubu Community, the worst hit victims are school children, and unless something urgent and drastic is done now by all relevant stakeholders, the partially submerged school buildings may soon collapse on the helpless children and their teachers. Or, at least, an imminent epidemic might break out sooner or later. Why? How?
Minutes earlier, I was heading to the office of the headmistress of the second arm of the school, to book an appointment. The office was in the middle of a block of four classrooms, and walking across the two three classrooms to her office was very revealing. Dutiful teachers were busy teaching and writing on the black boards or marking books on their tables while enthusiastic kids – some of whom sat on the muddy wet floor for want of chairs to sit on – listened with rapt attention while others were too busy copying notes to notice a visitor’s presence by the corridor.
As I approached the door of the school head, pungent smell filled the air around me. I looked around the erosion-ravaged premises and the large pools of water around, looking for any dead animal in the flood water. Just then I noticed at the extreme end of the building – about half a pole from the school head’s office – an abandoned school latrine overtaken by weeds and flood water (obviously out of use because of the erosion, the flood may have washed ashore the faeces inside the abandoned latrine onto the surface).
“Good morning, everybody,” I politely greeted two elderly ladies chatting away in the office. “Please is this the headmistress’ office?” The fair lady seated at the far end of the room immediately responded in affirmation and reciprocated my greeting in a friendly and receptive manner, while her dark complexioned colleague seated by my right hand just kept starring at me as if I was a tax collector or some sort of an “area boy”.
“I am a journalist, and also a resident of this community. I used to have my child in this school but she has passed out…” I began introducing myself and my mission. “I have been greatly concerned about the state of things in this school for a long time now but I decided to come and see what I can do to help draw the attention of those concerned in government to the plight of children in this school, even though I know there may have been various efforts regarding this in the past…”
“Did you say your child is in this school?” the fair lady queried me.
“She used to be in this school but she passed out two years ago and now she is schooling in Asoro Grammar school,” I corrected her, and continued: “I wanted to see the headmistress to seek the cooperation of the school authority to carry out some research and investigation on the way this yearly flooding is impacting daily on the pupils and their academics, and to ask a few questions regarding what the school has done or is doing to make the government speed up efforts to keep its promise.”
While her mate just kept looking at me as though waiting to cross-examine me, the fair lady cut in, “Oh that’s good. You’re welcome. The headmistress just left some minutes ago to her office in town but she will soon be back. You can still speak with her (pointing to the dark lady), she’s the vice.”
My God! The same woman who has refused to give me a welcome look or say anything to me was the very one I have to speak to! I turned and looked in her direction.
“You’re a journalist, what kind of cooperation are you expecting from us?” she asked in a rather intimidating and suspicious manner.
“Well, I would like the school authority to permit me to observe the experiences of the school children under this heavy flooding they learn in and to take some photographs, ask you people a few questions – like how is the daily flooding of the school premises affecting the children and teachers academically and health-wise? Are mosquitoes and other insects affecting the pupils and teachers in the classes as a result of the flooding? Is the situation affecting the attitude input of teachers to work as well as their health? All these will help me in my report about what is going on here in this school,” I explained.
“Have you been in this community or you just came newly?” the lady queried me again. I was yet to answer when she dropped a bombshell, “You see that I have been very reluctant to talk all this while, because it’s like you’re a stranger here. You see, I’m somebody that doesn’t like wasting my time in what will never work”. At this point I became confused and curious. Is she implying I’m on a futile mission?
“Madam, how do you mean? I politely asked. Then she opened up: “If you are old in this community you will know that the main problem of this school is the community and their leaders. In all my 33 years as a teacher I have been transferred to several communities. I have never seen a community that hates to develop. Here you have a problem that has deteriorated for several years, and yet you couldn’t do anything about it as a community, instead you are adding to the problems. All they are good and fast at is recklessly selling lands without considering the impacts on the land. They keep selling off lands indiscriminately.”
She continued, “Anywhere in the world whenever you want to sell community lands, you first of all consider three basic things: you consider school, market and hospital – these basic essential needs of the people. But here, the community leaders and the people don’t care about all of these provided they get money.
“And you were asking me you want to find out if mosquitoes bite pupils and if teachers are comfortable working under this condition. I think such a question should not arise at all. From my little knowledge of elementary science, we were taught the various reproduction stages of mosquitoes breeding and multiplying and we were taught that pools of standing water is the breeding ground for mosquitoes, how much more this river and lake of erosion that has taken over the entire school compound for several years. So, I’m surprised that such a question is coming from an enlightened person like you, a journalist for that matter. You also talked about how it is affecting teachers … you can see me now, I’m sitting here with hands folded. Because I’m feeling cold and you don’t have to be told that a major part of the reason is because the entire premises is filled with water. What do you expect? Anyway, we are willing to give you the cooperation you asked for but the headmistress, as you have been told, is not around now. Except you wait or come back another time.”
The deputy headmistress may be right: as I later got to discover, the flooding situation at the Evbuotubu Primary School has entered its 12th year, but there is nothing to show that help is in sight for these children. Year after year, they learn under mosquitoe-infested environment. Their entire school premises have been taken over by flood and bushes. They have no access to drinking water, no functional latrine and no playing field for recreation. The negative impact of the situation on the health and academic output of both teachers and students are underscored by the recurrent cases of malaria and other water-related diseases such as Abies and many other children in the school daily have to contend with.
Against the backdrop of the Eighteen Session of the Conference of Parties (COP18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commences today in Doha, Qatar, environment activists across Nigeria a couple of weeks ago embarked upon a series of activities to commemorate the 2012 Global Week of Action for Climate Justice. The climax of the activities was the official launch of Nigerian Climate and Sustainable Development Network (NCSDN) on November 17, 2012.
Doha, Qatar
The Nigerian Climate and Sustainable Development Network (NCSDN) is a national coalition of civil society organisations, private sectors, media, indigenous people and individuals in Nigeria brought together by a common agenda of promoting and advocating for climate related and equity based initiatives for sustainable development. NCSDN is an affiliate of Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
Samson Samuel Ogallah, National Network Coordinator, NCSDN/PACJA in Nigeria, listed other activities during the launch to include Pre-COP 18 CSOs workshop, media campaign and press conference.
In an address during the event, Coordinator of PACJA, Mithika Mwenda from Nairobi in Kenya, called on NCSDN to unite and speak with one voice ahead Doha for COP 18, in the light of the vulnerability of the African continent to the impacts of climate change.
He applauded the decision of NCSDN to adopt and endorse the African CSO position for COP 18 that was launched by PACJA on October 23, 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ogallah said the outcomes to be agreed at COP18 in Doha must ensure that developed countries address their historical responsibilities and pay their climate debt, while implementing the Kyoto Protocol and Climate Convention through the Bali Action Plan.
“Africa can no longer wait especially now that evidence of climate change has become a reality on the continent. Our rivers are drying up, arable farmlands shrinking by the day, flood ravaging rural and urban communities, drought and desert encroachment are now more visible, season shift and changes, disease outbreaks etc all these bedevilling our dear continent. Look into the eyes of an African child and you see hunger, even as women and children trek longer distances in search of water. It is unfair and unjust that Africans who lived for centuries in harmony with Mother Earth, contributing the least to GHG, now suffer a crisis they did not cause and bearing the burden of climate change. We do not have another planet so it is Climate Justice NOW or NEVER!” Ogallah declared.
Ahead of the climate talks set to begin in Doha next week, BASIC Ministers reaffirmed that the Kyoto Protocol remains a key component of the international climate regime and that its second commitment period (2CP) is the key deliverable.
A media briefing during the 13th BASIC Ministerial meeting in Beijing, China
Comprising Ministers and their representatives from Brazil, South Africa, India and China, the Ministers stressed that the 2CP is the essential basis for ambition within the international climate regime.
The BASIC Ministers, who met in Beijing, China, from 19-20 November, also “underscored the importance of an effective and legally binding 2CP through a ratifiable amendment (of the Kyoto Protocol’s Annex B which sets out the emission cuts for Annex 1 Parties for the 2CP) implemented from 1 January 2013.”
The first commitment period of the Protocol expires on 31 December 2012.
In a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the 13th BASIC Ministerial meeting on Climate Change, the Ministers “called upon developed country Parties to the Kyoto Protocol to raise their level of ambition in their quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives (QELROs) in Doha, consistent with what is required by science and their historical responsibility.”
They called for the continued discussion on higher QELROs by the meeting of the Kyoto Parties.
According to the joint statement, the Ministers “reiterated that developed country Parties that do not commit to QELROs in the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol should undertake quantified emission reduction commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that are comparable in terms of form, magnitude and compliance.”
The Ministers “confirmed their understanding that developed countries that are not Parties to the Kyoto Protocol or do not participate in its second commitment period would not benefit from the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol.”
The participants at the Beijing Ministerial meeting were Mr. Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of China; Ms. Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs of South Africa; Ms. Mira Mehrishi, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India; and Ambassador Andre Correa do Lago, Director of the Department of the Environment and Special Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil.
Also present at the meeting were Ambassador Mxakato-Diseko of South Africa, as the representative of the President of the 17th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP17), Ambassador Mourad Benmehidi, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations as Chair of the G77 and China, as well as the representatives of Fiji, a member of the Alliance of Small Island States and incoming Chair of the G77 and China, and Qatar, incoming President of COP18/CMP8.
Egypt, a member of the Arab Group, and Nepal, the incoming Chair of the LDCs (Least Developed Countries) group, were also invited.
In their joint statement, the BASIC Ministers “welcomed the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and the adoption of the document The Future We Want.”
They stressed that “the political consensus reached by the leaders in Rio not only provided the highest political guidance to the Doha Conference and the future climate negotiations, but also reaffirmed that Parties to the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol should protect the climate system on the basis of equity and in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.”
They “underscored that the implementation of the balanced Durban package is essential to the success of the Doha Conference” and “reiterated that in the overall interest of raising global ambition, the developed countries should take the lead and scale up ambition not just in mitigation but also in adaptation, finance, technology transfer and capacity building.”
The Ministers “emphasized the urgency to make progress in the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperation (AWG-LCA) and bring it to a meaningful conclusion pursuant to the Bali Action Plan, addressing all elements including ambitious and comparable emission reduction targets by the developed country Parties, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building.”
In the joint statement, they “underlined the need to further define the scope of the ‘Review’ prior to its launch, with a view to facilitating a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of the Convention.”
At COP16 in Cancun, Parties decided “to periodically review the adequacy of the long-term global goal [limiting temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels]… and overall progress towards achieving it, in accordance with the relevant principles and provisions of the Convention” and also requested the AWG-LCA “to further define the scope of this review and develop its modalities…”. The first review is to start in 2013 and conclude before 2015.
The BASIC Ministers “further reaffirmed the centrality of equity in the UNFCCC process and called for progress on all key issues including equitable access to sustainable development, technology related intellectual property rights (IPR) and unilateral measures and the continued discussion of such issues by the appropriate bodies of the Convention after the conclusion of the AWG-LCA.”
According to the statement, the Ministers “underlined the importance of means of implementation for developing countries and stressed that developed country Parties should honour their commitment to provide financial, technology transfer and capacity building support to developing country Parties, and to finance the effective operationalisation of the institutional mechanisms. Ministers reiterated the importance of achieving the goal of providing 100 billion dollars per year by 2020 as committed by developed country Parties and underscored the need for a roadmap to scale up financial resources in order to avoid the funding gap for the period from 2013 to 2020.”
They “stressed that public finance from developed country should be the main source of funding to support developing countries’ actions on climate change, in particular for their adaptation and capacity building. Ministers also called for concrete information on the implementation of the Fast Start Finance to ensure transparency.”
The Ministers “reiterated that the objective of the Durban Platform negotiations is to further strengthen the current multilateral rule-based climate regime, ensuring the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention after 2020. The Durban Platform is by no means a process to negotiate a new regime, nor to renegotiate, rewrite or reinterpret the Convention and its principles and provisions. As agreed by all Parties, both the process and the outcome of the Durban Platform are under the Convention, governed by all its principles and provisions, in particular the principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.”
They “welcomed the timely launch of the work of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform (AWG-DP) and progress made at the meetings in Bonn and Bangkok. Ministers recognised the usefulness of roundtable format of discussions in Bangkok. They expressed the desirability for further discussions in the current analytical and conceptual phase, with a view to planning its work in accordance with Decision 1/CP17 and the agenda adopted.”
The Ministers “noted with grave concern the ambition gap between what developed country Parties have pledged and what is required by science and their historical responsibility. Ministers stressed that the pre-2020 ambition should primarily be addressed in the context of discussions under the Ad Hoc Working Group under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP) and AWG-LCA and any supplementary and complementary actions shall be in accordance with the principles and provisions of the Convention.”
In the joint statement, “Ministers noted with consternation that the mitigation contribution by developing country Parties is much greater than that by developed country Parties who should take the lead in combating climate change. They object to any attempt to transfer to developing countries the commitments and obligations of developed countries.”
They also “noted the intention of the EU to ‘stop the clock’ on the implementation of the international aspects of the European Union-Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) legislation by one year. They reaffirmed the importance of multilateralism in addressing climate change in accordance with the principles and provisions of the Convention and reiterated their strong opposition to any unilateral measures on international aviation and shipping as well as similar intentions regarding other sectors.”
The Ministers “stressed the utmost importance of the unity of G77 and China, and reaffirmed the commitment of BASIC countries to continue working together to strengthen it. Ministers stressed that BASIC countries share deep concerns about the urgency of tackling climate change, particularly with SIDS [Small Island Developing States], LDCs and Africa, and reiterated their continued efforts to enhance South-South cooperation.”
The Ministers also welcomed the offer by India to host the next BASIC Ministerial Meeting in the first quarter of 2013.
Close to tears, Dr. Anthony Anuforom, Director-General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), last week in Lagos recalled how his warning on the impending flood disaster was handled with a pinch of salt by 15 state governors.
A flooded community
Anuforom told a bewildered audience at the Eight Annual Meeting of the African Science Academies (AMASA 8) that, drawing from a NIMET prediction in March, he personally wrote the governors on the dangers of the coming flood and what needed to be done. He said he ensured that the letters were delivered.
But, to his amazement, he added, none of the 15 governors wrote or called to acknowledge the receipt of the correspondence. He did not disclose the identity of the governors.
Numerous states in the country were hard hit by the recent flood disasters occasioned by the high intensity rains, along with the release of water from major dams within and outside the country. Consequently, NIMET came under severe criticism for the mishap. But Anuforom declared that the agency should not shoulder the blame alone.
His words: “Nobody took me seriously. I personally alerted governors of 15 states in this country, I wrote them. I did. I did not delegate it to anybody. I also made sure they got the letters. I informed them on what they needed to know and what they needed to do about the impending flood disaster. I did not get one acknowledgement. The rest is history. We did shout; maybe not enough.”
Anuforom
Anuforom called for a national for climate service which, he said, would establish a situational relationship, and link climate data-providing agencies like his with users of such data.
He said: “Part of the problems is that there was an obvious gap. There is no formal policy connecting service providers (like NIMET) with the users of the information. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in 2009 adopted the Global Framework for Climate Service (GFCS), which aims at bringing science evidence-based climate service that aims at connecting the service providers with those who use the service. If we had a proper framework, we would be on our way to ensuring proper mitigation of climate effects.
“Extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity. We have evidence of increasing frequency of thunderstorms. We need to think of a national framework for climate service.”
Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu, stated that following recent adoption of the National Climate Change Policy by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), government was considering the idea of mainstreaming climate change into its national health plans.
“The Federal Government will embark on public sector programme on climate change mitigation. We plan to mainstream climate change into health sector development plan. The ministry and stakeholders are working on a national sensitisation on climate change,” he said.
The AMASA 8 was officially opened by President Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented by Science and Technology Minister, Prof. Ita Bassey Ewa, who stated that the Federal Government would adopt some of the recommendations of the policy framework adpted by the academies in its climate change planning.
The Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) hosted the AMASA 8, which had “Climate change in Africa: Using science to reduce climate risks” as its theme.
AMASA metamorphosed from the African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) in 2004. It aims at building the capacities of African Academies of Science to support their governments by providing evidence-based advice to inform policy.
In a few months’ time in January 2013, no fewer than five million gas cylinders will be distributed to urban and rural dwellers across the nation, under the “Switch to LPG Project”, which was officially unveiled in Abuja last week.
Initially focusing on Nigeria but programmed to spread to other African countries, the phased initiative is essentially utilising the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) as a climate change control tool, under the premise that with the process curbs the emission of greenhouse gas (GHG) while providing employment opportunities.
The endeavour is being promoted by the Access To Clean Cooking Energy Solutions and Services (ACCESS) Nigeria, an action-based initiative seeking to create sustainable and lasting solutions to Nigeria’s environmental, agricultural and employment issues via strategic partnerships, distributorships, training and agricultural schemes.
At the ACCESS Africa Initiative summit last Tuesday, an official of the group, John Odey, said that, of the several clean fuels, “LPG has been found from complete life-cycle environmental assessments to be a preferable option.”
Odey, former Environment Minister, said: “The use of LPG can thus improve on the health condition of our people. The use of LPG would curb deforestation currently taking a toll on Nigeria’s vegetation. It will also ensure that the huge sums of money spent annually by the various tiers of government on forestation projects are used for developmental purposes.”
He also said that the damage to the environment is enormous, and the recent flooding is one of the most recent examples. He said the negative impacts are unimaginable. All these explain the importance of the ACCESS PROJECT to Nigeria. The solution to the environmental and health challenges posed by use of firewood and other hazardous sources of energy lies in clean, cost effective LPG.
Former First Lady, Justice Fati Lami Abubakar noted the environmental, economic and health hazard of firewood and kerosene. She quoted statistics on the health implications of firewood on women and children and called on participants to discuss in the spirit of partnership and cooperation to ensure that the Switch to LPG Programme works.
A member of the Senate Committee on Environment, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, said the issues plaguing Nigeria include indoor air pollution (IAP), poverty, flooding (about 300,000 Nigerians are displaced by flood annually), deforestation (mainly due to cutting of trees for firewood), greenhouse gas emission, and gas flaring.
He said: “The economic loss is enormous, gas glaring alone would cost Nigeria N2.5 billion annually. The benefits of LPG include elimination of deaths due to IAP since LPG does not produce carbon monoxide. LPG ensures that less time is spent searching for fuel, and frees up time or children to go to school and for women to engage in important economic and productive activities. It reduces gas emissions; it reduces black carbon and saves up to 105 kg of wood per family annually. This LPG programme will create employment opportunities through the supply chain.
“To achieve the switch to LPG programme, there must be a binding law. On behalf of the Senate President and the Chairman Senate Committee on Gas (Senator Nkechi Nwogwo), Senate Committee Chairman on Environment (Bukola Saraki) and other Senators, I promise that the Senate will look into the matter when they consider the PIB. The future of Nigeria is in gas.”
Ashafa called for the training and retraining of experts on gas, adding that the training should focus on this between the age of 25 and 45.
Comrade Abdulwaheed Umar of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said the labour movement wholeheartedly welcomes the idea and would work with ACCESS to ensure the programme’s success. He called on the ACCESS team not to make the project like other projects in Nigeria that die soon after takeoff. He called on them to make sure that the project continues and succeeds.
He said desert encroachment is a reality and must be tackled. He added that the NLC would not hesitate to encourage any policy or law that encourages the switch to LPG project. He said it is high time the NLC drew the attention of government to this effort to combat environmental degradation, and lamented the absence of government from such an important occasion.
“Government has a lot to do particularly in these kinds of efforts that address the challenge on the environment. One effort the government could make is even to pay for the first cylinder that goes to Nigerian families. Change requires perseverance and patience. Government and the project team should pursue this project vigorously and patiently.”
He said the innovation to create a design of the cylinder with a support that enable women to place large pots is laudable since most African women cook for large families.
Umar noted that the issues of affordability and sustainability are important. He wants the project team to ensure that supplies are regular and reach the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. Otherwise, the project will be badly affected, he warned, saying that, to avoid this, arrangements must be put in place to ensure regular and steady supply.
He further stressed the need to collaborate with government, reiterating labour’s commitment to the project to save Nigeria. He said the NLC would partner with the project to ensure that government buys into the project. He called on the National Assembly to come up with legislations to support the actualisation of the project.
He said the government should consider the idea of buying the cylinders and distribute them free of charge to Nigerians at the take-off of the project.
Chief Executive Officer, Marketing, Oando Plc, Abayomi Awobokun, lamented the environmental challenges posed by gas emissions and other pollution as well as deforestation due to cutting of forests.
“Nigeria spends about N4 billion annually to subsidise kerosene. The country is the world’s 6th largest producer of LPG but one of the lowest utilisers of the product. The use of LPG will improve on the environmental, social and economic conditions of Nigerians. It will save government money and reduce carbon emissions. With huge deposits of LPG, Nigeria has a chance to overcome problems associated with the use of firewood and other dirty fuels,” he pointed out.
According to him, Oando offers a 3kg cooking stove and intends to introduce 5 million units in the next five years. He added that Oando’s marketing would provide financing through its partners to ensure distribution. The project would create jobs and open retail outlets to enable access to the product, he added.
His words: “We are here because we believe every Nigerian is entitled to clean gas for his cooking needs. Oando in partnership with ACCESS is working towards the switch of about 20 million Nigerian households from firewood to LPG.
“Nigeria has 150 million people, it is the 6th largest global LPG producer, the 2nd largest regional LPG producer, but has a lower rate of LPG utilisation than Ghana. 75 percent of households use dirty fuel.
“The potential LPG Consumption by 25 million Nigerian households is 1,500,000 metric tonnes, which will lead to $2-4 billion savings on kerosene subsidy, up to $5 billion savings on afforestation initiatives. It will create of up to 100,000 primary jobs (through distribution), skills and manpower development for up to 1 million youths, and will boost Nigeria’s steel infrastructure sector by 500 percent.”
He, however, insisted that legislation is necessary to ban the use of dirty fuels; mainly because of the environmental hazards, and the health implications.
“In progress, the project has up to 1 million stoves available, in country. The target is 5 million in five years. We require the support of every stakeholder to creation of an enabling law, empower indigenes to boost LPG switch, embark on a nationwide awareness campaign, and adoption LPG as preferred fuel.”
Jerome Okolo of Afridec underlined the need to outlaw gas flaring, saying that, at the moment, Nigeria flares in every three months the UK’s annual gas needs. He made a case for the switch to LPG.
Ibironke Oluwabamise of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) described the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) as a global effort to support efforts on the environment, saying that it has three ways to support efforts on environment – regional, governmental and community.
“The GEF small grants programme targets local initiatives to help the environment. We have supported projects in many states in Nigeria. This is one of the projects we are supporting. We support pilot projects, projects which show that ‘it is possible’.”
According to her, many Nigerian women fear gas, and believe that it is not affordable. She said a pilot project they supported in Lagos was able to erase these fears. She commended the initiative, saying that it should be made a national effort.
President, National Association of Micro-Finance Banks (NAMB), Chief Jethro Akun, said his member organisations are interested in any effort that brings succour to the people. He said NAMB would support the project.
He said the LPG project is another opportunity for MFBs in Nigeria to engage in a social project that will address environmental and social problems.
He called for the subsidisation on the product particularly in the rural areas, calling on the project team to ensure that the initiative reaches the over 700 LGs in Nigeria. He said a lending system is necessary to enable the stoves reach every family.
“The MFBs have seen the need to partner on this project. They will work out a timeline for the implementation of the project that will carry us beyond today’s meeting and paper presentations.”
National Coordinator, Renewable Energy Programme, in the Federal Ministry Of Environment, Mrs. Bahijjahtu Abubakar, said Nigeria has the potential to be the biggest clean energy society in the world, and that there are opportunities for investments in the clean energy field in Nigeria.
“The ministry encourages companies to establish factories in Nigeria. Thus, we are happy that OANDO is moving in that direction. Nigeria contributes the highest percentage of death from cooking smoke which is quite unfortunate. The LPG is the preferred fuel which can combat the problem,” she stated.
“The absence of proper networking, advocacy, general consciousness, regulatory framework and sustained monitoring and evaluation has contributed to the proper green growth problems in the country.”
Ubani
Those were the words of Eziuche Ubani, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Climate Change in an address he delivered at a recent forum in Abuja that seeks to pursue a legislative agenda to promote the nation’s green economy growth.
Taking an overview of green economy initiatives for Nigeria, he listed other drawbacks to the nations green economy dream to include: neglect for sustainable environmental practices, climate change effects, lack of coordinated intervention practices, oil spillages/bunkering activities, equipment failures, oil and gas production activities, gas flaring and deforestation.
While describing green economy as a shift to low carbon energy production techniques, efficient life cycle use of materials and more inclusive sharing of economic wealth, Ubani emphasised that the transformation agenda must be taken seriously, and that there should be a defined relationship with green economy policies.
“To attain a higher green growth as envisaged by the Federal Government’s Vision 20:2020, there must be a organised government arrangement, legislation policy, and legal framework that contemplates the objectives of the new concept to enable its attainment,” he noted, underlining the need for development to constitute little or no negative externalities to people and environment.
“Some firms in Nigeria today are dealers on efficient lifecycle use of materials which principally involves material recycling, waste-to-energy techniques such as incineration purification. A more inclusive sharing of economic wealth not only implies that resources (such as crude oil) benefit majority of stakeholders but more importantly such resources do not constitute an increase to carbon content as experienced in the Niger Delta region.”
He traced the genesis of the quest for a green economy in Nigeria to the launch of the National Policy on Environment in early 1990s, saying that the policy had it flaws such as a failure to specify strategies to be adopted in its implementation, advocacy and mitigation.
“I want to note here that the House of Representatives saw the future when the leadership of the Sixth House which the Rt. Hon. Speaker was part of created a Committee on Climate Change. The Committee, in collaboration with the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP), a programme under the supervision of the Climate Change Department of the Federal Ministry of Environment (SCCD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has designed this project to increase the understanding of Members of the National Assembly of their expected role in Nigeria’s quest to transit to a green economy.”
Ahead of the Eighteenth Session of the Conference of Parties (COP 18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) scheduled to hold in a few weeks in Doha, Qatar, Nigerian negotiators and media practitioners have stepped up modalities towards ensuring a successful country participation at the annual global event.
For two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) last week in Abuja, the climate change negotiators and media experts interacted at a forum designed to hone their skills in their respective spheres of endeavour.
Acting Director of the Climate Change Department (CCD) in the Federal Ministry of Environment (FME), Samuel Adejuwon, submitted that, besides providing an overview of the UNFCCC negotiations and their outcomes to date, focusing on key issues on the negotiation table in Doha, the brainstorming session was likewise designed to accord media personnel with hands-on-training on proceedings, daily interpretations and reporting of emerging climate change issues.
According to him, some of the capacities developed would be applied locally and as appropriate to ensure that “we move our nation forward in the concerted effort to effectively tackle the climate change challenge for the good of inhabitants of this great nation and humanity at large.”
While disclosing that negotiators and the media were combined to provide room for crossbreeding of ideas and strategies, Permanent Secretary in the FME, Taiye Haruna, expressed reservations over the devastating effect of climate change in recent times.
He said: “The recent flood disaster in some parts of the country is a case in point. Apart from the painful loss of lives and properties, the gains already made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been seriously threatened. Socio-economic infrastructure and farmlands were destroyed, resulting in the displacement of large populations, causing a lot of human insecurity.
“If we are to make an impact in the discourse of the phenomenon, we must not forget that this scourge represents a multigenerational and irreversible threat to human societies and the planet. Africa as a whole must be at alert as our region and people are particularly susceptible to the growing risk of run-away climate change, with its attendant catastrophic impacts on the natural ecosystems and humankind.”
In a presentation on “Technology Development and Transfer Negotiations under the UNFCCC,” Peter Ekweozoh, Head of Climate Change Desk in the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, wants Nigeria to domesticate all Conventions and Protocols that can build the capacity of Nigerians to acquire green and environmentally sound technologies.
“Nigeria should optimise the immense opportunities in the various bilateral and multilateral agreement already entered into in the area of Technology Development and Transfer,” he added.
In the light of the nation’s vulnerability to the impact of climate change, N. H. Alhassan of the CCD urged the authorities to engage more in the science of climate change, undertake an inventory of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to identify sources and sinks, embark on mitigations options, assess vulnerability and impacts of climate change, assess and develop adaptation strategies, engage in education and public awareness, as well as actively participate in other cross-cutting issues.
Reflecting on the issues to be addressed in Doha, Alhassan stated that the Ad-Hoc Working Group requested to complete its work, even as the debate over the completion of some issues such as mitigation commitments of developed countries, finance and adaptation would take place.
“Parties are expected to negotiate a Protocol, another legal instrument or agreed outcome with Legal Force, and complete negotiations and adopt outcome at COP21 in 2015 and to enter into force as from 2020.”
A negotiator, Prince Lekan Fadina, stressed that, within the context of African Group and F77+China’s position, Nigeria should, as part of its key strategies, increase local capacities, embark on policy development and outreach, generate investment, design new financial mechanism, increasing enterprise access to credit, exploring the role of science and technology, consolidate value chains, and building capacities through environmental education and education for sustainable development.
“We must therefore use our strength to get what we want and ensuring that we tap all the opportunities even if we have to provide our services to other smaller countries,” he declared, pointing out that It is necessary that some of the nation’s key negotiations be available few days prior to COP18.
Adejuwon urged the negotiators to adopt respect and diplomacy; remain calm and keep their emotions in check; be prepared to work long hours with little time for relaxation; use informal meetings to build good will with other delegates; manage time efficiently; maintain credibility by respecting previously-granted concessions; and be attentive and active listener.
He listed the attributes of a good negotiator to include: strong language skill, strong analytic skill, readiness to read, detail understanding of own country’s interest and position, and knowledge of the interests and position of other states and coalitions.
