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Funding, innovation critical in fighting malaria -African leaders

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Significant progress is being made in scaling up malaria control efforts and the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), an alliance of 43 African Heads of State and the African Union working to end malaria-related deaths on the continent, says Africa is better prepared to defeat malaria now than at any other time in history.

During the African Union Summit, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, chair of ALMA, said to achieve universal access to life-saving tools and continue the drive toward eliminating malaria deaths, we need an additional $3.2 billion in funding over the next three years.

Mosquito - malaria
Mosquito

“A share of these resources will come from Africa. We can’t ask the world to invest in Africa’s health if we won’t make the same investment ourselves, but we will need the world’s help,” said President Sirleaf.

A recent independent study commissioned by ALMA, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria, and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership found that every dollar invested in malaria control in Africa generates on average $40 in GDP on the continent. And scaling up to universal coverage of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of malaria by the end of 2015 will prevent 640 million cases and avert 3 million malaria-related deaths. ALMA members stressed the need to strengthen their financial management with support from the African Development Bank and the World Bank to enhance accountability and transparency.

Increasingly African countries are enhancing efficiencies in procuring life-saving interventions such as artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), indoor residual spraying (IRS), and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs). For example, by standardising LLIN net specifications, African countries could save $630 million over five years.

Further evidence now included in the ALMA Scorecard for Accountability and Action is the monitoring of progress toward the Abuja target of 15 percent national public sector financing for health. The new data shows that in difficult global economic times, 14 African countries have responded by increasing their domestic contribution to health by more than two percent. This encouraging sign of enhanced domestic resources reflects a continued commitment to achieving global health targets.  However, more still needs to be done, as only Botswana, Rwanda, Togo and Zambia have achieved or exceeded the Abuja target.

ALMA continues to promote the adoption of innovative financing initiatives in African countries, such as the UNITAID airline tax. Over the last 5 years, the airline tax has raised over USD $2 billion of which $1.2 billion has been invested in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria. Currently, six African countries are implementing the airline tax and 14 countries are in the pipeline.

Ultimately, continued progress in the malaria fight is not only a matter of financial resources, but it is also about technological innovation. ALMA recently launched an iPad application that increases engagement with Ministers, facilitates communication and enables a rapid response system to emerging crises in countries. To date, 44 African ministers of health have been trained on the ALMA iPad application.

In addition to technology, Africa’s most popular sport is joining the malaria team through a new partnership announced between ALMA, United Against Malaria campaign (UAM) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF). CAF has made malaria a signature social cause of the 2013 Orange African Cup of Nations and together the partnership is poised to reach hundreds of millions of African football fans with malaria prevention and awareness messaging.

“CAF recognises that in order for African football to compete on the global stage, we must have players and communities free of malaria,” said Issa Hayatou, President of CAF. “Through our partnership with ALMA and UAM, as an official social program of the 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations, CAF is proud to add the voice of African football leadership to that of our Heads of State in the fight against this devastating disease.”

Rio+20: OPEC’s $1b lifeline to combat energy poverty

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Succour may just be around the corner for developing nations facing critical energy challenges – especially those in sub-Sahara Africa – if a landmark pronouncement made in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, venue of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), is anything to go by.

In the quest to meet the ever-increasing energy needs of industries in the developed and emerging economies, Africa has consistently carried the burden of massive extraction of raw materials and its impact on the environment, health and livelihoods, according to observers.

Faced with a dearth of funding, the countries have likewise been unable to divert from a fossil fuel economy and embrace a change to clean alternatives.

But the  HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC” \o “OPEC” OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has said that it is committing $1 billion to alleviate energy poverty globally. OFID Director-General, Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, made the disclosure to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during a meeting of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All during activities at Rio+20.

The OFID is a multilateral development finance institution established in 1976 by the member countries of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Elaborating in the content of the Ministerial Declaration, Al-Herbish added that the institution stood ready to scale up this commitment if warranted by demand. He added that while OFID has always responded to its partner countries’ priorities and strategies, the institution was of the opinion that universal eradication of energy poverty required sustained international effort and that access to modern energy services is vital to support all aspects of development.

Since 2007, he revealed, OFID has increased the share of energy projects in total operations. In 2011, this share amounted to 25 percent, added Al-Herbish, a Saudi.

The Ministerial Declaration welcomes the “International Year of Sustainable Energy for All” and recognises that universal access to modern energy services is an objective that the international community aspires to achieve by 2030.

The Declaration concurs with the universal access to modern energy services component of the Secretary-General’s “Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.” Ministers also recalled the 2007 Solemn Declaration of the Conference of Sovereigns and Heads of States of OPEC Member Countries, the Riyadh Declaration, which emphasised that eradicating poverty should be the first and overriding global priority guiding local, regional and international efforts. Ministers also referred to the “Energy for the Poor Initiative” launched in Jeddah, in June 2008, during a meeting of energy producers and consumers, which called on OFID to consider a programme of $1 billion for alleviating energy poverty.

The Ministers declared that efforts to eradicate energy poverty must be technology-neutral. While renewable solutions are appropriate where economics permit, fossil fuels will continue to be an important contributor to energy supply. Poor countries cannot be deprived of energy for development during the transition to a more diversified energy mix, the Ministers suggested.

They called upon the Rio+20 Summit to adopt universal access to modern energy services by 2030 as a goal for sustainable development. According to their Declaration, strong political will and long-term governmental commitment will be prerequisites to energy poverty eradication. The investment needed to ensure universal access is substantial, and all available types and sources of funding will need to be mobilised.

The OFID objective is to reinforce financial cooperation between OPEC Member Countries and other developing countries, by providing financial support to the latter for their socio-economic development. The resources of OFID are also used to provide grants for food aid, technical assistance, research and similar intellectual activities. One of the institution’s central aims is to advance South-South solidarity. OFID has been headquartered in  HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna” \o “Vienna” Vienna,  HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria” \o “Austria” Austria since 1976.

Observers have severally expressed concern over the fact that current energy policies in Africa reflected in high tariff have largely unleashed poverty on local communities, especially on rural women who can hardly afford the cost. Also, local communities that are barely visible in the media are said to suffer daily untold hardship in the quest for extraction of resources for energy.

By Michael Simire

Drawbacks to energy efficiency, by specialists

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A lack of management culture has been fingered as a major drawback to the realisation of Nigeria’s energy efficiency dreams.

This situation, along with the persisting case of inadequate and far-from-efficient supply, seems to have compounded the woes of the masses as well as the economy.

Besides contributing greatly to useful man-hour loss, energy inefficiency also leads to power wastage, a development attributed to inept technologies and human behaviors.

Participants at a gathering in Abuja on “Energy Efficiency Best Practices in the Residential and Public sector in Nigeria” who shared these sentiments, likewise took a swipe at government, saying that the authorities have paid more attention to energy generation with little emphasis on end-user management.

According to them, there is a huge potential in terms of energy savings in Nigeria, going by international best practices. They submitted that saving energy and reducing wastages by using efficient appliances will increase access to electricity.

“The way we use energy in Nigeria causes a lot of problems to our transmission and distribution facilities. Electrical appliances beyond five years of use have been proven to consume more energy. Awareness creation is highly needed to sensitise Nigerians on energy usage,” they stated, adding that the adoption of energy efficient best practices can lead to huge savings on money in the residential and public sector of the country.

They lamented the situation whereby most Nigerians do not have access to prepaid meters, emphasising that, following global experiences, adopting energy efficient best practices has been proven to be cheaper than building a new power plant.

The two-day gathering was organised courtesy an energy efficiency initiative being supported by the United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF), as well as the Federal Ministry of Environment (FMEnv), Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) and the National Center for Energy Efficiency and Conservation (NCEEC).

However, participants at the forum urged government to, as a matter of urgency, place more emphasis on end-use energy efficiency. They also underscored the need to educate consumers on energy efficiency and savings.

Awareness creation and capacity building on behavioural patterns of energy usage should be intensified especially in the rural areas, they stressed, adding that government should gradually phase out the use of incandescent bulbs via a bottom-up approach, while putting in place incentive mechanisms for the use of energy-saving lamps.

“Government should strengthen the policy that stops the importation of second-hand appliances. The Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) should be strengthened to promote energy efficiency, while public and private institutions should establish Energy Management Unit (EMU) in their various parastatals/ministries so as to carry out energy audit regularly in order to identify energy saving opportunities. Also, employers should be educated on energy management opportunities in their establishments,” reads a communiqué issued at the end of the event.

The document adds: “A policy should be put in place that will encourage the retrofitting of obsolete and in-efficient appliances with efficient appliances, just as the adoption of smart switching off, occupancy sensors in public buildings will help in saving energy. Nigeria should adopt designs and implementation of energy efficient buildings.

“Hospitality industries especially hotels should adopt solar thermal technology in heating water. The use of gas cookers should be promoted instead of electric cookers, to save electricity usage since Nigeria has abundant gas resources. All levels of government should replace the current street lighting to energy saving and efficient lamps.

“There is need to create an enabling environment for energy efficiency through adequate consumer incentive programmes to harness the benefits accruable from energy saving. Government should establish an Energy Saving Trust Fund (ESTF) where all savings from energy bills will be paid for the promotion of energy efficient best practices in the country. Energy efficiency programmes should be promoted and incorporated into the primary, secondary and tertiary curriculum in Nigeria.”

By Michael Simire

 

Nigeria considers four projects for $10m Adaptation Fund

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Efforts by Nigeria to benefit from the climate change Adaptation Fund has gotten underway with the isolation of an initial quadruple of projects for further consideration.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the Adaptation Fund was established to help developing nations to be able to support concrete adaptation projects that can enhance their ability to cope and adapt to changes expected in the area of climate change impacts.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

Each country has an opportunity to submit proposals that can fetch up to $10 million per country in funding adaptation programmes and projects. Over the years, Nigeria had lagged behind in devising viable initiatives towards accessing the largesse.

But the spirit of procrastination appeared to have been laid to rest as stakeholders gathered for two days in the Federal Capital City to strategise on how the country can move forward in submitting proposals that can enable it access the fund.

“Within the last two days, we’ve been trying to see how we can zero-in on number of topical issues that can actually be developed to into project proposals or programme proposals which will be submitted to the Adaptation Fund Board,” said a source close to the Climate Change Department, which organised the brainstorming session.

The four projects under consideration entail addressing: Flooding (as a result extreme weather conditions) in Lagos and Sokoto; Gully Erosion in the seemingly ecological wastelands in South East Nigeria; Coastal Erosion in the Niger Delta; and, Coastal Erosion in Ondo, Badagry axis (in Lagos) and Oron.

The Project Committee will meet at a later date to prune the number to two.

The source added: “The Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund is not as complex as other entity like the Global Environment Facility (GEF) proposals. I believe once these topics are made available to the ministry (Federal Ministry of Environment) and the ministry follows in the areas of ensuring that the topics are bankable, there are lots of materials that the consultants can have access to and there are lots of national interest to pursue them, I believe within the next two months we should be able to have at least a concept note that can be approved by the board which will provide little resources to now develop the concept note into full-fledge project. I believe before the year runs out, Nigeria’s name should be able to appear among those considered and approved to have received this fund.”

On the issue of the implementing entity, he stated: “We are not to come out clearly on a particular national entity because many of the national agencies that can do it are doing their best but are still not strong enough totally with respect to the fiduciary type of thing, area of transparency, account management and all the rest. We are hoping that there will be a sort of collaboration, maybe among three of between two national agencies. One may act as the technical arm and the other may act as the financial management arm that can collaborate together. But, obviously, it can’t be a ministry because it would be very difficult for a ministry to be able to provide the type of transparency and accountability they are asking for. In many other countries, it is done by a government agency or a non-governmental organisation (NGO) or a combination of both.”

On composition of the working and technical committees: “It all depends on the government and I am sure Nigerians are ready to work with the ministry even if they say we are continuing from where we are next week as they can provide logistic support that will enable the people that want to support and then again to relate with the development partners to make sure that, in addition to the national efforts been made, international perspectives are also added to what we need to do to get a project on board.”

On the session in general, he expressed satisfaction, saying: “I’m very impressed with the knowledge that a lot of the people that participated brought in. And it became very clear that this type of strategic thinking is very critical rather than a few individuals sitting down trying to put a proposal together that may read very well but will not jive through.

“This approach has shown that, with a number of people bringing in good ideas and discussing them and synergising them in such a way, it becomes very important to be able to know the critical national challenges to address. I think it’s been very fruitful.”

By Michael Simire

Promising African CDM prospect amid World Bank intervention

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Nigeria and some 16 other middle-income countries are beneficiaries to the $7 billion Climate Investment Fund (CIF), which is being implemented by the World Bank in partnership with some multilateral development banks. The CIF entails the $4.8 billion committed to the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and $2.2 billion to the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF).

World Bank interventionSimilarly, the African adoption of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects is considered higher than the world average. Delegates at the recently-held Africa Carbon Forum (ACF) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, were informed that the continent currently has 85 registered CDM projects, representing just over two percent of the more than 4,000 projects.

Apart from Nigeria, the CTF funding is leading to leveraging investments of $37 billion to support nations like Algeria, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam. The countries plan to radically rebalance their national energy portfolios by investing in renewables at a large scale.

Robert Bisset, Senior Communications Officer, Sustainable Development Network at the World Bank, disclosed in Washington, District of Columbia, USA, that under the SCF, the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) endorsed strategic investment plans worth around $960 million.

According to him, the Bank is the Trustee of 15 carbon initiatives. According to him, 10 carbon funds and facilities were established between 1999 and 2008, and that these initial instruments are currently capitalised at $2.2 billion.

“In addition, five carbon instruments have been launched that focus on the post-2012 carbon market. A total of 174 active projects are expected to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by an estimated 220 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent,” he said.

Recent data from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Risoe Centre shows that in the last three years there has been a significant increase in the number of CDM projects initiated in Africa compared to other regions of the world, a trend observers predict will likely continue.

Indeed, a recent World Bank publication, “The Little Data Book on Climate Change,” shows that, out of the 50 African nations, only 18 have hosted CDM projects, out of which five were issued Certified Emission Reduction credits (CERs).

The CDM allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn CERs, each equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2). The CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialised countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

As at November 2011 when the journal was printed, the five countries were Egypt (nine CDMs; 7,012 CERs), Morocco (six CDMs; 330 CERs), Nigeria (five CDMs; 312 CERs), South Africa (20 CDMs; 1,900 CERs) and Tanzania (one CDM; 56 CERs).

The five registered Nigerian CDM projects are: Recovery of Associated Gas that would otherwise be flared at the Kwale Oil-Gas Processing Plant, owned by AGIP; Pan Ocean Gas Utilisation Project in Ovade-Ogharafe; Asuokpu-Umutu Marginal Field Gas Recovery Facility, owned by Platform Petroleum; the SAVE80 Fuel Efficient Wood Stove that aims to reduce by 80 per cent the amount of wood needed for cooking, thereby slowing the rate of desertification in the northern part of the country; and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Composting Project in Ikorodu, Lagos State, registered December 2010 and owned by EarthCare Nigeria Limited.

The 13 nations with only registered CDMs, according to the World Bank publication, include Cameroun (two), Congo Democratic Republic (two), Ivory Coast (three), Ethiopia (one), Kenya (five), Liberia (one), Madagascar (one), Mali (one), Rwanda (three), Senegal (one), Tunisia (two), Uganda (five) and Zambia (one).

China leads the way globally with 430,696 CERs from 1,604 CDMs.

Developments as at March 2012 however showed the Escravos Oil Field Associated Gas Recovery in Nigeria (that is expected to generate18.6 million CERs by 2020) is the second largest of the 262 newly-approved CDM projects. The largest entrant in March is China’s Qinshui County 120 MW Power Generation Project (27.5 million CERs by 2020).

Similarly, Namibia has submitted its first project for validation, which is a power-from-biogas activity in Windhoek that strives to generate 91,000 CERs by 2020.

Kai-Uwe Schmidt, Team Leader of Carbon Finance Assist at the World Bank, described the ACF as one of the key climate events on the African continent.

His words: “This conference definitely exceeded our expectations, especially in terms of the remarkable increase in the breadth and depth of the interactions among policymakers, experts, and practitioners from the public and private sectors. It has been a great place to see peers exchanging knowledge and collaborating on major issues, including low-carbon development strategies, action plans, climate, and carbon finance.”

John Kilani, Director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Sustainable Development Mechanisms, said the conference showed that Africa is ready to actualise its potential toward a green growth economy.

“My wish is that participants will leave this conference knowing that Africa is now ready to participate actively in the CDM, while also remaining engaged in any discussion or consideration for new market approaches,” he said.

Kurt Lonsway, Manager at the Environment and Climate Change Division of the African Development Bank (ADB), expressed satisfaction with the high number of participants as well as the active interest and engagement they showed. According to him, the  increasing economic development on the continent means that “there is no better time than now to promote green and low carbon growth in Africa.”

Henry Derwent, President and CEO of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), said: “Africa Carbon Forum 2012 has shown that Africa has now enthusiastically absorbed the message that carbon reduction can be combined with development and increased income. The world now needs to translate that enthusiasm into economic demand.”

Yannick Glemarec, Executive Coordinator of UNDP-GEF, echoed the importance of the private sector, saying: “It was promising to see the continuous private sector engagement in carbon finance and the high interest in scaled-up programmatic CDM. We are confident that Africa will be able to deliver climate change mitigation at scale.”

About 1,200 registered participants took part in this year’s ACF, which is organised under the auspices of the Nairobi Framework, an initiative launched to help developing countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, increase their participation in the CDM.

The annual forum is described as the leading knowledge-sharing and carbon trade platform in Africa. The event brought together project developers, service providers, buyers and sellers of carbon credits, and various other private and public sector stakeholders. They sought to tap the potential of carbon finance to promote low carbon development on the continent.

Bisset noted that the World Bank has taken a leadership role in the next generation carbon markets for the post-2012 period by developing new carbon instruments. He emphasised that, in 2008, the Bank established two new carbon facilities designed to broaden, depeen and extend the duration of carbon finance – the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) aiming to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), and the Carbon Partnership Facility (CPF), aiming to scale up the use of carbon to accelerate mitigation activities.

“In 2010, the Bank launched the Partnership for Market Readiness to support market-based national efforts to reduce GHG emissions in developing countries. In December 2011, two new post-2012 carbon initiatives were launched in Durban: the BioCarbon Fund’s third tranche (BioCF T3) and the Carbon Initiative for Development (Ci-Dev). These new carbon initiatives will channel funds to projects which are vital to the world’s poorest.”

By Michael Simire

African nations accused of undermining food sovereignty

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African governments have been accused of being complacent about the “covert” activities of the biotechnology industry to undermine food sovereignty on the continent.

According to participants at a workshop held in Abuja, the policy frameworks for biotechnology in most African countries are either non-existent, weak or subject to manipulation by multinational corporations promoting genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), and acting in alliance with some research institutes.

Nnimmo Bassey, Chairman of ERA

Participants at the event organised by the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) in collaboration with the African Biodiversity Network (ABN), African Center for Biosafety, EcoNexus and the Third World Network declared that the much-touted benefits of GMOs, when critically analysed, are found to be myths.

They pointed out that, in 2008, over 400 scientists, 30 governments from developed and developing countries and 30 civil society organisations, concluded work under the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). The report observed that modern biotechnology would have very limited contribution to the feeding of the world in the foreseeable future, they said.

At the workshop titled “Biosafety Regulations and Experience Sharing”, the participants warned that the production of GMOs is not only a threat to biosafety; it also poses a great threat to human and animal health as well as the environment.

“Promoters of GMO and their allies have deliberately ignored the importance and the peculiarities of African culture, environment and agriculture in their aggressive attempts to impose their products on Africa. Rather than African governments getting committed to promotion of agro-ecological agriculture practices, they have become tied to the apron-strings of speculators and neo-colonial powers whose objective is to exploit, subjugate and destroy food production systems on the African continent.”

They added that, contrary to the arguments peddled by modern biotechnology industry, there are few or no tangible successes stories on GMOs and Africa must not be used as ground for experimentation for unverified technologies.

They accused the Nigerian government of not taking into account the concerns of local farmers, critical stakeholders, citizens’ participation and engagement contrary to the provisions of the AU model law and the Cartagena Protocol in the formulation of the draft Biosafety Bill now waiting for the President’s signature.

Participants lamented that African farmers, especially women, lack adequate access to land and other resources necessary for agricultural production, a situation they say is further compounded by massive land grabs by multinationals corporations for agro-fuels production and other capitalist interests.

“There is a dearth of funding and sustainable investment from African governments for research and development in agro-ecological practices of improving agriculture in Africa. There is inadequate information and awareness on food sovereignty issues in the media thus shutting out critical stakeholders, thereby deepening public ignorance and inhibiting contributions to solutions,” noted the participants.

They, therefore, called on African governments to address the hunger question on the continent by prioritisation of agro-ecological agriculture systems over corporate models that promote inequalities.

They likewise underlined the need for a local and continental paradigm-shift towards food sovereignty based on local contextual considerations, promotion of small-scale farmers, pastoralists and fisher-folk which, they stressed, have defined agro-ecological agriculture based on human rights and sustainable natural resource management.

Furthermore, African governments were urged to put in place adequate regulatory frameworks for monitoring compliance.

“African governments should adequately address the gender insensitivity in agriculture with particular emphasis on access to land and other resources. This is because women are widely acknowledged as pillars in African agricultural practice and sustenance.”

By Michael Simire

States urged to embrace REDD

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National Coordinator, the Nigeria Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD ) Programme, Salisu Dahiru, has called on state governments in Nigeria to embrace the initiative so as to mitigate the effects of climate change, protect ecosystems, develop communities and reduce poverty.

Salisu Dahiru
Salisu Dahiru, National REDD Programme Coordinator

Salisu, who announced that implementation of the Nigerian UN-REDD pilot scheme in Cross River State would commence soon, said without reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, it will not be possible to reach the 2⁰C temperature goal, stressing that carbon emissions from forests contributes about 20 per cent of the total emissions.

In a recent presentation titled: “Approaches to REDD for climate change including co-benefits for Lagos State,” he said the REDD Readiness Document provides a strategy for expanding the scope of REDD to other states of the nation including Lagos. He describes the scheme, which is a mechanism for slowing down global warming, as a critical factor in any climate change agreement.

Correcting the impression that Lagos State is not a forest producing state, but carbon producing one, he noted that the two main vegetation types of the state – swamp forest, (including mangroves) and dry lowland rain forest – are suitable for the REDD project.

He listed some of the benefits of the project to include: resilience to climate change, improved community livelihoods, revenues and ecosystem services.

“REDD is a collaborative partnership among the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),” he said.

“The main objective of REDD is to support and provide incentives to tropical developing countries for the protection and conservation of their standing natural forests and simultaneously contribute to mitigating climate change and promote sustainable livelihoods for forest dependent communities.”

Salisu further urged states to join the REDD initiative and integrate it into the climate change mitigation and adaptation plans. Besides, he challenged the states to institutionalise REDD within climate change agenda, promote private sector investments in the programme and scale up consultations.

On the implementation of the Cross River State project, he explained that what “is left is for the parties involved – the Minister of Environment, Cross River State Governor and the UN agencies – is to put pen to paper, so that they can draw the approved money down.”

Sharing a perspective on the Cross River State REDD project, Chairman of the state Forestry Commission and Head, REDD Cross River State, Odigha Odigha, represented by Arikpo Arikpo, a Commissioner in the Commission, said forest is the main asset of Cross River State.

He noted that in 2007 and 2008, logging of forest wood in the state reached a crisis level until the government placed a ban on it. He explained that an environmental summit was held in 2008 and key resolutions made, including the removal of revenue targets from timber exploitation and two year moratorium on logging.

Arikpo said implementation of the resolutions began in 2008, part of which he noted include the shift from timber concession to carbon concession. According to him, for any state to fully engage in REDD, there must be the political will as demonstrated by the state governor, Senator Liyel Imoke.

On what is require to engage in REDD, he said: “An in-depth investigation of vulnerabilities and adaptations strategies for rural communities to climate change.

“Our understanding is that although such in-depth investigation has become central to climate science, policy and practice, our capacity to conduct such vulnerability and adaptation assessments is still very limited. Through an appropriate combination of policy, technology and external funding, a low carbon economy is possible in Cross River State.”

By Michael Simire

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