PAMACC, Nairobi-KENYA: Possibilities for swift transition to clean and efficient mobility exist more in Africa than other regions, experts have affirmed.Experts at the ongoing Africa clean mobility week in Nairobi, Kenya believe that Africa’s readiness for the much-needed transition remains exceedingly higher than those of other regions that are deeply entrenched in dirty and inefficient fuel economies.Africa, according to Rob de Jong, Head of the Air Quality and Mobility Unit of the UN Environment, is very ready to transit because the region depends largely on imported fuel to meet 80% of its consumption needs.The region he added, “is not producing a lot of vehicles, most vehicles are imported and more than any other continent in the world, Africa can today decide to import cleaner cars and efficient fuel and through this, leapfrog to a new era of clean mobility.”In other continents like Asia, where there is so much production of poor quality vehicles, its very difficult to introduce vehicle standards, but for Africa, it becomes easier for the region to set up policy frameworks that regulate the quality of fuel it imports and many African states are already doing that,” Jong said.Experts are also of the view that a larger part of Africa's vehicular need is yet to be met even though the region is motorizing very quickly. In Kenya for example, the number of vehicles doubles every 7 years while in Europe, there are already too many cars and if Africa adopts the clean transition policy today, it will successfully influence a cleaner future.Jane Akumu, Programme Officer at the Economy division of the Air Quality and Mobility Unit of the UN Environment sees great prospects in Africa’s transition to a clean mobility future.“We see good prospects for progress,” Akumu said. “when we started this move less than a decade ago, Africa was predominantly using lead petrol but today its only one country that is still using lead petrol out of Africa’s 55 countries,” she says.“What took other regions over a decade was achieved within less than 5 years in Africa,” Akumu added.The UN Environment, on its part, has been prioritising and bringing the issues of cleaner transport into the discussions of African ministers and various stakeholders including the private sector, civil society and the media.“Once issues are prioritised with cost-effective solutions, we see very good and remarkable progress in Africa especially when we link them with health, environment and climate change considerations, it’s a win-win situation, Jane Akumu said.

PAMACC, Nairobi-KENYA: As the African clean mobility week drew to a close today, participants have identified electric mobility as a workable pathway to a more sustainable and cleaner transport system in Africa.This recommendation, alongside other strategies, was approved by delegates to the Africa clean mobility week which comprised representatives of government agencies responsible for transport, environment, energy and finance from 42 African countries; oil and vehicle industry; and donor agencies.Other delegates were drawn from the academia, civil society and the media.Taking cognisance of the rapid urbanisation fueled by technological growth as well as Africa’s increasing rate of motorization which is considered the highest in the world, electric mobility, delegates say, presents an opportunity for African countries to leapfrog to cleaner transport with regards to reduced carbon emissions, improved air quality and economic growth.African countries, according to the recommendations, are to explore the two low-hanging entry points into electric mobility. These low-hanging entry points revolve round deploying electric/hybrid buses and electric two/three wheelers for public transport.In view of the fact that only a handful of African countries have put in place policies and regulations on electric mobility, delegates urged African governments to develop fiscal and institutional policy interventions capable of creating a favourable environment for electric mobility uptake.These policies they underlined, must be integrated into the wider urban transport system planning with solutions for batteries, recycling and end of life programmes.However, they warn that Africa’s unique mobility challenges with electric solutions must be understood.The Africa clean mobility week therefore called for tailor-made products for African countries. These products according to the delegates, must incorporate electric motorcycles that can run long distance, and on high-load and rough roads.Local manufacturing capacities are to be strengthened while governments are to set aside resources for peer reviews, and consumer awareness campaigns on the benefits of electric mobility and its impact on everyday life including road safety.Other recommendations aimed at fast-tracking Africa’s switch to electric mobility include mainstreaming electric mobility policies into their nationally determined contributions as a way of supporting national and global climate change targets, and the constructive engagement of the private sector. UN Environment's Deputy Executive Director, Ibrahim Thiaw, sees green transportation as an imperative in order to boost sustainable development in Africa."Africa should leapfrog to clean mobility by domesticating best practices from elsewhere and investing in cleaner technologies like electric cars, two and three wheel machines," said Thiaw.Urias Goll, the Deputy Executive Director of Liberia's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said that Africa required home-grown initiatives to advance the green mobility agenda."There is need to support local industries to manufacture hybrid and electric vehicles tailor made for the local market," Goll said, adding that consumer awareness is key to boosting the adoption of non-motorized and cleaner transport models in Africa.

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Rural communities are the biggest losers in Africa’s war against poaching, scientists have revealed. In most of the countries where resources are being channeled to fight poaching, marginalized communities are getting zero benefits from the conservation revenue stream, according to the Africa Wildlife Foundation (AWF). “When a lot of resources are being used to fight poaching, benefits to the communities and the economy go down or are no-existent,” says Philip Muruthi, the vice president, species conservation at AWF. As a professor in ecology, Muruthi, recommends that communities must be wholly involved in conservation, if Africa is to significantly reduce poaching and trafficking of wildlife trophy.Lack of cross border cooperation against poaching has also undermined Africa’s efforts to fight wildlife crime. For instance, he says, it has been proven that criminals are coordinating their operations from countries which are not friendly to Africa’s anti-poaching call, to raid neighboring countries’ wildlife. “Poaching and trafficking is like an amoeba,” says Muruthi. “You push it in one corner, it simply moves to another.” But the cloud should not obscure the silver lining, Muruthi told a gathering of conservation detectives and officers working at transit stations in Africa, in a Nairobi meeting. New technologies and innovations like the use of drones and sniffer dogs are giving the crackdown on wildlife crime a facelift. For instant, sniffer dogs are able to detect illegal wildlife products, track the scent of a poacher, and even lead the charge in areas where weapons are used heavily by criminals. “Dogs are incorruptible, accurate, efficient and are even feared by poachers and traffickers,” says Mark Kinyua, an expert in canine handling.About 35,000 elephants are poached every year in Africa, out of a population of 415,000. “At this rate, in 15 years Africa will have no elephants,” says Muruthi.

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - The UN has called for protection of journalists so that they are able to highlight environmental issues.“UN Environment is taking a stand against the ongoing threats, intimidation, harassment, and murder of environmental defenders around the world, with the launch of the UN Environmental Rights Initiative in Geneva ,” said Erik Solheim, Head of UNEP, which is headquartered in Kenya.Speaking in Nairobi, Solheim said journalists and other environment activists need protection because they help people to better understand their rights and how to defend them and assist governments to better safeguard environmental rights.“Those who struggle to protect planet and people should be celebrated as heroes, but the sad fact is that many are paying a heavy price with their safety and sometimes their lives. It’s our duty to stand on the side of those who are on the right side of history. It means standing for the most fundamental and universal of human rights,” Solheim said.He urged governments to prioritize the protection of environmental defenders from harassment and attack and to bring those who harm or threaten them to justice swiftly and definitively.‘Killings, violence and threats often go unreported and unpunished. More journalistic coverage and stronger legal support at the local and national level are essential to defend the defenders,” said Jonathan Watts, Global Environment Editor, The Guardian.Solheim said environmental rights are enshrined in over 100 constitutions and yet in January 2018 Global Witness documented that almost four environmental defenders are being killed per week, with the true total likely far higher.“Many more are harassed, intimidated and forced from their lands. Around 40 -50 percent of the 197 environmental defenders killed in 2017 came from indigenous and local communities,” he said.The UN noted that violations of environmental rights have a profound impact on life, self-determination, food, water, health, sanitation, housing, cultural, civil and political rights.This comes at a time when the Kenya Government has imposed a 90-day moratorium on timber harvesting in public forests.Deputy President William Ruto also unveiled a taskforce last week to investigate why Kenya is losing forest cover quickly due to illegal timber harvesting and settlements.The 15-member team led by chairperson Marion Kamau will investigate why the country has 500,000 acres in water catchment areas that have no trees.The taskforce will also look into existing legal frameworks, including the forest Act and others, to ensure punitive measures are put in place to address various environmental challenges facing the country.The team which has two weeks to deliver its interim report and a month to give its final report is set to collect views from the public, religious groups, civil societies, diplomats and other interested stakeholders.“I have told the taskforce that this is not a public relations exercise. In the past, we have had exercises that end up being photo opportunities. The taskforce has a very clear mandate,” Ruto said when he unveiled its members.The call for protecting journalists and environment activists also comes at a time when the Sengwer indigenous people in Embobut forest…