NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - This year’s World Environment Day (WED) comes when the ogre of corruption, threatening to tear apart the fabric of our society is dominating the national debate in Kenya.
The World Environmental day celebrated on the 5th of June every year, seeks to raise consciousness and rally people across the world on the importance of a clean environment.
Thousands of activities, including tree planting, clean-ups, workshops, conferences and rallies are held, depending on the context in various parts of the globe.
The theme of this year’s WED, is “Beat plastics pollution”, and is being hosted by India. This year, we focus on the environmental challenges we face due to the piles of plastics produced and dumped on land and sea every hour, and their adverse effects on the beauty of the earth and the oceans. The global focus on this theme brings the issue of policy making and intervention to the centre-stage, with a view to “doing something” to arrest the problem.
Thousands of trees will be planted during this day, while tons of plastics will be collected and piled at some safer place away from people and water. The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) will join several partners, led by the City County of Nairobi, to plant trees at Kikuyu Springs, one of the main sources of the water we drink in the city, which is threatened by encroachment by private developers, illicit tree poachers and degradation.
Planting trees and collecting garbage in front of cameras, as many leaders have done during this rainy season, is one commendable thing. And tending those trees to maturity and stopping garbage gettingpile-up should be a process rather than an event. These symbolic gestures by the top leadership should be followed by a more sustainable effort to harvest this goodwill by institutions entrusted to guard our environmental with preservation and protection.
But due to the runaway corruption which has passed the red line, any effort to reverse the damage visited upon the environment will likely be futile. Indeed, the report of the taskforce appointed by Environment and Forestry Cabinet Secretary KeriakoTobiko exposed the rot in the Forestry department and recommended drastic action against forest officials who have plundered this important national resource. One of the chilling revelations of the report is the fact that a whooping two billion shillings earmarked for a school forestry programme, was misappropriated. This is in addition to thousands of tons of trees which were felled by unscrupulous merchants in collusion with people who were entrusted with the responsibility to keep watch over our forests across the country.
It will therefore be a pointless attempt and narrow way of seeing things if we plant trees without minding whether the land on which we are planting will be a target by marauding land grabbers and speculators. It will also be waste of resources and valuable time if we collect all that garbage just for the camera, and when we go back home, we are the first to throw away that kitchen left-overs and bottles without thinking about their immediate impact on their destinations – land and ocean.
Tackling corruption of any magnitude calls for consciousness beginning from the individual level and our individual actions on the environment, as it should start with “me”. And that is how we should tackle corruption. If we resist that bribe, small or big, to stop the marauding land-grabber, we will see our trees growing.
The war on corruption cannot be won by the Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission (EACC) and allied Agencies if individual citizens remain indifferent. Whether in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, or the entire system of the government, the dragon of corruption will only be slayed if all people, the poor and the rich, the powerful and the powerless, the haves and have-nots, accept and join hands in all the spaces of work, whether in public places and or in private homes.
Transparency and Accountability are key provisions of the Paris Agreement, the global Pact to combat climate change, which poses the biggest threat to the survival of humanity and health of the planet. Plastics, which are also known as polymers, are produced by the conversion of natural products or by synthesis from primary chemicals generally coming from oil, natural gas, or coal. Science tells us that the fossil fuel-based energy sources such as oil and coal, as well as land-use and land-use change, are the main causes of climate change.
As we seek to fight one time plastics, as per the theme of this year’s WED, we are contributing to the goal of the UN Climate Change Convention and the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit greenhouse gases which are the primary causes of climate change. The Paris Agreement, to which Kenya is a signatory, envisions the challenge corruption, lack of accountability and transparency would have in the achievement of its overall goal, and particularly when implementing policies and mitigation and adaptation actions.
All climate response programmes supported by Donors, such as the forest management supported by the World Bank and which is supposed to be implemented by UNDP and the State Department of Environment, require high degree of transparency and accountability. In addition, it goes without saying that respect for the rights of forest communities like the Sengwer of ElgeyoMarakwet County should be upheld at all times. This will removes any barriers to project implementations to such noble ideas as the Shs.360 Million Programme, whose commencement has been delayed due to various issues, including disagreements with indigenous communities.
Many opportunities abound as the country readies itself for the implementation of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), a set of actions under its Paris Agreement obligation. This will however be derailed by the nauseating reports from corruption, not only from the department of Forestry, but also other Agencies of the Government, the most blatant being the National Youth Service, as well as the National Cereals and Produce Board. The dragon of corruption should not be let to eat the yoke of future generations, nor should it be let to cannibalize the very sources of livelihood of the people of this great nation.
The writer is the Executive Director, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (www.pacja.org)
The Federal Government of Nigeria and the Tropical Wood Exporters Association of Nigeria, TWEAN, have commenced moves to stop the export of processed and semi-processed woods.
Disclosing this yesterday, the Secretary-General of TWEAN, Mr. Joseph Odiase said that the decision to stop the export of these categories of woods was initiated by the group and supported by the Forestry Department of the Federal Ministry of Environment.
Odiase also disclosed that a three-year moratorium has also been given to wood exporters to prepare for eventual ban of the export of primary semi-processed wood from Nigeria.
The group’s scribe explained that the idea behind the move to stop primary semi-processed wood export is to ensure more value-adding measures were added to these wood products before they are exported.
He further explained that the decision was taken by a Ministerial Committee on deforestation, afforestation and re-afforestation set up by the ministry of environment adding that the Committee decided on the matter in 2016.
Odiase also said that by the time the ban on wood export comes into effect, more job opportunities would have been created in the wood industry.
“The policy was initiated by the TWEAN because we want to do business in line with sustainable environmental and economic policies of the government of the Republic of Nigeria.
“We want to do business in line with the well-being of the nation’s economy and the Nigerian people.
“If we continue to export primary semi-processed and semi-processed woods, we will continue to miss the value that comes with fully processed woods.
He also added that wood exports have become revenue contributors and generators to the Government for afforestation drive. This development is in addition to the direct contribution of members of TWEAN/PROPMAN for tree planting across the federation.
“TWEAN has asked the government to allow for a three-year moratorium to let exporters key into the initiative by way of bringing in more wood processing equipment and machinery for wood industry, enhance the confidence of foreign investors and promote the transfer of technology.
The department of forestry of the ministry of environment has introduced a quota system thereby checking the volume of exports and controlling the activities of exporters. He also told Vanguard that more wood factories have set up across the country adding that only fully processed and fully finished wood products will be allowed for export from the beginning of the year 2020.
Confirming the development, Mr. Audu Ochuma, a Deputy Comptroller of Customs in charge of export at the Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos also disclosed that the agency had received a directive to stop the exportation of primary semi-processed woods early 2020
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) – It is a rainy season in Kenya, and the environment in many parts of the country including dryland areas is generally green. But two months ago in Kyenire village, Mbeere Sub-county of Embu in Eastern Kenya, it was Venanzio Njiru’s two acre farm that stood out as the only green spot surrounded by environment with dry grass and shrubs with brown leaves running into the horizon.
However, rainfall is for a short season in this part of the country because after it subsides towards the end of May as predicted by the Kenya Meteorological Department, residents may soon be subjected to another dry spell that may last between one and three years without the precious drops.
“This is how it has always been, hence a reason why I had adopt a smart way of surviving,” said Njiru, who has now invested in Climate Smart Agriculture through permaculture.
Using water piped from Thosi River some 10 kilometres away, the former street hawker in Mombasa has a mosaic of different types of crops that include cover crops, leguminous plants, fruit trees, among others intercropped with maize planted in zai-pits and even sugarcane. He also keeps cattle, indigenous chicken, goats, and despite of it being a dryland area, he keeps fish in his water storage ponds.
“Using very simple techniques, Njiru is one of the very few residents in this area who have sufficient food to feed their families, and have more for the market despite the tough climatic conditions,” said Wanjiku Wanjohi of Ishiara Parish, a Catholic church in Embu County.
The Parish is one of the faith based organisations on the ground, which have been interacting with residents especially smallholder farmers to identify best practices that could help in formulating a county climate change policy document that is responsive to the prevailing conditions.
The first ever climate change policy drafting initiative at the county level in Kenya is driven by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) in collaboration with Trocaire, and with support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) where faith based organisations have been collaborating with community based groups and individuals to identify best practices at the grass roots level.
“Clearly, Njiru together with a few others have demonstrated that with access to water for irrigation, residents can easily adapt to climate change, an idea that we thought was an important factor to be included in the county climate change policy,” said Wanjohi.
Development of such policies dominated the annual summit on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) in Nairobi, where experts said that that was the only way of scaling up CSA, by moving from pilots to the implementation.
“We already have enough ideas and innovations. What we lack in many African countries is the implementation framework,” said Dr Richard Mungang, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Africa Regional Climate Change Programme Coordinator.
“We need policies to govern Climate Smart Agriculture, because without policies, there cannot be development,” he said.
His sentiments were echoed by Richard Kamau the Executive Director at the Centre for Agriculture Networking and Information Sharing at the University of Nairobi, who said that data to guide formulation of such policies should be collected from farmers on the ground. “We also need involvement of the academia, the public sector and all other interested groups,” he said.
According to Edith Ofwona, a Senior Programme Specialist at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), there is evidence to show that CSA can reduce poverty and eradicate hunger, and so, there is need for countries to develop implementation frameworks as the way forward.
So far, following the Kenya’s example, Njiru’s practice has already been anchored in the draft climate change policy document, which urges the county government of Embu to support establishment of water harvesting infrastructure and mobilize community members to undertake household level water harvesting initiatives and interventions.
According to Obed Koringo of PACJA, the document has already been internalized by the county government, and it will soon be taken out for public scrutiny before it is converted into a legal instrument.
“We can only allocate funds for such climate change interventions only if they are anchored in some kind of law,” said Nicholas Ngece, the Chief Officer in charge of Environment at the County Government of Embu.
“Through policies, we will easily have the private sector working together with the public sector and the banking sector so as to stabilize markets and increase financing,” Dr Munang told delegates at the Nairobi CSA summit.
The other two counties that are leading the way in development of community based climate change policy in Kenya are Kitui and Tharaka Nithi Counties, where both are also using faith based organisations to access communities at the grassroots level.
BONN, Germany, (PAMACC News) - If Paris was historic in carving a global climate deal, Katowice will define the political urgency for climate action.
Negotiations at the just ended United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, focused on the Paris Agreement Work Programme, under which countries are designing the guidelines that will move the climate pact from concepts to actions.
The Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, at the concluding session, expressed concern at the lack of urgency in moving the negotiations forward.
“It is time to look at the bigger picture, see the severe impacts that climate change is having across the world, and rise to the challenge,” said Group Chair, Gebru Jember Endalew.
He expects steady progress be made throughout 2018 on all issues so that poor and vulnerable countries can engage effectively.
“A last-minute rush at COP24 risks leaving developing countries behind,” he said.
The Paris Rulebook
The Rulebook spells guidelines on how to put the Paris Agreement into practice.
There is a call for a fair, robust and transparent Rulebook that inspires confidence among countries to step up and commit to enhanced national climate targets by 2020.
They are essential for determining whether total world emissions are declining fast enough to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. These include boosting adaptation and limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2°C, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.
“I am satisfied that some progress was made here in Bonn. But many voices are underlining the urgency of advancing more rapidly on finalizing the operational guidelines. The package being negotiated is highly technical and complex. We need to put it in place so that the world can monitor progress on climate action,” said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change.
Progress on Agriculture
Recognizing the urgency of addressing interests in the agriculture sector, the Bonn conference made a significant advance on the “Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture” by adopting a road-map for the next two-and-a-half years.
Farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts such as prolonged droughts and shifting rainfall patterns, and agriculture is an important source of emissions.
This road-map responds to the world’s farming community of more than 1 billion people and to the 800 million people who live in food-insecure circumstances, mainly in developing countries. It addresses a range of issues including the socio-economic and food-security dimensions of climate change, assessments of adaptation in agriculture, co-benefits and resilience, and livestock management.
But not with Finance…
Without advances in the talks over the commitment of future financial support from rich countries to developing nations, who are already facing devastating climate impacts, it became difficult for other areas of the negotiations to progress.
LDC Group Chair, Gebru Jember Endalew, stated “Finance is key to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement. In the face of climate change, poor and vulnerable countries are forced to address loss and damage and adapt to a changing climate, all while striving to lift their people out of poverty without repeating the mistakes of an economy built on fossil fuels. This is not possible without predictable and sustainable support."
Civil society also expressed some dissatisfaction with the finance dialogue.
“The radio silence on money has sown fears among poor countries that their wealthier counterparts are not serious about honouring their promises. This funding is not just a bargaining chip, it is essential for delivering the national plans that make up the Paris Agreement,” said Mohamed Adow, International Climate Lead, Christian Aid.
“For the Paris Agreement to be a success, we need the Katowice COP to be a success. And for the Katowice COP to be a success we need assurances that sources of funding will be coming.”
The Talanoa Dialogue
The Fijian Presidency of COP23 launched the Talanoa Dialogue to spur an outcome for enhanced ambition at the end of this year at COP24.
The first global conversation about efforts to combat climate change was witnessed on Sunday, May 6, at the 2018 Bonn Climate Talks.
The dialogue wrote history when countries and non-Party stakeholders including cities, businesses, investors and regions engaged in interactive story-telling for the first time.
The dialogue witnessed some 250 participants sharing more than 700 stories of climate struggle and inspiration, providing fresh ideas and renewed determination to raise ambition.
Seven groups, known as “Talanoas”, took part in the informal Talanoa tradition of sharing stories to find solutions for the common good. Participants discussed three central questions: Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?
The Dialogue has the goal of taking stock of collective efforts towards progress on the Paris Agreement’s long-term mitigation goal. It will also inform the preparation of parties’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the second round of which are expected in 2020.
“Now is the time for action. Now is the time to commit to making the decisions the world must make. We must complete the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement on time. And we must ensure that the Talanoa Dialogue leads to more ambition in our climate action plans,” said Frank Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji and President of COP23.
Talanoa inspires discussion between countries not as negotiating blocs but as one of people to people. But it is important that this is translated into a clear political process.
The Polish Presidency must take up the baton from the Fiji Presidency and work with all countries towards a political outcome for stronger national targets by 2020.
Political Action in Katowice
All input received to date and up to 29 October 2018 will feed into the Talanoa Dialogue’s second but more political phase at COP24.
To be meaningful, the Talanoa Dialogue “must deliver concrete outcomes that drive an increase in ambition and support to put us on track to achieving the 1.5 degree temperature goal set in Paris, guided by equity and science," said Mr. Endalew.
Talks resume in Bangkok from September 3-8 where negotiators will pick up “informal notes” forwarded by this session. They will attempt to turn these notes and various inputs from countries into the basis for a negotiating text ahead of COP24 in Katowice, Poland.
“The science is clear: we need to get into higher gear to reach Paris goals and we need to have the courage to go beyond traditional politics. Meeting in the middle is no option this time,” said Marcel Beukeboom, Climate Envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
A stronger political leadership remains critical to achieve the major milestones envisaged for COP24 in Katowice, Poland.
The UN Climate Change talks are an integral part of a broader, worldwide debate on climate change.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep a global average temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
The ultimate objective of all agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
“The time for stories has long since passed,” said Meena Raman of Third World Network. “We live in a world with over 1℃ warming and the devastation is already severe. We cannot allow for that warming to go beyond 1.5℃ and we need a political process to prevent that.”
ISINYA, Kenya (PAMACC News) - After losing nearly all of his cattle to drought in 2017, David Ole Maapia, a young Maasai man who grew up in Kenya’s Kajiado County as a herdsboy is one of many residents from pastoralist communities who are slowly changing their way of living, to adapt to the changing climatic conditions in the country.
“It is already raining, and there will be plenty of pastures in the coming months. But following my experience last year, and also what happened to my neighbours, I can no longer keep cattle for more than a day,” said Ole Maapia, a resident of Isinya Township, 56 kilometres out of Nairobi City. “Instead, I have chosen to bank all my wealth in sheep and goats,” he said.
The 32 year old father of five children lost 48 cattle following last year’s dry spell. And for the past six months, he has been buying cattle almost every day, have them slaughtered the same day before supplying meat to designated hotels in Nairobi. He then uses the profit to purchase at least two or three goats every market day.
I already have more than 200 goats and sheep, and I know by December, I will have over 1000,” he said. “If I sell all of them during the festive Christmas period, I will have enough money to purchase a small piece of land within Isinya Township where I intend to construct commercial houses as an alternative source of livelihood,” he said.
Many other residents have as well abandoned cattle keeping, which has for many years been considered the most prestigious thing among pastoralist communities.
Though without any formal education, Ole Maapia’s switch in lifestyle conforms with key findings from a new scientific study in Kenya, which shows that cattle have been the most vulnerable animals to climate change in nearly all the 21 semi arid counties in the country.
According to the study conducted by scientists from the Kenya Markets Trust (KMT) with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Canada and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), through a project known as Pathways to Resilience in Semi-arid Economies (PRISE), average cattle population in all semi arid counties reduced by 26 percent between the year 1977 and 2016.
But the same study, whose key findings are currently being disseminated to targeted counties reveals that the population in sheep and goats increased by an impressive 76 percent in the same period, with camel population also increasing by 13 percent.
“This is a clear impact of climate change,” Dr Mohammed Said, one of the lead researchers told Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We say it is climate change because in the past 50 years, we observed increase in temperatures in all the counties with five of them recording more than 1.5°C increase in the same period,” he said.
The most affected county, says the scientist, is Turkana, whose temperature increased by 1.8°C in the past 50 years, leading to over 60 percent decrease in cattle population in the past 38 years.
According to the scientists, a research scientist, cattle can thrive well if average temperatures do not surpass 30oC and should not be below 10oC. But small animals like sheep and goats, and also camels can tolerate warmer temperatures, hence the reason why they were able to multiply exponentially in the wake of the rising temperatures.
“It is true that goats and sheep survived the 2017 dry-spell, and that’s why many people are now selling the remaining cattle stock to invest in animals that have proven to be strong enough for such tough conditions,” said Ole Maapia.
The Paris Agreement on climate change calls for international interventions to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.
At a county government level, four neighbouring semi arid counties in the country have come up with an initiative known as the ‘AMAYA Triangle.’ The County governments of Laikipia, Baringo, Isiolo and Samburu are now working together to address climate change so as to avoid resource based conflicts which are always associated with droughts.
Following massive deaths of cattle during extreme droughts, the counties are already establishing feedlots and fodder banks to help in fattening the most impacted animals, as a way of adapting to climate change, according to Laikipia Deputy Governor Hon. John Mwaniki.
“Climate change does not recognise boundaries. And so, if we solve a climate change related problem in Laikipia for example, without addressing the same problem in the neighbouring counties, then we will be creating a platform for conflicts among the residents,” said Hon. Mwaniki.
80 percent of beef eaten in Kenya comes from local pastoralist’s communities, and also from Uganda and Tanzania pastoralists. But with the rising temperatures, Dr Said feels that the most affected counties should begin investing in sheep, goat and camel value chains as a way of adhering to the prevailing conditions.
“The only way counties can adapt is by using such scientific projections to identify possible future scenarios and capture it in their spatial plans, because the current conditions are likely not going to be the same in the next 10 years,” he said.
PAMACC News - Illegal charcoal trade has been identified as key driver to deforestation globally. To stem the massive tide of illegally harvesting, production and exporting from different forests across the globe, Somalia has joined other stakeholders to push for cross-border efforts for meaningful results. The Somalia's government made their voice heard at the UN-supported conference on charcoal in Mogadishu, May 7th2018.
According to a press release from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) the Somalian government have joined other stakeholders to call for international cooperation in halting illegal export of charcoal.
Certain forestry products like charcoal are not allowed to be exported from Somalia the release say. The country has struggled to protect its natural forests from rapid and widespread illegal logging and for these measures to be effective, international cooperation with other African countries and Gulf states was imperative.
« “We need a holistic response to address the issues of charcoal in Somalia. Both the demand and
supply side have to be tackled – to do this we need cooperation to implement the UN Security Council Resolution and ensure the environmental, economic and human losses that happen because of illegal charcoal trade are curbed, » said the Deputy Prime Minister
It should be recalled that a similar call for international cooperation was made by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2017 to stem massive exportation of charcoal from Myanmar to China. The FAO tracks forest cover globally, said in the report that between 1990 and 2015, Myanmar lost about 15 million hectares of forest and other wooded land.
In Cameroon government officials say there is increasing amounts of charcoal burning for cooking and heating in recent years as Cameroon's electricity and gas supplies fail to keep pace with demand, raising concerns among forest stakholders about growing deforestation and carbon emissions in the country. The Cameroon government has also condemned this growing trend pledging to intensify efforts at eliminating the scorge in line with the 2012 UN resolution against illegal charcoal trade and export.
The charcoal supply for Cameroon's two biggest cities comes principally from the East region, which harbours rich forest reserves that are important for Cameroon in particular and the Congo Basin in general.
DEFORESTATION FEARS
Experts fear that if the energy crisis continues unabated it could contribute to growing deforestation that could worsen climate change and lead to more severe weather.
"Charcoal is obtained from the burning of trees, and if this trend continues you can imagine the quantity of trees the country is going to lose and what impact this will have for the future," said Ebia Ndongo, director of forestry in the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife.
Like in Myanmar, the export of charcoal from Somalia has been banned, both by a 2012 United Nations Security Council resolution and by the Somali Government, due to its destructive effect on the environment and its exacerbation of conflict and humanitarian crises.
The UNEP Press release says an estimated 8.2 million trees were cut down for charcoal in Somalia between 2011 and 2017,increasing land degradation, food insecurity and vulnerability to flooding and drought.
It has been estimated that over 80 percent of charcoal produced in Somalia is exported to Gulf States and neighbouring countries.
Illegal trade in charcoal is recognised as a key contributor to insecurity in Somalia, providing a major source of funding for militias, terrorist groups, and other actors linked to conflict, who illegally tax exports.
But Somalian government say they are more than ready to halt the scourge.
« Somali government is commitment to halting illegal trade of charcoal and providing alternative energy options, » the Deputy Prime Minister of Somalia, Mahdi Mohamed Guled, reaffirmed at the opening of the conference.
He also called for urgent action and support from the
international community and countries that are importing charcoal.
“We need a holistic response to address the issues of charcoal in Somalia. Both the demand and supply side have to be tackled – to do this we need cooperation to implement the UN Security Council Resolution and ensure the environmental, economic and human losses that happen because of illegal charcoal trade are curbed,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
He notes that the environmental destruction brought on by the charcoal trade contributes to drought,flooding, the loss of livelihoods and increase in food insecurity.
« Together with conflict, this exacerbates the humanitarian situation in Somalia,” said the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, Peter de Clercq. “But due to high levels of poverty in Somalia and lack of opportunities, many are forced to turn to unsustainable and illegal livelihoods, such as charcoal production. The people of this country deserve better”.
Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, UN Environment Regional Director for Africa, also emphasised on the need for regional partnership to stop the unsustainable production, use and export of charcoal in Somalia, expressing the willingness of UN Environment to support such cooperation efforts.
“UN Environment and its partners are supporting the Government of Somalia to develop sound policy frameworks to support the ban and find alternatives to charcoal,” she said.
The UNEP Press release said participants at the event, were expected to develop a concrete road map for action, including enforceable regional policies, to halt charcoal trade, as well as itsunsustainable production and use within Somalia.
The high-level summit is supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Environment, and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), with funding from Sweden, the European Union and Italy.
