BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - The demand to tackle conflict of interest within the UNFCCC has over the years been raised by several actors including governments and civil society.
However, to date, progress has been slow, notably, due to some cosy relationships formed between politics and the fossil fuel sector lobbyists.
It is for this reason that a global coalition of civil society groups is calling for a strong conflict of interest policy for the UNFCCC to decisively deal with the challenge.
The coalition, supported by the European Parliament has released a report highlighting revolving doors between the fossil fuel industry and high level politicians, ministers, regulators, and advisors.
According to the study, titled “Revolving doors and the fossil fuel industry,” carried out in 13 European countries, finds that failure to deal with conflict of interest by the EU is due to cosy relationships built up with the fossil fuel sector over the years, and calls for the adoption of a strong conflict of interest policy that would avoid the disproportionate influence of the fossil fuel industry on the international climate change negotiations.
“There is a revolving door between politics and the fossil fuel lobby all across Europe,” said Max Andersson, Member of the European Parliament, at the Bonn Climate Talks. “It’s not just a handful of cases—it is systematic. The fossil fuel industry has an enormous economic interest in delaying climate action and the revolving door between politics and the fossils fuel lobby is a serious cause for alarm.”
According to Andersson, to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep global warming to as close as 1.5 degrees as possible, there is need to clamp down on conflict of interest to stop coal, gas and oil from leaving “their dirty fingerprints over our climate policy.”
He says European governments should support the call for a common sense conflict of interest policy so that the next COP can deliver an outcome that will put the world on the road towards a climate in balance.
And adding his voice to the debate, Augustine Njamshi of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), believes fossil fuel lobbyists have both a direct and indirect influence on climate policy.
Njamshi says the lack of ambition from developed parties in terms of emission cuts as well as provision of finance for developing parties is a result of bad influence from big polluters.
“For instance, in my opinion, delayed climate action, in particular, climate finance for African countries, is indirectly linked to big polluter influence,” said Njamshi. “They have a lot to lose if money is made available for countries to carry out their climate actions because their businesses depend on the current state of affairs.”
Meanwhile, Pascoe Sabido of Corporate Europe Observatory argued for strong advocacy to win the battle against big polluters having a field day at the UNFCCC negotiations.
“Strong advocacy and policy on conflict of interest should be adopted or else, the interests of fossil fuel sector will continue to have huge influence on climate policy,” said Sabido.
The conclusion of the report is that the revolving door phenomenon is systematic and widespread, as the study revealed at least 88 cases of revolving doors between ministers, advisors, regulators and politicians.
A further disturbing finding is that there is lack of adequate legislation to ensure that climate-policy making is not unduly influenced be vested interests, and where legislation exists, it is not properly applied.
The CSO coalition has therefore called for urgent action by interested parties to the UNFCCC to save climate policy from what they have called dirty fingerprints of big polluters.
BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - Africa continues to suffer enormous social and economic losses in billions of dollars as a result of climate change impacts.
A vulnerable continent that is burning and flooding at the same time needs finance to be able to achieve mitigation, adaptation and technology goals.
But without a clear roadmap for delivering $100 billion per year by 2020, as pledged by developed countries since 2009, developing countries are hindered in their ability to carry out their own climate actions.
Negotiators from the world's governments are gathering in Bonn, Germany from April 30 to May 10 for three simultaneous meetings under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Ironically, the United States, which has signaled it will not want to be a party to the Paris Agreement when implementation starts in 2020, is sitting and negotiating as a party.
“Our worry is that the world will once again be pressured to accommodate the United States and this is really very unfair because the concessions are already made in the Paris Agreement,” said Meena Raman of the Third World Network. “The solutions for addressing the climate challenge have to be fair and have to ensure that once again the poor and the planet are not sacrificed”.
Climate finance has become a sticking point in the climate talks since the withdrawal of $2 billion by the U.S. under Trump's administration.
And it is increasingly becoming a taboo to discuss climate finance with other developed countries, observed Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
“When finance becomes a taboo in this discussion, then there is no good faith in the discussions”, he said. “You want to sit here and tell nice stories when whole families are being swept by floods in West Africa?”
The conditional Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from developing countries in implementing the Paris Agreement will cost more than 4.3trillion dollars to be achieved.
African civil society therefore wants finance for climate action prioritized if the Paris Agreement should come to life.
“Africa strongly supports the Adaptation Fund to serve the Paris Agreement. However, we are dismayed with the shifting of goal posts by our partners who intend to delay the realization of actual financing of full costs of adaptation in Africa,” said Mithika Mwenda, Secretary General of PACJA at a press conference. “We urge our partners not to further delay the decision which is key in providing adaptation support to Africa”.
UN climate chief, Patricia Espinosa, has outlined three important goals to accomplish by the end of 2018 – building on the pre-2020 agenda, which charts the efforts of nations up to the official beginning of the Paris deal; unleashing the potential of the Paris deal by completing the operating manual; and building more ambition into countries national pledges.
But African civil society is demanding the rich world offers more detail on its commitments to climate finance without any delay in the Paris rulebook beyond COP24.
“The effective ambition of developing countries depends on the provision of means of implementation by developed countries,” said PACJA in a statement. “We strongly urge our African governments to rethink critically on the progress of climate talks as any position that contradicts that real climate change implications to Africa then will shift the burden of climate change to African countries”.
BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - Africa continues to suffer enormous social and economic losses in billions of dollars as a result of climate change impacts.
A vulnerable continent that is burning and flooding at the same time needs finance to be able to achieve mitigation, adaptation and technology goals.
But without a clear roadmap for delivering $100 billion per year by 2020, as pledged by developed countries since 2009, developing countries are hindered in their ability to carry out their own climate actions.
Negotiators from the world's governments are gathering in Bonn, Germany from April 30 to May 10 for three simultaneous meetings under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Ironically, the United States, which has signaled it will not want to be a party to the Paris Agreement when implementation starts in 2020, is sitting and negotiating as a party.
“Our worry is that the world will once again be pressured to accommodate the United States and this is really very unfair because the concessions are already made in the Paris Agreement,” said Meena Raman of the Third World Network. “The solutions for addressing the climate challenge have to be fair and have to ensure that once again the poor and the planet are not sacrificed”.
Climate finance has become a sticking point in the climate talks since the withdrawal of $2 billion by the U.S. under Trump's administration.
And it is increasingly becoming a taboo to discuss climate finance with other developed countries, observed Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
“When finance becomes a taboo in this discussion, then there is no good faith in the discussions”, he said. “You want to sit here and tell nice stories when whole families are being swept by floods in West Africa?”
The conditional Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from developing countries in implementing the Paris Agreement will cost more than 4.3trillion dollars to be achieved.
African civil society therefore wants finance for climate action prioritized if the Paris Agreement should come to life.
“Africa strongly supports the Adaptation Fund to serve the Paris Agreement. However, we are dismayed with the shifting of goal posts by our partners who intend to delay the realization of actual financing of full costs of adaptation in Africa,” said Mithika Mwenda, Secretary General of PACJA at a press conference. “We urge our partners not to further delay the decision which is key in providing adaptation support to Africa”.
UN climate chief, Patricia Espinosa, has outlined three important goals to accomplish by the end of 2018 – building on the pre-2020 agenda, which charts the efforts of nations up to the official beginning of the Paris deal; unleashing the potential of the Paris deal by completing the operating manual; and building more ambition into countries national pledges.
But African civil society is demanding the rich world offers more detail on its commitments to climate finance without any delay in the Paris rulebook beyond COP24.
“The effective ambition of developing countries depends on the provision of means of implementation by developed countries,” said PACJA in a statement. “We strongly urge our African governments to rethink critically on the progress of climate talks as any position that contradicts that real climate change implications to Africa then will shift the burden of climate change to African countries”.
BONN, Germany (PAMACC News) - From 30 April - 10 May 2018, the UN climate change negotiations will be held in Bonn, Germany. The negotiations come at a critical time as countries work to finalise the rules and processes to operationalise the Paris Agreement, while the impacts of climate change continue to intensify. We need to leave Bonn with a strong basis to begin textual negotiations and greater clarity around the Talanoa Dialogue process and outcome.
Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group, Gebru Jember Endalew, said: "Climate change is a critical issue and an urgent, global response is required. Lives and livelihoods across the world are on the line, particularly in the LDCs. We have a very small window of time left to develop a set of clear, comprehensive, and robust rules to enable full and ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement before the December 2018 deadline. At this Bonn negotiation, and as a matter of urgency, countries need to build on the foundations laid in Paris and agree on a strong architecture to implement the Paris Agreement that catalyses fair and ambitious action to steer the world away from dangerous climate change."
"Keeping global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius is a matter of survival. The LDCs look forward to the Talanoa Dialogue resulting in more ambitious action and support, as science tells us that even full implementation of current commitments under the Paris Agreement will not be enough to reach the 1.5 degree temperature goal. Countries must take immediate action to rapidly reduce emissions in line with their respective capacities and responsibilities for causing climate change and prepare for a sustainable future."
"As LDCs, we are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and we also face the new challenge of developing to lift our people out of poverty sustainably by leapfrogging to renewables rather than relying on fossil fuels. LDCs and other developing countries cannot adequately protect our communities from the impacts of climate change or reduce our emissions without the appropriate tools and resources. There remains a vast gap between the support needed and support received. The LDCs call on developed countries to finally deliver on their longstanding promise to mobilise at least USD 100bn a year and bridge the ever-widening finance gap before the distance becomes too great."
"The international community must act now to ensure our Paris goals do not slip out of reach. The world cannot afford to sit idle until the Paris Agreement's 2020 implementation period kicks off. Action needs to be taken, support provided, and ambition increased without delay. The more countries do now, the less severe the impacts of climate change will be."
"The international community needs to face up to the increasing loss and damage caused by climate change. Climate impacts are already all around us. The severity and frequency of floods, storms, droughts, sea level rise and other impacts is only increasing and hundreds of millions of people are at risk of being displaced. The LDCs look forward to sharing their experiences in the upcoming Suva Expert Dialogue, continuing to work towards a concrete finance plan for loss and damage, and establishing a permanent place for discussions around this important issue."
"The LDC group was pleased to see the Gender Action Plan adopted at COP23 last year. We now need to see gender considerations incorporated into all elements of the Paris Agreement rulebook. Women and children are often the worst impacted by climate change, but despite this continue to be key agents of change, leading their communities and nations to a prosperous and sustainable future.
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - Ongoing land reforms in many African nations like Liberia and Cameroon have yet to incorporate any special protection for vulnerable groups, who struggle to claim ownership of natural resources, activists say.
But civil society organisations and other activists are intensifying their efforts to push governments to speed up land reform processes and establish clear legislation securing the rights of vulnerable groups to own, access and control land and other natural resources.
In Liberia for example the International Land Coalition (ILC) Africa, has added its voice to that of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Working Group on Land Rights Reform in that country to demand for a people-centred land bill on land rights.
In a statement issued by ILC Africa’s Chair, Shadrack Omondi, on April 17 2018, the platform called on President George Weah and the Senate to review the Land Rights Act to ensure it responded to the needs of vulnerable communities.
"Liberia’s shared and sustained economic growthdepends on secured land rights for communities
and vulnerable groups," the statement noted.
It points out that the Land Rights Act (LRA) in Liberia as passed in August 2017 does not offer adequate protection for community land rights and thus risks plunging the the country into another circle of conflict.
Research suggests land disputes continue to fuel resource based conflicts in Africa. Such disputes mostly arise from weak land and natural resource tenure,which causes power imbalances and pushes different groups to their limits.
"Conflicts break out as communities seek for extra judicial solutions to secure their lives and livelihoods. Liberia’s Land Rights Act is a unique opening to ensure secure access to landrights and improved livelihoods for all, especially women, youth and Indigenous Peoples," the statement notes.
It called on the President and the Senate to seize the opportunity to build a strong,peaceful, just and equitable Liberia-and ensure that it can attract investments for development that is sustainable and the benefits from which are equally distributed.
A similar call was made in Cameroon recently by women landrights activist for African leaders to institute landreforms that include legal safeguards to protect women’s rights to land ownership.
The African Women's Network for Community Management of Forests,RECAFOF, an international NGO, believes only reforms that include legal safeguards giving women equal say in decisions made by customary and state authorities on managing land and forest resources will boost gender equality on the continent.
“We know that wherever land rights are being ignored, women are indisputably the most affected. Banding together and raising awareness of these issues is the first step toward ensuring all women’s rights are recognised,” Cécile Ndjebet, president of REFACOF, said in a statement.
KEY TO DEVELOPMENT
Ongoing land reforms in African nations such as Liberia,Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Senegal have yet to incorporate any special protection for women and other vulnerable communities according to ILC and REFACOF.
“Globally, people are starting to understand the contributions women make to development. The importance of securing land rights for women in achieving development can therefore not be over-emphasised,” said Ndjebet.
The ILC statement on its part called on the inclusion of all stakeholders, and especially communities, in finalising the land Bill, for Liberia to move to truly people-centred land governance and improve the lives of 85% of its population living in rural areas and depending on land for their shelter and livelihoods.
" We call upon all stakeholders to intensify their efforts towards promoting dialogue. We hope consensus can be built on how to strengthen the Bill and use it as a tool for promoting unity, wealth creation and sustainable peace," ILC Africa’s chair, Shadrack Omondi said.
It should be recalled that in 2014, former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf presented the Land
Rights Act (LRA) and in 2017, the Lower House of Parliament of Liberia voted the bill. However, with some newly added and amended provisions, Omondi
fears the bill could undermine community land rights and create future tensions.
Liberia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper notes that women are major players in the agricultural sector, making up the majority of small-holder producers and the agricultural labour force.
Women produce some 60 percent of agricultural goods and carry out 80 percent of trading activities in rural areas, but they have less access to productive inputs than men, including land, skills training, basic tools and technology, the strategy says.
The situation is similar in many developing countries,espacially in Africa. In Western and Central Africa, generally less than 10 percent of landholders are women, according to data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation.
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Research scientists, government and nongovernmental organisations’ representatives, entrepreneurs and pastoralists from Kenya, Senegal and Burkina Faso met in Nairobi on 12, November 2018 to share knowledge and experiences so as to strengthen the resilience of livestock systems in the future.
“The livestock sector in Africa, especially the extensive livestock, has for a long time been mystified on its contribution to crucial sectors such as the economy,” said Kamau Kuria, the Chief Executive Officer for Kenya Markets Trust (KMT).
The Regional Dialogue for Livestock Value Chain Transformation was organised by KMT in collaboration with International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) to support the resilience of extensive livestock production systems in semi-arid areas south of the Sahara, particularly in the Sahelian regions and in the Horn of Africa.
The dialogue was based on latest research findings from different studies in Kenya and Senegal under the Pathways to Resilience In Semi-Arid Economies (PRISE) project, which indicated that private sector actors along livestock value chains are diverse, ranging from private individuals to entrepreneurs to small-medium enterprises and larger actors.
“Studies have been done and evidences have been gathered from several arenas on the livestock value chain. It is now time to focus and relate that to actions that can show transformative results,” said Kuria.
Abdikarim Daud of KMT observed that in the meat value chain, there is disconnect between pastoralists who are the producers, with the meat industry. “There is need for the meat industry to drive the production,” he said, observing that the industry so far depends on brokers.
“Brokers can only choose the best animal, without telling the producers what the market demand is. But if the industry was to deal with the producers, then it will be possible for the producers to know what to do so as to satisfy the market demand,” said Daud.
Dr Stephen Moiko, one of the PRISE researchers concurred with Daud, saying that pastoralists usually produce for the market, but they do not understand the market. “Pastoralists do not sell the best. Instead they sell weaker animals to get money to solve immediate social needs,” he told the delegates.
Dr James Gakuo, an entrepreneur who buys severely emaciated animals to fatten them through an intensive feeding programme said that most pastoralists keep to their animals to a point of death especially during severe droughts. “We have now created a market for emaciated animals, and therefore pastoralists should not wait until their animals die,” he said.
He urged governments, NGOs and the private sector to invest in the fattening programmes for value addition as a way of helping pastoralists adapt to climate change.
“It is a pity when governments and NGOs decide to slaughter emaciated animals so as to give the meat to the poor as food aid,” said Gakuo. “Here is a scenario where drought is already killing animals, and the government and NGOs are also killing more animals. Are we not going to decimate all the animals, which are the lifeline for the pastoralists?” he paused.
If the same animals that are killed by governments and NGOs were to be fattened through an intensive feeding programme, they would fetch more income for the pastoralists and provide high quality meat for the market according to Gakuo.
The entrepreneur uses oil cakes from sunflower, cotton and barley to make the animal feed rations. “If the government invested in fattening programmes, then people from non-arid regions can take the advantage and start growing raw material crops such as sunflowers and cotton as an alternative source of income,” he said.
Livestock insurance was also found to be another relevant tool that can help pastoralists adapt to climate change.
According to a 2012 policy brief by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), a livestock revolution is taking place around the Horn of Africa - with US$1 billion trade in livestock and livestock products, plus associated economic activities – transport, marketing, financing and processing.
In Kenya, the livestock sub-sector contributes 14 percent to the Gross Domestic Product.
“Pastoralists need affordable insurance cover to cushion them from the effects of climate change,” said Hassan Bashir, the Group Chief Executive for Takaful Insurance of Africa (TIA).
In collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), TIA formed an innovative policy to cushion pastoralists and is now operational in eight counties in Kenya.
ILRI’s Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) project has been in partnership with TIA since 2013, when they introduced, for the first time in Africa, an Index-Based Livestock Takaful (IBLT) policy, which combines an Islamic-compliant financial instrument with innovative use of satellite imagery to determine forage availability.
“It is a perfect product whose payments are done through M-pesa, and the product is available in designated retail shops in the villages,” said Bashir.
Dr. Assane Beye, a research scientist from Senegal said that such a policy is a good innovation that should be introduced in West Africa.
Dr Mary Mbole-Kariuki from the African Union - Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) pointed out that Africa’s future is in the indigenous breeds.
“AU is in the process of setting up five gene banks for indigenous breed, from where governments and scientists can collect semen to ensure that our indigenous breeds remain afloat,” she said.
The delegates further talked about the importance of controlling pests and diseases, the need for pastoralists to work in organised groups, the different ways of rangeland degeneration and the need for governments to put research findings into action through policy implementation among other issues.
The Nairobi Dialogue was building on the first Regional Dialogue meeting held at the PCGC conference that discussed ‘Pastoralism in current global changes: stakes challenges and prospects’ held between 20 and 24th November 2017 in Dakar, Senegal.
