ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - There is a significant disconnect between global policy optimism on the benefits of REDD+ and local realities, experts said Thursday at the start of a two-day talkson “Market policy versus market mechanisms in the implementation of the Paris Agreement”.
“REDD+ is alive but not well” Dr. Adeniyi Kashwan of the University of Connecticut told a cross-section of climate change experts in Addis Ababa.
As climate change continues to threaten mankind, the world depends in part on forests to diminish its devastating effects.
“Forests cover 30% of the world’s land surface and are also one of the world’s best methods of storing carbon, absorbing 2.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year and storing billions more” said Dr. Wallace Anacho, an environmentalist.
According to scientists, deforestation rates have increased significantly in Africa in the last decades jeopardizing the efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change. One initiative to stop deforestation is Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and (forest) Degradation commonly referred to as REDD+. About 29 African countries are involved in the REDD+ project.
“The basic idea of REDD+ is that, you pay countries and indigenous populations to plant and protect forests” said Dr. Yetibitu Moges of the Ethiopian Ministry of environment, forest and climate change.
The payment usually comes in form of credits referred to as carbon credits and it is expected to provide an alternative way of life to indigenous populations that hitherto relied on forest products to survive.
That is what is supposed to happen but experts are now worried that since the initiation of REDD+ by the United Nations, rights of some local communities have been abused.
“The future is not as bright as expected. In many countries we are seeing rights abuses. Here, we are talking about right to land, right to forests, right to take things out of the forest not just timber but vegetable food, non-timber forest products that people rely on for survival” said Dr. Adeniyi adding that bans on forest exploitation have in many cases proved detrimental to local communities.
“In enforcing these bans we see the use of military force, police and rangers often going into the forest with sophisticated ammunition to harass and terrorize communities. We have seen these in many African countries sometimes resulting in the loss of lives”.
The theory that you exclude indigenous communities from using the forest and then give them alternative means to survive has in many cases not materialized on the field, Dr. Adeniyi said.
“The carbon credit is often shared between consultants, sometimes foreign consultants and governments and a little bit offered to communities. So what is given to communities, if at all anything is given to them from REDD+ benefits is nothing compared to what they are losing. These benefits cannot sustain livelihoods that indigenous people have developed over time”
In spite of the shortcomings, there is a common agreement that REDD+ remains one of the most effective ways of protecting forests. At the Addis Ababa talks, experts were unanimous that there needs to be checks and balances from journalists, researchers and civil society actors on the field to follow up and report malpractices.
“We also have to recognize that REDD+ is not going anywhere if we do not address issues of social justice alongside issues of environmental conservation. The two have to go hand in hand. So you can’t keep the forests at the expense of peoples’ livelihoods and right to survival” Dr. Adeniyi added.
Essentially, fresh procedures should be introduced to get local communities of their own volition, realize that they own the forests and must protect them by themselves if they must survive, the experts suggested.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, (PAMACC News) – Participants attending the African Climate Talks II (ACT!-II) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia want Africa to change how it does business to reap the benefits of the Paris Agreement.
Attending the two-day talks dubbed “Market policy versus market mechanisms in the implementation of the Paris Agreement”, that begun on March 23, speakers called for an urgent shift in how the continent will forge ahead to escape the consequences of climate change.
Ambassador Lumumba Di-Aping, from South Sudan and former chair of the G77 called for strengthening of the current regime, noting that the current Paris Agreement is fundamentally flawed and inadequate.
“The agreement will be the main basis for multilateral cooperation during the first period of commitments (2020-2030). The African Continent in this new architecture is tragically weaker than even before,” Di-Aping said.
He urged Africa to reinvent itself consistently through science.“We must think“out of the box” to build the framework for a more effective effort from 2025 onwards – one consistent with Africa’s survival and prosperity,” he said.
Dr James Murombedzi, the Officer in Charge of the Africa Climate Centre Policy (ACPC) noted that the continent needs to invest in strong evidence based African narrative.
“This narrative should have a science, research and policy interface. We also should invest in informed societies that participate in the shaping of policies and strengthen capacities of countries,” Murombedzi said.
Prof Zehurin Woldu, Acting Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia urged participants to devise ways and means of tackling climate change disruptions.
“The temperatures are rising and Africa is suffering. Let us unite to save our continent. Let us develop sustainable ways of dealing with climate change,” Woldu said.
Di-Aping noted that Africa must move beyond the old dichotomy of “mitigation and adaptation.”
“We must look at each sector – agriculture, industry etc – and focus on integrating climate considerations into wider industrial and development planning in an integrated way. The climate regime must focus not just on “emissions reductions” but on the real solutions needed to achieve them,” Di-Aping said.
He urged for negotiations which provide a space where these with problems, with solutions and with money, can meet as part of a structured process.
“We need to make the UNFCCC more relevant to the real world. The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative is to be commended as an important step in the energy sector - we need matching initiatives in each other sector,” he said.
He called for technology and infrastructure marshal plan which can implement solutions in practice to meet Africa’s development goals.
“Let us think about the financial sector and financial instruments and engineering. If we need a major plan to address 1.50C, the question arises how to fund it. Clearly the $10 billion in the GCF will not be enough; and developed countries have no intention of delivering $100 billion in practice,” Di-Aping said.
He called for a permanent negotiating forum supported by government missions to enable more systematic discussion of solutions and how to implement them in practice.
“Meeting for a few weeks a year is simply not realistic if the objective is to stabilize the Earth’s climate and maintain the conditions needed for the continuation of civilization,” Di-Aping said.
He called on African leaders to recognize that the continent faces an existential crisis that it cannot alone solve.
“Our survival is at stake. We must convince or find ways to pressure or coerce -- other countries into doing their fair share,” he said.
He noted that Africa needs stronger science from an African perspective and Climate Institutions.
“We need an African Climate Science Working Group – an African IPCC led by and for Africans. We do not have an AU Commissioner for Climate Change. It is notable that there is no permanent secretariat supporting the African Group, and that we shamefully remain reliant on foreign donors for much of the support to our technical experts,” Di-Aping said.
He also urged Africa to find ways to exert greater pressure on all countries to achieve 1.50C and 20C goals.
“Our trade policies and foreign direct investments (FDI) cost structures reflect the need for financing mitigation and adaptation in each sector. Can we make access to resources, including fossil fuels,conditional upon climate action and climate funding? he posed.
Prof Laban Ogallo of the University of Nairobi called for trans-boundary efforts to make sure that one country’s wrongs or rights do not affect neighbours.
“Many African countries share rivers, mountains, lakes, coastal lines among many resources. We need to work together so that we can achieve common goals across the continent,” Ogallo said.
Dr Adeniyi Asiyanbi of the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom said REDD+ is replete with severe rights abuses, safeguards notwithstanding.
“REDD+ is alive but certainly not dead. Communities participating in the scheme are disillusioned due to unmet expectations. However, carbon forestry logic will persist and will reflect emerging political trends. Governments and international institutions will also seek new alliances under this scheme,” Asiyanbi said.
Prof.Godwell Nhamu of the University of South Africa urged African negotiators to vigorously negotiate for all they want.
“Half a loaf is better than nothing” is a myth. Half a loaf remains half a loaf. Let us negotiate for a full loaf. If our negotiators can’t ask for what we want, they should give way for those who are willing to get what they ask for in the UNFCCC process,” Nhamu said.
He noted that agriculture is the backbone of African economies and countries should give it the prominence it deserves.
“There is minimal reference of agriculture on African NDCs. Rwanda mentions it 23 times while South Africa mentions it twice. If we forsake agriculture, then we have missed the point,” he said.
Prof David Lessole of the University of Botswana called for specific and urgent interventions to address effects of climate change.
“We run a workshop on $20,000 and end it at a talking point. If the $20,000 was given to a group of women to construct a sand dam, they could break the cycle of poverty,” Lessole said.
He added, “Seems in Africa, we do not have the mouth to eat the climate money. We use our mouths to talk too much when others are eating.”
Prof Cush Ngonzo of Health College of Kenge, DR Congo insisted on a research-based approach in addressing climate change shocks.
“Africa does not lack the capacity to deliver on its promises. We should talk about capabilities of implementing the same. The continent has a strong reservoir of research brains which we need to nurture and use in solving our problems,” Ngonzo said.
Prof Seth Osafo called on developed countries to meet their pledges in climate change commitments.
“We need to quickly finish drafting the Paris Agreement rule book so that we implement the pact. African countries however, need to pursue policies that can be implemented as some of them are hard to implement,” Osafo said.
Dr Yitebitu Moges, national REDD+ coordinator, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ethiopia said the country’s green growth path cuts across its seven economic sectors.
“We aim to achieve a 64 per cent reduction in national green house emissions by 2030. Agriculture and forestry contribute close to 85 per cent of the baseline emissions,” Moges said.
Governments from over 41 African countries alongside private sector, civil society and development partners, are in Nairobi this week to explore ways of achieving cleaner mobility across the region.
The week-long meeting which is dubbed “the Africa clean mobility week” seeks to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles in Africa by leveraging on technological advancements driving low-carbon mobility within and outside the region.
The Africa clean mobility week, according to the conveners, represents Africa’s quest to transit to cleaner mobility, building on the outcomes of the 2014 Africa Sustainable Transport Forum.
It would be recalled that African ministers, at this forum held in Nairobi in 2014, adopted 13 action points aimed at boosting Africa’s capacity to harness the impact of cleaner mobility on health, environment and economic growth in the region
Transportation and climate change
Transportation remains at the very core of development. The sector, considered as an essential enabler of business, comprises movement of persons, products or services using road, air, rail or water.
As important as this sector is, it is not insulated from the impacts of climate change such as heavy rains, sea level rise and pollution. It is also a significant contributor of greenhouse gas emissions which lead to climate change.
According to a new briefing published by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and the Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS), physical impacts of climate change on primary industries are likely to include damage to infrastructure and industrial capital assets, and could reduce availability of renewable natural resources including water.
The briefing which distilled the key findings from the recently released Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report for the transport sector indicates that most sector scenarios project that global demand for industrial products will increase by 45–60% by 2050 relative to 2010 production levels.
Rising demand for products used to reduce GHG emissions and to adapt to climate impacts could, perversely, create pressures to increase industrial emissions, the briefing asserts.
Also, a 2016 World Bank report says that transport was the largest energy consuming sector in 40 percent of countries worldwide in 2012. It was second-largest consumer in the remaining countries. According to the report, carbon dioxide gas emissions from energy are expected to grow by 40 percent between 2013 and 2040.
Combating climate change through clean mobility initiatives therefore becomes a right step in the right direction.
Imperatives of cleaner mobility in Africa
Across the world, the challenge of curbing or decreasing the sector’s contribution to climate change particularly in urban centres remains ever present.
In Africa, urban transport and the transition to low-carbon mobility have remained strange bed fellows owing largely to commuters’ willingness to leave their cars at home and turn to greener modes such as public transit, cycling, or walking.
Getting Africans to make the switch appears an uphill task as decades of car-centric development, combined with the car culture which projects the private car as a status symbol, have made it hard for African governments to take people out of their vehicles.
With unprecedented motorization rate spurred by high rates of urbanization and economic growth, most countries in the region are not able to plan and provide adequate transport infrastructure and services.
In addition to this, the Stockholm Environment Institute in 2012 reported that only a few sub-Saharan countries operate routine monitoring systems for air quality monitoring standards (Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe).
Out of the countries investigated, the report discovered that 27 have environment protection acts which were poorly implemented or not implemented at all despite the specifications about air quality in them. This is despite evidence that poor air quality could lead to around 50,000 deaths a year in the region.
A platform for clean mobility solutions
Despite these challenges, all hope appears not lost as the clean mobility week aspires to develop strategies that promote the importation of cleaner, more fuel efficient vehicles; how tools to assess fuel economy policy impacts will be disseminated; and opportunities to leapfrogging to electric motorcycles, electric vehicles and electric buses.
Already, the Africa clean mobility week has recorded a milestone with the signing of an e-mobility partnership agreement between TAILG and the UN Environment on Tuesday.
The agreement targets the introduction of electric vehicles in Africa and other areas of the world by TAILG, a Chinese firm that manufactures electric vehicles.
Speaking on the sidelines of the clean mobility week, Xu Rong, TAILG Marketing Director, said the agreement will help governments of Africa and other areas of the world start phasing out defective vehicles, thus curbing air pollution.
"We intend to show the benefits of driving electric vehicles in accelerating clean environment that is free of pollution," Xu added.
Access to financing opportunities for cleaner mobility initiatives such as this will take centre stage during the week just as case studies of inclusive transport programmes mainly through investment in non-motorized transport and public transport infrastructure will be shared.
The Africa clean mobility week is expected to draw to a close on the 16th of March 2018 after spotlighting the role of media and the relevance of South-South cooperation on sustainable transport management.
MIDRAND, South Africa (PAMACC News) – Legislators at the Pan African Parliament (PAP) are eager to seek accountability by industrialised countries, whose activities have resulted in excess emission of greenhouse gasses that are causing global warming, but the African civil society on climate change has a different message.
These were some of the ideas at a training for Pan-African Parliamentarians conducted by the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) in collaboration with the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and the African Climate Legislative Initiative (ACLI) on uptake and use of climate information services (CIS)by vulnerable communities. The event convened at the PAP in Midrand, South Africa on the 10th March 2018 was attended by 31 members of parliament drawn from across the continent.
The training event was organized under the Pan-African component of the Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER) programme, which is implemented by ACPC. Mr. Frank Rutabingwa, the WISER coordinator at ACPC, informed participants that the objective of WISER is to contribute to enhancement of the policy and enabling environment for increased application of CIS in development planning.
Speaking at the event, participants recalled that 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.
According to Mithika Mwenda, the PACJA Secretary General, there is urgent need for legislators to work hand in hand with the civil society and researchers for climate adaptation and in advancing the climate discourse at the global level.
“We all need to embrace the Talanoa dialogue introduced in the UN Climate negotiation process,” said Mithika. The purpose of Talanoa is to share stories, ideas, skills, experiences, build empathy and to facilitate wiser decisions for the collective good.
Amongin Jacquiline, the Chairperson of the PAP Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Natural resources and Environment agreed with Mithika, saying that the Talanoa dialogue will help in stock taking of the achievements so far, as well as the challenges, which should inform the way Africa should engage in global climate negotiations.
In addition, Augustine Njamnshi, a board member of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) noted that “The changing climatic conditions is a problem all over Africa, and the first thing we must do, is accept that there is a problem that must be tackled immediately before pursuing those who caused it”.
A Kenyan study commissioned by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Canada and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and conducted by scientists from the Kenya Markets Trust (KMT) through a project known as Pathways to Resilience in Semi-arid Economies (PRISE), reveals that cattle population in the country has reduced by over 26% between 1977 and 2016.
“Our projections show that temperature is going to increase even further in the coming years, and the impact is likely going to be more devastating,” said Dr Mohammed Said, one of the PRISE researchers.
During the training, the lead trainer, Stephen Mutimba pointed out that the African continent, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, is exposed to climate variability and extremes at frequencies which exceed normal thresholds, and that such events could significantly erode gains already made in poverty reduction. There is therefore need for different countries to devise coping mechanisms so as to save livelihoods.
The trainer also underscored that governments can only prepare for disasters that may result from the extreme weather events only if they have access to adequate climate information.“Climate information and services are key resources for governments and communities to prepare for these changes and when well integrated into policy and practice, they can help reverse this trend and enhance cross-sectoral climate resilient development,” he told the legislators.
Studies have shown that Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change, especially in water, agriculture, forestry, and coastal development sectors, while the World Food Programme estimates that about 650 million people live in arid or semi-arid areas where floods and droughts impact lives and productivity.
In the arable land areas in Sub-Saharan Africa, scientists say that there will be a decrease of 19% in maize yields, and 68% for bean yields. As a result, severe child stunting (leading to higher mortality risk) could increase by 31%–55% across the region by 2050 due to climate change.“The earlier we start tackling the challenge of climate change therefore, the better for our continent,” said Njamnshi.
The ACPC and PACJA committed to continue the engagement with both PAP and ACLI in order to further strengthen awareness and catalyse action on CIS application in development through robust policies and plans.
MIDRAND, South Africa (PAMACC News) - Legislators at the Pan African Parliament are eager to pursue industrialised countries, whose activities have resulted in excess emission of greenhouse gasses that have led to global warming, but the African civil society on climate change has a different message.
Latest research findings in Kenya for example, show that temperatures have risen in all the country’s 21 semi arid counties with five of them surpassing the 1.5 °C mark in the past 50 years. This, according to the study, has led to sharp reduction in livestock population, impacting heavily on livelihoods.
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.
“The changing climatic conditions is a problem all over Africa, and the first thing we must do, is accept that there is a problem that must be tackled immediately before pursuing those who caused it,” said Augustine Njamnshi, a board member of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), which brings together over 1000 African climate related civil society organisations.
“If a man puts your house on fire, will you start by pursuing the man, or will you try and put out the fire, then follow up with the arsonist thereafter?” asked Njamnshi during a training workshop for African Members of Parliament in Midrand, South Africa.
The Kenyan study, which was conducted by scientists from the Kenya Markets Trust (KMT), commissioned by 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) reveals that cattle population has reduced by over 26% between 1977 and 2016.
“Our projections show that the temperatures are going to increase even further in the coming years, and the impact is likely going to be more devastating,” said Dr Mohammed Said, one of the PRISE researchers.
During the MPs training in Midrand, the lead trainer, Stephen Mutimba pointed out that African continent, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, is exposed to climate variability and extremes at frequencies which exceed normal thresholds, and that such events could significantly erode gains already made in poverty reduction.
There is therefore need for different countries to devise coping mechanisms so as to save livelihoods.
Mutimba said that governments can only prepare for disasters that may result from the extreme weather events only if they have access to adequate climate information.
“Climate information and services are key resources for governments and communities to prepare for these changes and when well integrated into policy and practice, they can help reverse this trend and enhance cross-sectoral climate resilient development,” he told the legislators.
According to Mithika Mwenda, the PACJA Secretary General, there is urgent need for legislators to work hand in hand with the civil society and researchers for climate adaptation and in advancing the climate discourse at the global level.
“We all need to embrace the Talanoa dialogue,” said Mithika. ‘Talanoa’ is a traditional word used in Fiji and across the Pacific to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. The purpose of Talanoa is to share stories, build empathy and to make wise decisions for the collective good. The process of Talanoa involves the sharing of ideas, skills and experience through storytelling.
Amongin Jacquiline, the Chairperson of the PAP Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Natural resources and Environment agreed with Mithika, saying that the Talanoa dialogue will help in stock taking of the achievements so far, as well as the challenges, which should inform the way Africa should engage in global climate negotiations.
Studies have shown that Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change, especially in water, agriculture, forestry, and coastal development sectors.
World Food Programme estimates that about 650 million people live in arid or semi-arid areas where floods and droughts impact lives and productivity.
In the arable land areas within the Sub-Saharan Africa region, scientists say that there will be a decrease of 19% in maize yields, and 68% for bean yields. As a result, severe child stunting (leading to higher mortality risk) could increase by 31%–55% across the region by 2050 due to climate change.
“The earlier we start tackling the challenge of climate change, the better for our continent,” said Njamnshi.
The one day training was organised by the Africa Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) in collaboration with PACJA to enhance MPs' knowledge and understanding of the potential application of Climate Information Sercice policies in development planning with the aim of catalyzing the uptake and use of climate services by vulnerable communities.
DJA, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - The Dja Conservation Complex in Cameroon globally recognized for its importance in biodiversity is increasingly in danger. Reports by the African Wildlife Foundation says the Dja and its wildlife face an uncertain future with rampant poaching, timber exploitation, the expansion of industries like mining and forestry and a lack of adequate support.
The government says it is hence working in partnership with other stakeholders to reinforce protection of the forest and its surrounding rich resources.
It is against this backdrop that the government, through the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT) recently signed a partnership convention with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to handle environmental aspects of the Integrated Development and Planning Programme of the Dja Mining Loop and the Adjacent Border Area (PADI DJA).
Mining operations are expected to take place in the Dja Faunal Reserve which spans across the South and East Regions, thus protecting the important animal and plant species therein becomes imperative, officials say.
Hanson Njiforti, Director of WWF-Cameroon Country Office Programme who signed for his institution pointed on the need to reduce the human and environmental impact of any development project in the area.
According to Hanson Njiforti the convention will give WWF a legal framework to exercise in protecting the Dja. “We sometimes neglect the impact of some of our activities on the environment. A project carried out without considering the impact on the environment can cost us a lot more,” he said, noting that the convention was a good step in the right direction.
WWF Cameroon is expected to provide its assistance, technical expertise and support to PADI DJA, with the principal objective of ameliorating the living conditions of the affected population. WWF Cameroon will also have the task of promoting good governance in the execution of the project and put in place transparency mechanisms to guarantee proper usage of resources allocated to the project among others.
Blondeau Talatala, Coordinator of PADI DJA said they are handling all concerns in view of the future exploitation of the Mbalam iron ore and other similar mining projects in the area.
The Dja reserve was created in 1950, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Since 1992, the reserve has been managed by ECOFAC, the European Union’s Central African Forestry Ecosystems programme.
Covering an area of more than 500,000 hectares, the reserve has important populations of chimpanzees, gorillas, elephants and buffalo. It is thought to contain some of the highest levels of biodiversity compared to any other forest in Africa.
But the Dja reserve has also long been the source of conflict with local communities who are angered at their exclusion from the reserve and the imposition of strict anti-hunting bans.
