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African governments asked to commit to providing water for all
By Isaiah Esipisu
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (PAMACC News) - Government representatives from Africa, civil society organisations and experts in the water sectors are meeting in Dar Es Salaam to draw a roadmap through which leaders will make commitments at the highest level towards achieving a universal and equitable access to water and sanitation for all.
The event, dubbed Sixth Africa Water Week (AWW) and convened by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) in conjunction with the African Union Commission brings together over 1000 participants from 100 different African countries.
“In order for Africa to have a universal access to water, then we need goodwill from both governments, and the people,” said H. E. Mwai Kibaki, the immediate former president for Kenya and the UNESCO Special Envoy for Water in Africa.
Bai Mass Taal, the AMCOW Executive Secretary assured government representatives that his organisation was committed to improving stakeholder’s awareness of the implementable actions for achieving the set targets and actions.
He said that the organisation is also committed to strengthening corporations across countries with shared water resources and building stronger partnership for the implementation of the AMCOW Work Plan and the N’gor Declaration on Water Security and Sanitation.
“It is AMCOW's belief that the current funding landscape for the water sector is grossly insufficient to meet the financial deficit and, most importantly, achieve the Sustainable Development Goal number 6,” said Taal.
This, he continued, calls for innovative approaches for financing water and sanitation infrastructure taking into consideration the huge challenge facing Africa in the mobilisation of financial resources to achieve the SDG 6 target of ensuring that everyone has access to potable water and sanitation.
Her Excellency Rhoda P. Tumusiime, the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, African Union Commission called for a consensus on a common message from the deliberations in Tanzania.
“In the spirit of AMCOW’s mandate to promote cooperation, it is important that a key outcome of our deliberations in Dar es Salaam should be consensus on an a single message that will be carried by our Ministers responsible for Water Affairs in Africa to the political leadership of their individual Member States to support the wholesome integration,” she told the conference in a message read on her behalf.
“This should be a minimum standard for Africa – of the targets of the Africa Water Vision 2025 and the related African political commitments for achieving water and sanitation goals in Africa into the monitoring framework for the SDGs,” added Tumusiime.
CSOs call for rapid phase down of Short-lived climate pollutants
By Robert Muthami and Isaiah Esipisu
African Civil Society Organisations (CSO) have called for a rapid phase down of the Short Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) as a way of slowing down the current rate of global warming.
Based on a 2011 study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) titled ‘Integrated Assessment of Black Carbon and Tropospheric Ozone,’ reducing three of the SLCPs – black carbon, tropospheric ozone, and methane – has the potential to avoid up to 0.5°C global average warming by 2050 and 0.84°C in the Arctic by 2070.
And now, the African CSOs under the umbrella of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) in collaboration with Christian Aid are calling on all African governments and related players to become proactive in reducing some of the short-lived pollutants for the sake of the planet.
According to Benson Ireri, the Senior Policy Adviser at the Christian Aid, there are alternatives that can be used to reduce the use of some of the most lethal pollutants. “Hydrofluorocarbons, also known as super greenhouse gases used in refrigerating and air conditioning systems are some of the most lethal gases to the climate, and yet we use them on daily basis,” he said.
However, said Ireri, alternatives to the hydrofluorocarbons are available, and are already being explored in the developed world. However, it remains a mirage for the developing world.
According to Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General – PACJA, there is need for capacity building all over Africa, technology transfer, and political goodwill in order for the continent to understand and contextualize discourses related to Montreal Protocol, and which has remained abstract to many players since 1989 when it was ratified.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances such as hydrofluorocarbons that are responsible for ozone depletion.
The agriculture industry has been cited as the main source of hydrofluorocarbon pollution, given refrigeration of the farm produce, sea produce among many others. With the climate change, many households have installed air conditioners in houses to cushion them from the scorching heat, and they use thm in vehicles all over.
However, according to Robert Chimambo of the Zambia Climate Change Network (ZCCN), Africa has become a dumping ground for some of the pollutants. “All the hydrofluorocarbons are manufactured from abroad, and then sold to Africa. It is sad because most of the countries who manufacture these substances only do it for the African market. At home, they use alternative technologies that are free of hydrofluorocarbons,” he told a Civil Society forum in Kigali, Rwanda.
So far, there are high expectations in the upcoming Vienna meeting of the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Montreal Protocol-Conference of Parties in July and October, 2016 respectively in providing guidance in phasing down the Short Lived Climate Pollutants.
African Civil Society is expected to play a critical role the same way it has done in influencing the climate change negotiations under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, one of the key challenges is that most southern CSO have limited information about the Montreal Protocol processes due to its technical nature.
It is with the above rationale that PACJA in collaboration with Christian Aid and the Action for Environment and Sustainable Development (AESDN) have organized an African Civil Society Capacity Building workshop on the global phasedown of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) on 11th – 13th July 2016 on the sidelines of the 27th African Union Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
Participants drawn from African CSO’s across African are engaging in the discussions, exploring the gains and challenges under the engagement in the UNFCCC and lessons that could inform the engagement in the Montreal Protocol. From the discussions, African CSO’s have underscored the need to engage and influence the protocol as it has huge potential in contributing to the climate change mitigation targets, hence contributing to progress made under the UNFCCC process.
The Global phase down of the SCLPs is in line with the UNFCCC-COP 21 commitments adopted in Paris and as part of the obligations under the Agreement, countries have now embarked in the implementation of their Nationally Determined Contributions.
“As of January 2015, 27 countries have specifically mentioned SLCPs, air pollution, or relevant mitigation co-benefits in their INDC submissions and the INDCs of Mexico, Chile, and Nigeriainclude separate specific sections on SLCPs and also specifically discuss black carbon mitigation”.
This therefore affirms that there is need for African CSO’s to influence the Montreal Protocol as it provides an opportunity for countries to realize their mitigation ambitions under the country specific nationally determined Contributions.
At the end of the three day’s workshop African CSO’s will release a statement targeting key decision makers aimed at influencing the Montreal Protocol Conference of Parties to be held in Kigali, Rwanda in October, 2016.
The Big Shift: A move to advocate for access to clean Energy launched in Africa
By Isaiah Esipisu and Robert Muthami
KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) – African Civil Society Organisations, on the sidelines of the ongoing 27th African Union and Governments Summit in Kigali-Rwanda have launched an energy advocacy initiative dubbed the “The Big Shift” aimed at enhancing energy access among millions of African Energy poor.
The Initiative is in line with the African Coalition for Sustainable Energy and Access (ACSEA) launched during of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), and spearheaded by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
“African States continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels that are becoming more and more expensive for governments and households as prices are skyrocketing,” said Benson Ireri, the Senior Policy Advisor at the Christian Aid.
He noted that 70 percent of the African population still does not have access to modern clean energy services that are efficient, reliable.
According to Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General for PACJA, there are two global crises in the energy sector which often seem to have contradictory solutions. “The urgency of tackling climate change through a rapid global shift to low-carbon energy is one of the issues, and the secondly is the fact that more than two billion people continue to live in poverty because they have little or no access to clean and reliable energy,” he said.
And now, through a shift of investment away from centralized fossil fuel based energy towards diverse renewable energy sources, the CSOs believe that it is possible to deliver clean energy to developing countries, helping them overcome energy poverty in a way that will not lead to further devastating levels of global warming.
However,the CSO representatives said that, the shift will require a great political goodwill and a massive shift in energy investment strategies across the globe.
Over the next three years, the Big Shift campaign targets to build an international advocacy movement, supported by clear national and regional evidence from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. This is to ensure that the tens of trillions of dollars available for energy infrastructure projects are directed towards low-carbon renewable energy.This will allow the world’s poorest countries to pursue development agendas which will not have dangerous implications for the climate.
So far, the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) has launched an initiative known as Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), which aims to produce 300 gigawatts (GW) of electricity for the continent by 2030.
The bank also has another initiative known as‘The New Deal on Energy for Africa,’which charts the way for a transformative partnership on energy focuses on mobilizing support and funding for the initiative from five key areas.
This is among many other many energy deals targeting Africa, such as the Obama Power Africa Initiative, and the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4A).
The ‘Big Shift’ will therefore track the implementation of investment under these energy initiatives.
“We need other civil society organisations to join the Big Shift initiative and demand for investment in the energy sector to be moved from fossil fuel to renewable or low carbon energy,” said Mithika Mwenda.
The initiative was launched with support from PACJA, Christian Aid and Action for Environment and Sustainable Development Network (AESDN).
Change global food system to combat hunger, use natural resources
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) – A major overhaul of the global food system is urgently needed if the world is to combat hunger, use natural resources more efficiently and stem environmental damage, the International Resource Panel (IRP) says.
In its latest report, the IRP – a consortium of 34 internationally renowned scientists, over 30 national governments and other groups hosted by UNEP – calls for a switch to a “resource-smart” food system that changes the way food is grown, harvested, processed, traded, transported, stored, sold and consumed.
Current food systems, which the IRP says are “inefficient” and “unsustainable”, are responsible for 60 per cent of global terrestrial biodiversity loss and about 24 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
They are also responsible for the overfishing of 29 per cent of commercial fish populations and the overexploitation of 20 per cent of the world’s aquifers.
Although food production has increased across the world, more than 800 million people remain hungry, more than two billion suffer from micronutrient deficiencies – mainly vitamin A, iodine, iron and zinc – and more than two billion people are overweight or obese, the report notes.
Compounding the problem, pressure on natural resources is expected to rise as populations grow and demand for food increases.
To combat these problems, the IRP says a “resource-smart” food system should be adopted, a system that adheres to three principles: low environmental impacts, the sustainable use of renewable resources and the efficient use of all resources.
“We have the knowledge and the tools at our disposal to feed all the people in the world while minimising harm to the environment. A better, more sustainable food system can allow us to produce and consume food without the detrimental effects on our natural resources,” UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said.
He added, “The environment is not the only beneficiary of this system. More sustainable consumption and production of food will also be a boon to human health and the goal to end hunger throughout the world.”
To help the world shifts to a more sustainable food system, the IRP has come up with a list of 12 key recommendations for governments, private companies, civil society and citizens.
They include reducing food loss and waste and moving away from resource-intensive products such as meat, ‘empty calories’ and highly processed food.
Governments also need to connect rural and urban centres, especially in developing regions, where urban actors (for example supermarkets) could invest in regional supply chains and improve the position of smallholders.
Urban consumers should also be connected with how their food is produced and how it reaches their plates, and inform them about both the health and environmental consequences of dietary choices.
Other recommendations include protecting peri-urban zones around cities and use them for local food production and decoupling food production from resource use and environmental impacts, and replace certain inputs (such as pesticides) with ecosystem services.
The IRP report also recommends removing harmful subsidies, such as fossil fuel subsidies, that encourage unsustainable production and practices.
“The need for housing that involves using sand to make bricks should be banned. Taking sand from river banks messes up river water cycles, taking away top soil that is crucial for agriculture,” said Ashok Khosla, former IRP co-chair.
He called for adoption of traditional food production systems to protect the environment.
“In the past, our parents used one calorie to produce 300 calories of food. Today it is the reverse. We need to go back to the past because there was limited destruction of ecosystems,” he said.
Compounding current problems, rising wealth in developing countries will lead people to adopt diets that are richer in resource-intensive products – meat, fish, fruits, vegetables and highly processed foods – at a time when climate change will make producing food increasingly difficult.
As per-capita income rises, people’s diets change from one that is largely rich in carbohydrates to a diet richer in calories, sugars, and lipids, with more livestock-based products. In combination with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, this has led to a sharp increase in obesity, the report states.
The report blames the high consumption of animal-based products and highly processed foods for triggering “disproportionate environmental costs” while undermining public health due to obesity related disease.
Globally, chicken meat and dairy consumption are expected to increase by 20 per cent over the next 10 years while the consumption of pig meat and beef is also projected to increase, both by around 14 per cent, according to the report.
Ibrahim Thiaw, UNEP’s Deputy Executive Director said the use of resources by humanity is not sustainable and scientific knowledge is key to finding solutions to the problem.
“We have a dilemma because we must feed billions of people without depleting the natural resources,” Thiaw said.
Janez Potocnik, IRP’s co-chair said the world’s population will be 9.7 billion in 2050 yet 60 per cent of the ecosystems are already degraded.
“Current food systems must change because they are unsustainable. Currently, 24 per cent of global gas emissions are related to food production,” he said.
He added, “We need to produce food sustainably with no land degradation, no depletion and efficiently with high productivity and low environmental damage. This is so because one billion people depend on traditional food systems, four billion depend on intermediaries and two billion on modern food systems bought in supermarkets.”
The report lists various options which at different points of intervention and by diverse actors throughout the system, could lead to resource efficiency gains of up to 30 per cent for certain resources and impacts.
Some of these options include sustainable intensification’ of crop production – higher yields without increasing environmental impacts.
Better feed conversion and higher productivity of pastoral systems and higher nutrient efficiency along the food chain – better recycling of minerals in animal manure and use of by-products or food waste as feed or compost.
Other recommendations are more efficient aquaculture systems – lower nutrient losses and less impact on coastal systems and reduction of overconsumption and change of unhealthy dietary patterns – shift in affluent societies from animal-based to more plant-based diets.
“If the above changes are not made, land degradation, the depletion of aquifers and fish stocks and contamination of the environment will lower future food production capacity. It will undermine the food systems upon which our food security depends, as well as cause further degradation of other ecosystem functions,” the report warns.
