Climate action is a necessity and opportunity to forge healthy sustainable future

United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has issue a call to action to meet the climate challenge.

Speaking to students, business leaders and academics at the New York University Stern School of Business, Mr. Guterres described both the increasing risks from climate change and the compelling opportunities provided by climate action to create jobs, generate economic growth and build the foundations for a safer and more stable world.
                                                                                                         
“The effects of climate change are dangerous and they are accelerating,” he says.   “It is absolutely essential that the world implements the Paris Agreement – and that we fulfil that duty with increased ambition.”

Mr. Guterres stressed that climate action is already under way, and that countries and companies that are involved will reap the rewards.

“Thousands of private corporations, including major oil and gas companies, are taking their own action”, Mr. Guterres said.  “They know that green business is good business.  It is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.”

“The sustainability train has left the station.  Get on board or get left behind.  Those who fail to bet on the green economy will be living in a grey future. “Those who embrace green technologies will set the gold standard for economic leadership in the 21st century.”

Mr. Guterres laid out a five-point action plan to mobilize the world behind climate action.

First, intensified political engagement to raise the bar on efforts to limit temperature rise to well below 2 degrees and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.

Second, stronger, integrated support by the entire United Nations development system for Governments as they strive to meet climate commitments and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Third, engagement with Governments and major actors, including the coal, oil and gas industries, to accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy.

Fourth, heightened efforts to mobilize national and international resources for adaptation, resilience, and the implementation of national climate action plans.

Fifth, new and strengthened partnerships, including with the private sector and through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation.

The Secretary-General intends to convene a climate summit in 2019 and is strongly committed to working with all Governments and partners to bridge divergent views and forge a shared vision of the way forward to address climate change -- an unprecedented threat but also an an unparallelled opportunity.
 

Sweetpotato: the next food security crop

The production of sweetpotato in Ghana is less than 20 percent of targeted production levels, mainly hindered by perception that the crop is food for poor people.

But the role of sweetpotato is becoming more important and substantial in fostering household food and nutrition diversification.

The orange-fleshed sweetpotato varieties, for instance, can contribute to combating Vitamin A Deficiency and can also serve as wheat flour substitute in processed products.

Interest groups in food and agriculture want sweetpotato to be seen as the next crop the country should be projecting, due the potentials in food security and industrial value addition, as well as its growing export demand.

“If you link up the future of potato and starch in general to the car industry, you realize that even an over production can be mopped up by the vehicle industry, because they can use most of that material to build the dashboards that you so comfortably want to sit in,” observed Joseph Faalong, a director at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

He however says there is the need to raise the productivity of potato higher, by creating interest in the business potentials of sweet potato production, especially among the youth.

“To do potato on a large scale, we need to devise mechanisms for lifting the crop. If we as researchers can look more into mechanical harvesters, machinery that can lift the crop on a large scale, then we’ll be doing a lot of justice to productivity,” he added.

The International Sweetpotato Centre (CIP), in collaboration with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is running a training of trainers’ course on “Everything You Need to Know About Sweet Potato”.

Project Coordinator, Dr. Ibok Oduro of the KNUST, noted there are business opportunities along the sweetpotato value chain; from planting to marketing and processing of the crop.

“Sweet potato gives a variety of avenues for people to create business and that is why we think the training of trainers will empower them to be able to do such things,” she said, adding breeders are developing seed varieties that are resistant to diseases and also looking at machines for peeling sweet potatoes for industrial attraction.

The Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the CSIR has developed and released 12 high yielding sweetpotato varieties, which yield 2-3 times higher than the traditional varieties.

Dr. Oduro is encouraging Ghanaians to particularly look at potato leaf production as a viable agricultural venture.

“With sweet potato, within four months to five months you harvest; so it means three times in a year, you have something to sell… the leaf is very rich in anti-oxidants,” she said.

CIP has been working to promote sweet potato in Ghana, through partnerships with local institutions on post-harvest handling, techniques in breeding systems

“Sweet potato was an orphaned crop but now with the training, we are opening the mind of people on how we can use and harness sweetpotato like other crops,” said Putri Ernawati Abidin, Project Manager at the International Potato Centre (CIP).

In Ghana, CIP has set a goal of reaching nearly 500,000 households with resilient nutritious sweetpotato by 2020.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh

AFR100.org celebrates commitments to restore more than 75 million hectares of land across Africa

The African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) has launched a new web platform today – AFR100.org – to celebrate and advance the efforts of 22 African countries that have committed to restore more than 75 million hectares of degraded and deforested land. 

The new site, available in English and French, gives visitors unprecedented access to knowledge and information about restoration efforts in the sub-Saharan countries.

Mamadou Diakhite, AFR100 Secretariat Manager at NEPAD Agency, announced the launch of AFR100.org: “This website will provide our partners and online visitors with a vast amount of immediate, easy-to-navigate content detailing the exciting restoration work taking place across the continent.

“This includes beautiful photographs and in-depth information prepared by the AFR100 member countries who take pride in their restoration efforts.”

Africa has the largest restoration opportunity of any continent in the world – more than 700 million hectares of degraded land, or an area the size of Australia. This degraded land can be restored to forests or mosaic landscapes that are a mix of trees and agriculture, providing many benefits.

AFR100 is a country-led partnership to restore degraded and deforested land in Africa. AFR100 and its web platform AFR100.org respond to the African Union mandate to bring 100 million hectares into restoration by 2030.

The initiative was launched in 2015 by the NEPAD Secretariat, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) via GIZ, WRI, and the World Bank. AFR100 is supported by funds from BMZ and the World Bank and was established as part of the African Resilient Landscapes Initiative, and contributing to the global commitments of the Bonn Challenge and New York Declaration on Forests.  

Through AFR100, national governments, public and private sector partners, international development programs and local communities will restore productivity to deforested and degraded landscapes to improve livelihoods.  

Wanjira Mathai, co-chair of the Global Restoration Council and chairperson of the Green Belt Movement, said: “The importance of AFR100 to the daily lives of communities across Africa cannot be overestimated. 

“I am moved by the countries that have already committed to transforming their landscapes and securing the future for generations to come.”

Sean DeWitt, Director of the Global Restoration Initiative at World Resources Institute (WRI) added: “The site reflects the high level of commitment from member countries of the AFR100 partnership, and will enable partners to share experiences and good practices, as well highlighting the work of restoration champions from across the continent.”

The new site complements related tools and resources found at InfoFLR.org, as well as the websites of the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative, and the World Bank among others.

AFR100 (the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative) is a country-led effort to bring 100 million hectares of deforested and degraded landscapes across Africa into restoration by 2030.

The initiative connects political partners—participating African nations—with technical and financial support to scale up restoration on the ground and capture associated benefits for food security, climate change resilience, and poverty alleviation. The initiative was launched in 2015 during the margins of COP 21 in Paris. AFR100 contributes to the Bonn Challenge, the New York Declaration on Forests and Sustainable Development Goal 15.

Global Civil Society rallies to defend African Renewable Energy

Over 100 international civil society groups have launched a statement in solidarity with their African counterparts who are concerned about the role of France and the European Commission in undermining the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative.

The statement asserts that France and the European Commission abused their position as donors to rush through the endorsement of 19 projects which were not subject to the initiative's own evaluation criteria or social, environmental, and gender safeguards - against the wishes of several Africans on the AREI Board. Neither France nor the European Commission is formally a Board Member.

France and other developed country donors have pledged to provide funds to support "new and additional" renewable energy capacity, but African and international civil society groups say these promises are being broken as some already existing projects are being rebranded as AREI projects.

The first director of the Initiative's "Independent Delivery Unit" resigned in the aftermath of the Board Meeting, and on the sidelines of ongoing climate change negotiations in Bonn, Ségolène Royal  announced the nomination of a new head, Mr. Seyni Nafo of Mali.

Many in the civil society community are familiar with Mr. Nafo, have worked productively with him in the past, and look forward to engaging with him in his new role. They stress, however, that he must be set up for success by ensuring the AREI does not become donor-driven, but instead sticks to its principles of African ownership and transparent, inclusive governance.

"Decades of experience with development and climate finance shows us that letting rich countries make decisions for people living in developing countries is a surefire path to failure. The AREI is an exciting and innovative initiative exactly because it is African owned and African driven. France and the EU are to be commended for contributing to the AREI, but only if their contributions are actually new and additional money and come with no strings attached. By trying to use their status as donors to push through pet projects and take control away from Africans, they are doing far more harm than good. The AREI is too important for us to allow rich countries to get their way at the expense of African people once again," said Brandon Wu of ActionAid USA.

"Support for renewable energy in Africa was a major commitment made at the Paris Climate Summit, but now it seems that some in the French government and European Commission think this makes it OK to support projects without assessment against stringent social and environmental criteria. European governments need to ensure space for African leadership on renewable energy," said of Susann Scherbarth of Friends of the Earth Europe.

"Donor countries cannot bypass the AREI's safeguards and screening process and simply use it to rubberstamp their pre-existing projects. Doing so invalidates a crucial goal of the Initiative-- to break free from old and outdated development models, and instead give African people control of their future. The AREI is meant to do much more than just generate renewable energy, it's about making sure that the 630 million Africans that don't currently have access to electricity are able to reap the benefits that clean, reliable energy can provide. We urge the EC and others to help it succeed" said Annaka Peterson of Oxfam International.

The AREI was launched in 2015 in Paris during COP21 as an African-led initiative with the goal of providing at least 10 GW of new renewable energy to Africa's peoples by 2020, and put the continent on course to add at least another 300 GW and achieve universal access to energy for all Africans by 2030.

It was supported by $10 billion in pledges for 2015-2020 by developed countries in Paris, and has been hailed as a groundbreaking effort to bring clean, affordable, and reliable energy to millions of people in a democratic, human-rights focused approach.

Global divestment movement expands to break ties with fossil fuel companies causing climate change

Thousands of people attended over 260 events in 45 countries on six continents to put pressure on institutions to break their financial ties with fossil fuel companies, during the Global Divestment Mobilisation (GDM), which ran from 5th to 13th May. 

The divestment movement, which has started in North America, Australia and Europe is now spreading in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

As the world’s climate advisers participate in the Bonn climate talks and senior ministers prepare for the G7 Summit in Sicily, campaigners, faith groups, academics and impacted local communities built on the fossil fuel divestment movement setting the groundwork for future divestments.

“Communities across the globe are taking the power back through divestment. They are divesting from fossil fuels and sending a loud message to politicians and corporates alike: the end of fossil fuels is happening; achieving 100% renewable energy for all is inevitable,” said Kumi Naidoo, Director of the African Civil Society Centre. “Those betting on a future based on fossil fuels will continue to lose, citizens globally are demanding a just transition to a green future.”

At a time when governments are failing their people, when President Trump is threatening to leave the Paris Agreement, and climate impacts are taking us into uncharted territory in terms of floods, forest fires, heatwaves, storms and drought - divestment has proven to be an effective way to undermine the power of the fossil fuel industry politically and financially.

Global commitments to divest have already reached 710 institutions across 76 countries, representing well over US$5.5 trillion in assets under management, indicating that the fossil fuel industry has no future.

During the GDM citizens and respected institutions across the world were able to enact an immediate and a much needed transformational form of climate leadership. This included the announcement from nine Catholic organizations from around the world about their decision to divest their portfolios from fossil fuels in the largest joint Catholic divestment to date. A total of 27 Catholic institutions have now divested.

The battle to safeguard people and planet is linked worldwide, the money in one part of the world is linked to infrastructure projects being built elsewhere.

“Divestment has shown the world that stopping fossil fuel financing can be done and must be done. The battle to safeguard people and planet is linked worldwide, the money in one part of the world is linked to infrastructure projects being built elsewhere”, said Lidy Nacpil, Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD). “Divestment is a powerful act of solidarity and justice for the world’s most vulnerable people, a defense of nature and our planet. We urgently need a transformation in the global energy system, away from the fossil fuel dependence that drives climate change, and challenge fossil fuel corporations that oppose progress in climate action and prioritize profits over people and planet. Divestment has proven to be one of the most effective ways to push for this much needed transformation.”

Meanwhile in New York 150 activists rallied inside Trump Tower, to call on New York City officials to cut their ties with the dirty oil and gas companies that control the White House. In the face of federal government climate denial and the possibility of the US leaving the Paris Agreement, demonstrating that local leaders can show impactful climate leadership, while other parts of the country are suffering from severe flooding.

Divestment also provides the means to enact a just transition by reinvesting into renewable energy systems. This was discussed at events held across Africa at universities and local communities, where the fossil fuel industry and its culpability in climate change was discussed along with clean energy solutions, in the face of some of the worst droughts the continent has ever suffered.

The future is in the reinvestment of the divested funds to support the communities most impacted by climate change and the dirty energy based economy. The divestment movement is modelling what governments need to be doing: withdrawing funds from the problem and investing in solutions.

This transformation in the global energy system urgently needs to move away from the fossil fuel dependence that drives climate change, and into renewable energy solutions for all. Moving forward through 2017 and beyond, the divestment movement will continue to grow in size, strength and boldness to make this a reality.

CTA supports drone operations in five African countries

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has been supporting the establishment of drone operators in Benin, DRC, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda.

These drone operators are equipped to facilitate advanced crop research using remote-sensed data interpretation services offered by the French company, Airinov.

Among others, their services are tailored to experimental field work by offering very precise and reliable statistics based on drone-sensed imagery.

Flying several times over a season enables agronomists and researchers to have a dynamic view on their trials and take informed decisions or draw conclusions based on reliable data.

Indicators provided include but are not limited to: NDVI, biomass, chlorophyll rate, leaf area index, emergence rate, water stress, missing plants, height or flowering.

In Ghana, contact Farmerline Ltd.: www.farmerline.co ; worlali@farmerline.org

Civil society groups call on countries to make progress on implementation of Paris Agreement

Amidst a worsening climate crisis, countries have gathered in Bonn, Germany from the May 8 to 18 for three simultaneous meetings under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Representatives from Climate Action Network, a network of over 1000 civil society organisations working to fight climate change in 120 countries, have called on governments to use the climate talks in Bonn to pick up from where they left off in Marrakech in advancing work on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Sven Harmeling, Climate Change Advocacy Coordinator at CARE International, emphasized that the urgency to get the Paris Agreement off the ground is crucial given that impacts from climate change are becoming more dire with more droughts in Africa and heatwaves in India.

The scale of ambition has to be commensurate with the urgency that we are seeing from impacts.

Speaking on the specifics of advancing work on implementation, he added. 

"We also need to see Parties at Bonn bring more clarity and progress on accounting modalities for climate finance which was a left-over issue from Marrakech," he said.

Brandon Wu, policy director from ActionAid US, highlighted that as uncertainty on the US' position on the Paris Agreement continues, civil society groups urge the Trump administration to stay in the Agreement but it must also respect the spirit of the Agreement to meet the goals of Paris.

"Even at the current scenario we don't meet the goals of keeping warming to 1.5 degrees C and any move to scale down ambition will definitely not meet this goal – which is what Paris is all about," he added. There has been a remarkable push from Governors and Mayors to keep the US in the Agreement, he added.

Lucile Dufour, Climate Action Network France, spoke about the victory of Emmanuel Macron and the implications of this for climate action.

"Although Macron didn’t make energy transition a priority during his campaign, he is unlikely to stop environment progress. Without a push from other leaders and civil society he will not increase ambition so we still have work ahead of us. He did say France will keep the lead in global climate progress. If he is to do this he needs to adopt climate policies to increase international solidarity and domestic policies to raise ambition."

Observers have underlined the need for the 10-day international conference to advance substantive progress on the rules and processes that will fully operationalise the Paris Agreement. The session marks the half-way point to the finalisation of this process by 2018.

Earlier this month, the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group convened in Bonn for preparatory meetings to consolidate its positions and strategies ahead of the upcoming negotiations.

The group believes that significant pollution cuts and the transfer of finance and technology are needed in order to limit global warming to well below 1.5C, the limit identified by many scientists and social movements across the world.

Chair of the LDC Group, Gebru Jember Endalew, in statement, said: “Climate change is costing lives and livelihoods, particularly in poor and vulnerable countries so there is a need for urgent action by all countries. The LDC Group will continue to push for fair and ambitious action by all.”

Endalew added: “for many of our countries, keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius is a matter of survival. Therefore, we all have to work towards a cleaner, greener, low-carbon global society as soon as possible.

Many estimates suggest that more than $100 trillion is needed to transition to a global low-carbon society.