Community rescued from devastation in dying cocoa trees and ecology

Timeabu, a farming community in the Ashanti region of Ghana, has in the past experienced levels of devastation of cocoa trees as a result of bad weather and poor rainfall with adverse impact on production.

To protect dying cocoa trees and the local ecology, the Centre for Climate Change and Food Security (CCCFS), a Ghanaian-based non-governmental organization, has adopted the community to pilot a tree planting program.

Since December 2017, the Centre has planted 200 trees on cocoa farms and other areas of the community, in addition to sensitization on best farming practices.

A beneficiary, Nana Dasebere Boama Darko, says the farmers are excited the trees will relieve them of severe weather condition and help provide the needed shade to nourish their crops.

The Centre plans to extend the exercise to other communities across the country.

“Protecting the ecology is very important. We are likely to live a shameful life if trees continue to die everyday,” said Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen, Executive Director of CCCFS. “Planting of the trees is also to sequester carbon, and help remove carbon dioxide from the air, which cools the earth.”

Despite their importance to life, humans have cut down half of the world's trees.

“Every year we cut down over 50,000 square miles of forest worldwide for paper, agriculture, building materials and fuel,” observed Mohammed-Nurudeen. 

Several research have proven that carbon release from deforestation accounts for 25 to 30 percent of the four to five billion tons of carbon accumulating every year in the atmosphere from human activities.

Climate Change advocate, Kofi Adu Domfeh, who is among lead supporters of the tree planting exercise, emphasized the need to put the trees back “any way we can, as fast as we can”.

“What you may not know is that trees also build soil and offer energy-saving shade that reduces global warming,” he said. “We want to create habitat for thousands of different species and also help to reduce ozone levels.”

The initiative is also supported by the Economy for the Common Good and senior officers of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Fuad Mohammed and Asante Abednago, who have committed to the community outreach to help rural farmers contribute to the government's target of producing one million tonnes of cocoa.

The CCCFS aims to provide enabling environment for all species, make issues of food security relevant and tackle climate change head-on to make Ghana a better place to live.

By 3news.com

Consumers and Private Sector critical in fighting droughts and land degradation, says UN

More than 3.2 billion people, or 2 in every 5 people, are impacted by land degradation today and up to 143 million people could move within their countries by 2050 to escape water scarcity and falling crop productivity due to the slow onset impacts of climate change.

To avoid these threats, Monique Barbut, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, has called on consumers and the private sector to join governments to save healthy land.

She added that lack of preparedness for future droughts in particular, could lead to massive social and political upheavals.

“Everything we produce and consume has a land footprint. A bicycle requires 3.4 square meters of land. Ten square meters of land are used to produce a laptop. Producing one kilogram of beef takes 22 square meters,“ but few people give thought to these daily processes “because the losses are not visible – or at least not accounted for - in the products we consume,” Barbut stated.

“We are all decision-makers because in our daily lives, our choices have consequences. Our small decisions transform the world,” she stressed, and called on consumers to make choices that reward land users whose practices protect the land from degradation.

Barbut, who heads the international agreement that deals with desertification, land degradation and drought effects, also warned that it is dangerous to reduce the true value of healthy land to its economic value alone.

She made the remarks in observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification on 17 June. The global observance event took place, in Quito, Ecuador.

Ecuador promotes a bio-economy among its agriculturalists in order to diffuse sustainable land management technologies, which maintain the land’s productivity.

The country is also pursuing the Sustainable Development Goal target of achieving land degradation neutrality, which means avoiding, reducing and reversing land degradation to ensure the amount of healthy land it had in 2015 is the same in 2030, and stays stable thereafter.

Barbut also underlined the need to “go beyond conscious consumerism” to engage the private sector and governments in better land uses because “the real value of the land is not just economic.”

“Land is worth so much more than the economic value we attach to it. It defines our way of life and our culture – whether we live in the city or the villages. It purifies the water we drink.  It feeds us.  It surrounds us with beauty. But, we cannot meet the needs and wants of a growing population if the amount of healthy and productive land continues to decline so dramatically,” Barbut said.

Tarsicio Granizo, Minister of Environment, Ecuador, said “desertification is a matter that not only has to do with the environment, but also with food sovereignty and with protection of the agricultural soil.”

The Global Land Outlook  (The GLO) of 2017 states that 45% of the food consumed globally comes from the world’s dryland areas, and that falling productivity, food shortages and water scarcity in these regions is creating insecurity. The GLO warns that about 20% more productive land was degraded from 1983-2013, and that Africa and Asia face the greatest threats, going forward.

“We must do far more to recognize the immense value of healthy and productive land in strengthening the resilience of the world’s poorest communities, which are facing more drought and other slow-onset climate disasters,” said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, in marking the Day.

Five of the 8 slow onset events identified by the Climate Change Convention as potential future sources of huge losses and damage are manifestations of declining land productivity. These are desertification, salinization, land and forest degradation, biodiversity loss and rising temperatures. Globally, about 2 billion hectares of land are degraded. Most of it can be restored back to health.

“Science has given us the knowledge and tools we need for managing land to build resilience to drought and the impacts of climate change. Governments and the communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on the land can take steps now to prepare for future drought,” Guterres said.

The sustainable land management technologies needed to minimize and reverse many of these effects exist, but the policy instruments and investments to promote their spread are non-existent. As a result, some of the most land-dependent communities are exposed to the growing powerful and adverse weather effects, such as recurrent droughts, unpredictable rainfall and disappearing ground water sources.

Barbut highlighted three critical actions that consumers and the private sector can take to encourage land users and governments to save healthy land from further degradation and to recover nearly barren lands.

First, changing consumer behavior and unsustainable production patterns. Second, adopting more efficient land use planning. Third, creating mechanisms like the LDN Fund that will motivate the private sector to invest in land restoration.

“The public needs to be empowered.  If they know that the choices they make every day can make a difference in terms of how the land is used – whether it is abused or nurtured – I am sure they will choose and consume more wisely,” she said.

“Governments must create incentives that can encourage the private sector to see that sustainable management of the land and the restoration of degraded land is the socially responsible thing to do. The UNCCD is ready to help initiatives that can restore degraded land at scale,” she said.

She called on countries to formulate the targets to be achieved by 2030, which signals that “a country has a systematic plan to ensure sufficient high quality land is available in the long-term to meet the demand for essentials like food and water.”

Minister Granizo said “the Government of Ecuador is proud to host, for the first time in Latin America, the celebration of this international day, which was attended by prominent authorities of the Convention to Combat Desertification.”

World Day to Combat Desertification is observed every year on 17 June to raise awareness about the status of the land resources, especially at country level, and to mobilize required actions.

World Environment Day – new Online Campaign Platform to strengthen Environmental activism in Africa

Today, World Environment Day, Greenpeace Africahas launched VUMA.EARTH (www.VUMA.earth) – an online campaign platform for ordinary citizens to run environmental petitions. 
 

The platform seeks to grow an environmental movement and give a voice to millions of Africans across the continent. The tool provides a space for Africans to start campaigns that address environmental issues affecting their local communities.

“It is important for African people to stand up against the abuse of the environment because it is our heritage at stake. VUMA.EARTH is a tool to help facilitate this,” said Angelo C Louw, Greenpeace Africa Digital Mobilisation Officer.

VUMA.EARTH is a full-on campaign management tool that allows users to set up petitions, easily communicate with supporters and set up offline events. A particularly useful function of the platform, within the rural African context, is the ability to capture signatures offline for later use.

To garner momentum for this platform, Greenpeace Africa is calling on supporters to get friends and networks to support any of the environmental causes on the platform which they believe in.

“By choosing a cause you care about, signing and sharing on social media and tagging friends, you will  demonstrate how simple it is to take action during this World Environment Day. Using the platform will also demonstrate  the potential of ordinary citizens’ networks to affect change”. 

“Many people think it is hard to get involved in protecting the environment because they feel that they can only do that by showing up at protests and clean-ups.  While it would be amazing for people to commit to environmentalism at that level, taking a stand for the environment is as simple as signing and sharing an online petition,” added Louw.

The call-to-action is simple:

1. CHOOSE a cause you care about

2. SIGN and SHARE it on social media

3. TAG your friends  

Social media has made it very difficult for decision-makers to sweep urgent environmental matters under the carpet. VUMA.EARTH offers a platform to mobilise African people to stand up for the environment.

AfDB takes landmark lead on formation of Africa Financial Alliance for Climate Change

Scientific evidence shows that African economies are already reeling from the devastating effects of climate change, further exacerbating their development challenges. Of the 10 countries in the world that are most threatened by climate change, seven are in Africa.

Cognizant of this situation, the African Development Bank led the way to what may turn out to be Africa’s most decisive action to ensure that the continent is not short-changed by climate finance.

At the 53rd Annual Meetings of the Bank, in Busan, Korea, the institution brought stakeholders together for an “open dialogue” to discuss the establishment of the Africa Financial Alliance for Climate Change (AFAC). The initiative was well received by key continental and global stakeholders who agreed with the Bank that Africa needs immediate climate change action.

“The establishment of the African Financial Alliance for Climate Change is a call for us to stand together to mobilize climate finance at scale to meet the needs in Africa,” Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, said Friday.

The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement calls on countries to increase their ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change without threatening food production, and make financial flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

“As Africa’s premier development financial institution, the African Development Bank is already taking action. The Bank is leading Africa’s transition to climate resilient economies,” he said. “The financing needs to meet the ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement in Africa are enormous. The implementation of Africa’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would require investments of at least $2.7 trillion for mitigation and another $488 billion for adaptation by 2030.”

The international community has pledged to mobilize $100 billion in climate finance per annum by 2020 to support adaptation and mitigation projects in developing countries. However, of the US $820 billion in climate finance flows for 2015 and 2016, only US $16 billion was for Africa. This represents a mere 2% of the total.

“This is why the African Development Bank is hosting this open dialogue to initiate the establishment of the African Financial Alliance for Climate Change as a call for us to stand together to mobilize climate finance at scale to meet the needs in Africa,” Adesina added.

He noted that the Bank could not achieve the task alone, pointing out that without achieving the Paris Climate Agreement in Africa, the world will not achieve the required reductions in greenhouse gases to keep global temperatures below the required target.

The Alliance brings together Africa’s financial sector, including Ministers of Finance, Central Banks, insurance and reinsurance companies, sovereign wealth and pension funds, stock exchanges as well as global thought leaders to mobilize climate finance for Africa. It also hopes to come up with concrete proposals to mobilize both domestic and international finance for climate-resilient development in Africa.  “Together, we can create a Decarbonisation Index for Africa,” President Adesina told the meeting.

“The idea of having the Alliance is a fantastic one, because we recognize that the world is also looking to us. While Africa is not the primary cause of the climate change that we see in the word today, we are the continent where the impact is very great, and the world is not as prepared to finance us to take care of this impact. We can’t let it go because it is our people who are suffering,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of the Africa Risk Capacity (ARC).

“Just for you to know the impact of climate change, of all the drought that occurs in the world, 41% occurs on the African continent. We lose about 485,000 people to indoor pollution, premature deaths that could have been avoided and also the devastating impact caused by flood. I can go on and on.”

The President of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and Chair of the Association of African DFIs, Patrick Dlamini, observed that collaboration was crucial to catalyzing funds and making a difference. “This is possible under the leadership of the African Development Bank. We can then play our role as development finance institutions to being the policy instruments of our various Governments and in alliance with partners.”

The CEO of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Naoko Ishii, pledged the support of her organization for the Alliance and was optimistic that it would motivate the GEF to do much more for Africa.

For his part, Howard Bamsey, CEO of Green Climate Fund, said, “The Alliance is a fundamental step towards meeting the climate change challenge in Africa. There has to be an African solution to the challenge that we face and this initiative presents the opportunity to mobilize that.”

The Africa Financial Alliance for Climate Change will be launched on the margins of the Africa Investment Forum in South Africa, November 7 to 9, 2018 and will bring together heads of financial institutions.

African Development Bank and Global Green Growth Institute partner to fast-track Green Growth in Africa

The African Development Bank and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Group’s Annual Meetings in Busan, to promote programs, projects, joint studies and research activities to accelerate green growth options for African countries.

The African Development Bank and the Global Green Growth Institute will cooperate in several areas, including conducting a joint study on green growth readiness in Africa and exploring ways to align both organizations’ activities with the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Further, the two organizations will work together to generate synergies in areas, such as the Global Green Growth Institute’s cities programs and the African Development Bank’s initiatives on clean energy, sustainable landscapes, green cities and water and sanitation, with the ultimate goal of strengthening climate resilience in Africa.

The MoU was signed by Amadou Hott, Vice-President, Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, African Development Bank, and Hyoeun Jenny Kim, Deputy Director General and Head of Green Growth Planning and Implementation, Global Green Growth Institute.

“The African Development Bank believes in building strong partnerships to accelerate Africa’s development. This MoU with the Global Green Growth Institute strengthens our cooperation for effective delivery of the High 5s  agenda in a manner that transitions African countries towards green growth. We very much look forward to this collaboration with GGGI,” said Vice-President Amadou Hott.

Deputy Director General Hyoeun Jenny Kim said, “The MoU we sign today will also support the sharing of green growth knowledge and best practices from GGGI’s Member and partner countries. We look forward to conducting joint research activities with African Development Bank in designing and developing green growth projects and programs and sharing knowledge and experience through launching joint publications and participating in and co-organizing events – all of which will help to promote green growth in Africa.”

This partnership reinforces the work of the Africa NDC Hub hosted by the African Development Bank, in accelerating climate action to transition Africa towards a low carbon and climate resilient development pathway.

Africans want the continent to #BreakFree from fossil fuels

On May 25, Africa Day, citizens and communities in almost 20 countries across the African continent gathered, taking to the streets and actively blocking the fossil fuel economy as part of a continent-wide day of action.

By joining the Break Free movement, regular citizens and activists from communities across Africa will call on governments and business to put an end to fossil fuels and move towards a just transition to 100% renewable energy for all.

There are over 30 events registered, in which those hardest hit by fossil fuels projects and the impacts of climate change will make their voices heard by those in power.

The Break Free movement in Africa is co-ordinated by Greenpeace Africa, African Climate Reality Project (ACRP), 350.org and Earthlife Africa Jhb: empowering local communities to rise with acts of courage and come together as a global movement for climate action and justice.

“Funding fossil fuel development will only exacerbate the impacts of climate change. Africa has an opportunity to develop its energy sector using clean, renewable energy,” said Landry Ninteretse, Regional Team leader of 350.org. “It is this development that banks and financial institutions should support, and break free from financing fossil fuels. It's time to deCOALonise Africa!”

 

Hundreds of people across the continent will be organising marches, film screenings, petition handovers, pickets and university debates addressing issues related to fossil fuels and their devastating impacts.

“Declaring War against mother earth is suicidal, because no one gives breath best like she does. Coal fired power stations are a great ticking time bomb, waiting to explode,” said Thabo Sibeko, Programs and Education Officer, Earthlife Africa.

Climate and disaster risk financing get fresh boost from African Development Bank

The Board of Governors of the African Development Bank had held a high-level session on “Climate and Disaster Risk Financing” focusing on the Role of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) and the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Program (ADRiFi).

The session, part of the 53^rd African Development Bank Group Annual Meetings underway in Busan, Korea, provided a platform for African Ministers of Finance, the Economy and Planning, who form its Board of Governors, to extend ongoing discussions between the Bank and regional member countries on the importance of disaster risk financing solutions in building resilience and protecting development gains.

The President of the Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, stated “Africa contributes no more than 2-3% of greenhouse gas emissions, but suffers disproportionately from the negative impacts of climate change. All across Africa, you see today the high frequency of droughts. Africa has been shortchanged by the climate financing architecture. Therefore, we need instruments that will help mitigate climate risks.”

Pledging Bank support for ARC operations, he encouraged others to follow suit. “It must not be only about the African Development Bank,” he said. “We want more stakeholders to join and more partnerships to make sure that the financing mechanism is there.”

“The future of Africa depends on the actions we take today. And we have to have a sense of urgency. If we pump in the alliance and partnerships needed, countries will be able to insure themselves of risks.”

Reiterating the challenges of climate change in Africa, especially the continent’s vulnerability to droughts, floods, tropical cyclones and outbreak and epidemics, ARC Chairperson Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stated that ARC is about African countries taking charge of their own issues and finding ways to finance their response efforts and broader resilience and development. “We cannot remain a continent that is reliant on the generosity of the broader development community.”

She highlighted the critical role the ADRiFi will play in promoting disaster risk financing on the continent and how countries can access both capacity building and premium financing as part of their long-term resilience building efforts.

The Bank and ARC formalized their partnership In March 2017 to strengthen their technical collaboration towards enhancing the risk management infrastructure and policy across Africa while supporting countries in building resilience against climate shocks.

Following requests from regional member countries for premium financing support, the Bank proposed the ADRiFi program, which will run from 2018-2022, as a comprehensive, sustainable solution for risk transfer within the broader context of disaster risk management.

ADRiFi aligns with the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy by enhancing resilience and response to climate shocks in regional member countries by improving the management of natural disaster risk and adaptation to climate change.

The Bank’s Board of Governors shared a common resolve and readiness to galvanize efforts and resources to help regional member countries improve their capacity to plan, prepare, and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters so as to safeguard food security for Africa’s vulnerable populations.

The livelihoods of more than 70% of Africans depend on farming. A critical component of the High 5 Agenda of the African Development Bank is “Feed Africa” and hinges on unlocking the potential of agriculture.

Most agricultural activity in Africa is rain-fed, making it susceptible to the vagaries of climate change and natural disasters. ARC deploys innovative mechanisms and customized financial tools to help member countries reduce the risk of loss and damage caused by extreme weather events and natural disasters in a timely, cost-effective, objective and transparent manner.

Since its first financial affiliate was established in 2014, ARC has issued policies to eight governments over four drought risk pools. These countries have paid US $54 million in premiums (95% of which has come directly from national budgets) for a total coverage of approximately US $400 million over the period. ARC has further paid out US $37 million to countries affected by drought whose policies were triggered (Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal). These funds have been used to support over 2 million people and 1 million livestock.

Sharing his excitement for the partnership with the Bank and especially the ADRiFi program, ARC Director General, Mohamed Beavogui, expressed optimism that more African member states will be able to participate in the insurance pool when the Bank makes premium-financing support available to them.

“The ability of Africa to fully provide parametric insurance against extreme weather events and other natural disasters is a critical next step towards achieving food security on the continent and reducing the current over reliance on the international humanitarian financing system for support.”