Category Archives: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Continent’s free trade deal a game-changer for Africa

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Independent Online (© Independent On-line 2018, All rights reserved, Reprinted with no commercial purpose)

South Africa has joined more than 50 African states in signing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTFA) agreement, which is aimed at facilitating a single market for goods and services on the continent.

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the agreement during the official opening of the 31st Ordinary Session of the Assembly of African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government in Nouakchott, capital of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.


President Cyril Ramaphosa signs the Africa Continental Free Trade Area agreement in Nouakchott

The Presidency said the Africa Continental Free Trade Area and Peace and Security was introduced by the former chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, at the AU Summit held in Sandton in June 2015.

“It included issues related to the Union’s self-financing, the streamlining of the organisation’s summits and working methods. These efforts precipitated the current discussions on the African Union’s Institutional Reforms.

“The July 2016 Assembly of the African Union in Kigali subsequently mandated President Paul Kagame of Rwanda to prepare a study on the institutional reform of the African Union, with a view of putting in place a system of governance capable of addressing the challenges facing the Union,’’ said the Presidency.

In his speech on institutional reforms of the African Union yesterday, Kagame said: “The Continental Free Trade Agreement, championed by President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, is among the most historic achievements of the African Union.

“Forty-four countries signed in Kigali, while four more are signing in Nouakchott. It is going to become a reality before much longer.

“This drive emerges from the same logic that led to the institutional reform. In a deeper sense, an African Union capable of delivering a functional free-trade area is actually the end point of the reform.

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Question related to this article:

Can the African Union help bring a culture of peace to Africa?

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“Our partners welcomed the Continental Free Trade Area, in part because they doubted it would ever be implemented. Our track record provided ample evidence for that.

“As that perception increasingly proves to be outdated, interests will be recalculated. This is where the reform’s emphasis of speaking with one voice as a continent will emerge as perhaps the most important provision of all.”

The agreement has been welcomed in the country, with experts saying that it will benefit the continent and enhance intra-african trade.

Chairman of the South African chapter of the BRICS Business Council Dr Iqbal Survé said the agreement would open opportunities for African entrepreneurs.

“I think this is a good move for the country. Intra-African trade at the moment sits at approximately 10%, whereas intra-European and Intra-North American trade sits at 30% to 40% within those continents.

“I think we should increase intra-African trade to 30% over the next decade. It will be good for the continent, its countries, job creation and its development,” said Survé.

He said the agreement would reduce tariffs and benefit entrepreneurs, including medium to small businesses, “because they’re the ones who often find tariffs difficult to overcome because it is very costly. It will be an opportunity for entrepreneurs from African countries to start working together with each other in a trade tariff free environment”.

“By accepting that the best way to go forward is to have an intercontinental agreement, I think that is the strongest point being achieved. It will take many years to translate this new policy into effective continental trade.

“The most important thing now is that we have reached an agreement between the majority of African countries to achieve this,” said Survé.

The agreement will cover a market of 1.2 billion people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.5 trillion, across all 55 member states of the African Union. It will be the world’s largest free-trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organisation.

The Cape Chamber of Commerce has also welcomed the agreement, saying that it would promote trade with African countries.

Janine Myburgh, president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce, said: “The African move came at a time when there was an increasing risk of a full-scale trade war, largely triggered by US President Donald Trump imposing heavy duties on imported products.”

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

African Union: Tourism sector supports about 21 million jobs in Africa

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from Vanguard

The African Union, AU, says the tourism sector supports about 21 million jobs in Africa with a value of over $160 million, exceeding manufacturing and banking sectors combined.

Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, the AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Tourism, disclosed this at the just- concluded 61st UN World Tourism Organisation, UNWTO Regional Commission for Africa Conference in Abuja.


Dr Amani Abou-Zeid – photo from International Hydropower Association

Abou-Zeid said tourism was an engine for inclusive growth and economic development on the continent.

“In the African continent, tourism supports about 21 million jobs translating to one in 14 jobs; this is how important tourism is. That is why we are making sure it takes its due place.

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Question related to this article:

How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

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“The value of the industry now stands at over $160 billion accounting for almost eight per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

“So, it exceeds the contributions from manufacturing and banking sectors.

“Tourism industry accounts for more than six per cent of the total investments valued at $29 billion and employs over 20 million people, hence accounting for 6.5 per cent of the total work force,” she said.

The AU commissioner said it was projected that five per cent of the tourism industry would grow much faster than the 4.8 per cent economic growth forecast for the continent over the next 10 years.

She, therefore, called for tourism promotion strategies through improvement of Africa’s image in the global media.

“Our priority on the continent now should be to optimise the role of tourism based on the agenda of NEPAD/AU action plan.

“On that, we have the responsibility to coordinate and facilitate the implementation and of course collaborations with UNWTO and other key partners.

“We have finalised the first agenda for 2063, the focus now is on strategy for implementation.

“We are particularly keen to see that tourism is very much high in the priority of the action plan,’’ she said.

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

‘Billion Tree Tsunami’ transforms arid Pakistan region into green gold

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from The Hindu (Copyright THG Publishing Private Limited, reprinted as non-commercial use)

Around the region of Heroshah, previously arid hills are now covered with forest as far as the horizon. In northwestern Pakistan, hundreds of millions of trees have been planted to fight deforestation.

In 2015 and 2016, some 16,000 labourers planted more than 9,00,000 fast-growing eucalyptus trees at regular, geometric intervals in Heroshah — and the titanic task is just a fraction of the effort across the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.


Greenery all around: Pervaiz Manan, head of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa forest department, who oversaw the re-vegetation of Heroshah district.   Photo Credit: AFP

Control against erosion

“Before it was completely burnt land. Now they have green gold in their hands,” commented forest manager Pervaiz Manan as he displayed pictures of the site previously, when only sparse blades of tall grass interrupted the monotonous landscape.

The new trees will reinvigorate the area’s scenic beauty, act as a control against erosion, help mitigate climate change, decrease the chances of floods and increase the chances of precipitation, says Mr. Manan, who oversaw the re-vegetation of Heroshah.

Residents also see them as an economic boost — which, officials hope, will deter them from cutting the new growth down to use as firewood in a region where electricity can be sparse.

“Now our hills are useful, our fields became useful,” says driver Ajbir Shah. “It is a huge benefit for us.”

Further north, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat, many of the high valleys were denuded by the Pakistan Taliban during their reign from 2006 to 2009.

Now they are covered in pine saplings. “You can’t walk without stepping on a seedling,” smiles Yusufa Khan, another forest department worker.

The Heroshah and Swat plantations are part of the “Billion Tree Tsunami”, a provincial government programme that has seen a total of 300 million trees of 42 different species planted across the province.

A further 150 million plants were given to landowners, while strict forest regeneration measures have allowed the regrowth of 730 million trees — roughly 1.2 billion new trees in total, says the programme’s management.

Kamran Hussain, a manager of the Pakistani branch of the World Wildlife Fund, who conducted an independent audit of the project, says their figures showed slightly less — but still above target at 1.06 billion trees.

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Question for this article:

When you cultivate plants, do you cultivate peace?

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“We are 100% confident that the figure about the billion trees is correct,” he said, highlighting the transparency of the process. “Everything is online. Everyone has access to this information.”

The programme has been praised by the head of the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a green NGO, which called it a “true conservation success story”.

Initially mocked for what critics said were unrealistic objectives, it is a welcome change to the situation elsewhere in the country.

Pakistani authorities say just 5.2% of the country is covered by forest, against the 12% recommended by the United Nations.

Just one big tree remains in the poverty-stricken village of Garhi Bit in the southern province of Sindh, shading its small mosque.

It has stood there for a century, locals say.

“Before, there were big trees, many kinds of them,” says Dad Mohammad, a 43-year-old farmer.

“But they started to dry because of the lack of water, so we cut them,” he says, pointing to hundreds of metres of cultivated land where previously there stood a forest. More than 60% of the forests lining Sindh’s riverbanks have disappeared in the last 60 years, mainly due to river depletion and massive logging during the 1980s, says Riaz Ahmed Wagan, of the provincial forest department. “It is a disaster,” he says, adding that forestry remains the lowest priority on the agenda of the provincial governments.

The “Billion Tree Tsunami”, which cost the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government $169 million, started in November 2014. Officials say they are still implementing maintenance safeguards such as fire protection, with the project due to be completed in June 2020.

Green Pakistan Project

In early 2017, the federal government announced its own Green Pakistan Project, which aims to plant 100 million trees in five years across the country.

It ranges from “legislative reforms” to “wildlife protection”, according to its leader Ibrahim Khan, who works under the authority of the Ministry for Climate Change. More than a quarter of the work was done by the end of April 2018, he says.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is ruled by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the political party headed by former cricketer Imran Khan, which is the main challenger to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) as the country heads into a general election in July 2018.

Mr. Imran Khan has vowed to make the environment an election issue, and to plant a total of 10 billion trees across the country. “Every child in Pakistan should be aware of the environmental issue which, until now, has been a non-issue,” he told AFP.

But it is yet to be seen whether his ambitions will translate into votes.

Pakistani environmental lawyer and activist Ahmad Rafay Allam says that in a country where the electorate is often swayed by infrastructure projects rather than the environment, he has doubts.

“It would be a first,” he told AFP.

South Asia, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

In Latin America, agroecology is a deeply political struggle

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Florence Poznanski for Articulação Nacional de Agroecologia (translation by CPNN)

Agroecology is a new model of development based on farming and land use practices in an ecological and common good perspective centered around traditional and popular knowledge and culture. In Brazil, the National Association of Agroecology (ANA) has brought together several hundred farmers’, women’s, artists’ and activists’ organizations over the course of the last fifteen years. Every four years they organize a national meeting of agroecology (RNA) in order to strengthen this network and share the know-how. The fourth edition was held this year between May 31 and June 3 in the city of Belo Horizonte (south-east Brazil) with the theme of the link between the city and the countryside for the production of a healthier diet. In addition to 2000 participants from different regions of Brazil, there were also about fifty people from 14 other countries.


Martin Willaume, Paulo Petersen and Patrícia Candela Orozco. Photos by Lucas Bois

International networks of agroecology

The Catholic Committee against Hunger and Development (CCFD) was one of the participants who made the trip. The French organization has defended the right to land on all continents for more than 50 years. Its presence is due to the institutional support partnership that was signed with ANA in 2016 as part of a global program on ecological transition based on the knowledge of traditional communities. In Latin America, in addition to Brazil, CCFD supports organizations in 10 other countries including Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Haiti.

“The Latin American experience is of great interest to us because it develops a political approach to agroecology that goes far beyond the sole issue of agriculture. In addition to the debate on organic food production and soil protection, the movement manages to link other central axes such as decent work, gender equality or the struggle for democracy “, explains Martin Willaume of CCFD. “This approach does not exist in other parts of the world, for example in Africa where the movement works in a mainly technical line. We are interested in understanding how this articulation is built to then bring the experience there, “he adds.

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(Click here for the original French version.)

Question for this article:

What is the relation between movements for food sovereignty and the global movement for a culture of peace?

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Willaume reports that there are several agroecological experiences on the continent that intertwine with other political agendas. In Bolivia, for example, agroecology has become a central focus in the process of building indigenous self-government in accordance with the Plurinational State’s legislation. In Peru, the movements build agroecology as a means of fighting against mining, and in Colombia, the agroecological movement combines the issues of the peace process in the struggle.

To face the empires of agribusiness, an international union is needed

Paulo Petersen, member of the ANA Executive Committee, explains how important these international alliances are, especially in the context of Brazil today. “The very nature of agroecology is transversal. If we take the 17 Sustainable Development Goals [adopted by the United Nations], we realize that agroecology covers the majority: climate, water, the fight for gender equality, against poverty, hunger, decent work, etc., “commented Peterson.

Completing Willaume’s reflection on the political dimension of agroecology, he points out that “it is not possible to think agroecology without thinking about the defense of democracy. We are talking about processes that do not correspond to a market logic. Agroecology is linked to the common good. It is a global challenge because the companies we fight are global empires and the answer is more autonomy, more sovereignty to get closer to nature and create new social relationships.”

Peterson explains that several Latin American organizations have contacted the ANA to participate in the RNA and also underlines that these exchanges of knowledge are important to allow the movement to continue to innovate and enrich new ideas. Brazil has a pioneering articulation force on the continent
Among the Latin American representatives was Colombian Patrícia Candela Orozco who went to Brazil to learn about the RNA experience. She represents the Instituto Mayor Campesino (IMCA), located in the Valle del Cauca region, near Cali, an organization that has been working for 57 years with peasant communities.

According to Patrícia, Brazil is a pioneer in the development of agroecology in Latin America. She says she was very impressed with the methodology called “mystic”, which is developed with music, theater and poetry. This is used to welcome meeting participants, to celebrate victories, to strengthen struggles or to introduce or contextualize debates in diverse spaces, in addition to fostering greater interaction with and among participants. “The fact of adding the spiritual part of the people gives more strength to the messages of that struggle. If each one lives this message inside of himself, he will be able to transmit it more easily to the rest of the people”, she says.

The broad participation in the fourth ENA was another point that impressed Candela. In Colombia, the IMCA was involved in the construction of the first national farmers’ meeting, which took place in 2017 and involved various civil society organizations. Patrícia highlights how difficult it is to hold an event of this size. The Brazilian experience in the ENA left her inspired.

(Thank you to Kiki Chauvin, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Latin America, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Great Green Wall Brings Hope, Greener Pastures to Africa’s Sahel

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Issa Sikiti da Silva for the Inter Press Service (reprinted by permission)

Hope, smiles and new vitality seem to be returning slowly but surely in various parts of the Sahel region, where the mighty Sahara Desert has all but ‘eaten’ and degraded huge parts of landscapes, destroying livelihoods and subjecting many communities to extreme poverty.

The unexpected relief has come from the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI), an eight-billion-dollar project launched by the African Union (AU) with the blessing of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the backing of organizations such as the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).


The icon of GGW shows the path of the Great Green Wall. Credit: greatgreenwall.org

(Editor’s note: The Great Green Wall was initiated by Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Mathai as described in a CPNN article in 2011.)

The Sahara, an area of 3.5 million square miles, is the largest ‘hot’ desert in the world and home to some 70 species of mammals, 90 species of resident birds and 100 species of reptiles, according to DesertUSA.
 
Restoring landscapes

The GGW aims to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in one of the world’s poorest regions. This will be done by, among others, planting a wall of trees in more than 20 countries – westward from Gambia to eastward in Djibouti – over 7,600 km long and 15 km wide across the continent.

The countries include Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Senegal. There is also Algeria, Egypt, Gambia, Eritrea, Somalia, Cameroon, Ghana, Togo and Benin.

Popularity

Elvis Paul Nfor Tangem, AU’s GGWSSI coordinator, told IPS that the project was doing well, gaining popularity and generating many other ideas as the implementation gains momentum.

Tangem also said that the AU had begun working with the Secretariat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Namibian government for the extension of the GGWSSI concept to the dry lands of the Southern Africa region.

Namibia, which borders South Africa, is located between the Namib and Kalahari deserts. Namib, from which the country draws its name, is believed to be the world’s oldest desert.
 
Largest project ever

If the GGW is indeed extended to Southern Africa, it will take the number of countries drawn to the project to over 20, making it one of the world’s largest projects ever.

Fundraising for beneficiaries countries is being done through bilateral negotiations, as well as through national investments, the AU said.

International partners including the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), Sahara and Sahel Observatory (SSO), among others, are also playing a critical role to ensure that the project is being successfully implemented, and upon its completion by 2030 will become the world’s largest living structure and a new Wonder of the World.

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Question for this article:

When you cultivate plants, do you cultivate peace?

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Food security

The GGW is set to create thousands of jobs for those who live along its path and boost food security and resilience to climate change in the Sahel, one of the driest parts of the world, where the FAO said an estimated 29.2 million people are food insecure.

The project founders said that by 2030 the ambition is to restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land and sequester 250 million tons of carbon.

Asked if the project is being implementing one country after the other, Elvis replied: “The implementation of the initiative is first and famous country-based, meaning all the countries are undertaking implementation at their levels.

“However, the common factor among all the countries is the fact that their activities are based on the Harmonized Regional Strategy and their National Action Plans (NAP). We are supporting the production of the NAP in Cameroon and Ghana and also working on the SADC region.”

Returning home?

In Senegal, a total of 75 direct jobs and 1,800 indirect jobs, including in the nurseries sector and multipurpose gardens, have already been created through the GGW in the last six years, according to official statistics.

Also in Senegal, where desertification has slashed 34% of its area, the GGW has since ‘recovered’ just over 40,000 hectares out of the 817,500 hectares planned for the project.

This is good news for people like Ibrahima Ba and his family who left their homeland to move to Dakar in the quest of greener pastures.

Now, he is contemplating a return home. “I’m planning to go back towards the end of the year to rebuild my shattered life. The Sahara hasn’t done anybody any favor by taking away our livelihood,” Ba, a livestock farmer Peul from northern Senegal, told IPS.

An estimated 300,000 people live in the three provinces crossed by the GGW in Senegal.
 
Participatory approach

However, Marine Gauthier, an environmental expert for the Rights and Resources’ Initiative, (RRI) said a participatory approach was needed if the project was to be implemented successfully.

“In a conflictual region, where people depend on the land for their survival and where there are numerous transhumance activities from herders peoples (Peuls) potentially impacted by the project, a careful participatory approach is needed,” Gauthier said.

“Conflicts have already arisen a couple of years ago with Peuls (herders practicing transhumance, whose travels were to be restrained by the project). Just like any other environmental protection project, its capacity to engage with local communities, to make them first beneficiaries of the project, is the key to its success on the long term.

“Participatory mapping is a very successful tool that has been used within other projects and that could be of great help in defining and establishing the Great Green Wall,” Gauthier said.

Furthermore, Gauthier said empowering communities would be very interesting at the scale of the Great Green Wall. “It would take a lot of efforts, consultations, financial and human resources. It is however the only way to ensure that this project, which people are talking about for more than 10 years now, reaches its goal.

“Because when the communities are empowered and when their rights on the land are secured, it benefits directly to the environment and to preserving this land from more damage.”

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Leading from the Front: Zambia Launches Plant a Million Trees Initiative

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Friday Phiri for the Inter Press Service (reprinted by permission)

As global climate experts meet in Bonn this week [May 3] to discuss how to take climate action forward, Zambia counts itself amongst the leaders as President Edgar Lungu officially launches the Plant a Million (PAM) trees Initiative.

In fact, the initiative is even more ambitious than its name implies, and aims at planting at least two billion trees by 2021. According to President Lungu, the initiative is in line with the country’s Seventh National Development Plan whose aim is to diversify the economy from copper dependency.


President Edgar Chagwa Lungu planting a tree while Minister of Lands and Natural Resources looks on. Credit: Munich Advisors Group

President Lungu says the initiative, which targets young people through schools, colleges and universities, will be used as a vehicle for mindset change among Zambians to begin to value the importance of planting trees as a tool for economic diversification.

“This initiative marks the beginning of growing money through trees and government stands ready to support it and ensure that it succeeds,” he said during the launch at Kapasa Makasa University in Muchinga Province, Northern Zambia.

In line with the country’s commitments to international treaties, especially the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change, President Lungu said government envisages not only creating a tree-based economy, but also mitigating climate change through the initiative.

He is particularly concerned with the country’s alarming deforestation rate of 276,021 hectares per year, making Zambia one of the most deforested countries in Africa.

“The Plant A Million initiative will significantly contribute to reducing deforestation which has earned Zambia a bad name of being one of the most deforested countries in Africa as a result of uncontrolled harvesting of trees,” he said.

The Zambian president added that he was impressed with the youth involvement model through schools, colleges and universities, saying it will help push the agenda of mindset change because “when our learners appreciate the importance of trees, it will in turn create a positive impact in families and the communities at large.”

Speaking earlier, Higher Education Minister Nkandu Luo said her Ministry would use the initiative to redefine the education system from exam-based to real-world practices.

“Over the years, the thinking in our school system has been that education is passing exams but we are redefining this thinking, so that people know that education is total transformation of a human being, and this programme is one of the ways to do it,” she said.

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Question for this article:

When you cultivate plants, do you cultivate peace?

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As one of the brains behind the initiative, Professor Luo said that Zambia was aiming to break the world record of planting the most trees, which is currently held by India. Last year, Volunteers in India planted more than 66 million trees in just 12 hours in a record-breaking environmental drive.

About 1.5 million people were involved in the huge campaign, in which saplings were placed along the Narmada river in the state of Madhya Pradesh throughout Sunday.

India committed under the Paris Agreement to increasing its forests by five million hectares before 2030 to combat climate change.

“We are aiming to beat the world record, to go above 66 million trees done by India. We aim to plant at least a billion trees by 2019, and another billion plus by 2021; and I am positive that with universities’ involvement, it is doable,” she said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources Jean Kapata is optimistic that the initiative will not only add value to people’s livelihoods through income from the sale of fruit and other forest products, but also contribute to the country’s ambitious mitigation targets as set in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

“As you may be aware, tree planting plays an important role in addressing impacts of climate change, and mitigating effects of climate change. In this regard, the Zambia Plant A Million initiative is also responding to national efforts of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” she said.

Zambia has undertaken, and is still implementing, several tree planting and preservation projects across the country. Central to such initiatives has been the goodwill of the country’s first president, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, who was a pioneer of tree planting during his time in office.

And according to Emmanuel Chibesakunda, PAM initiator and project manager, the initiative wants to build on this foresight and activism of the 94-year-old freedom fighter and founding father of the nation.

“I am pleased to announce this morning that Dr. Kenneth Kaunda has kindly agreed to be the goodwill ambassador for this initiative,” announced Chibesakunda amid thunderous applause from those who gathered to witness the ceremony in a district which is also home to Dr. Kaunda. “Dr. Kaunda did not only lead our country into independence, but also pioneered tree planting in Zambia.”

Chibesakunda shared his inspiration for the initiative, which he said was from his father who taught him that talent was like a seed which needed to be planted in the right soil to germinate into beautiful fruit. This led to his passion for trees, and especially the involvement of children and young people.

“My father told me that we all have talents, but what matters is where we plant them,” he told the gathering. “And my desire for this project is that we plant the knowledge in the young generation, let us put the future into their hands.”

So far, tree nurseries have been set up at 12 schools in Lusaka, and the project expects to reach 720 schools in the next two years in 60 districts across the country.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

Africa, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

What’s the G7’s ‘Charlevoix Blueprint’ all about?

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions

While much of the focus at the G7 summit in Québec was on the antics of Donald Trump, the meeting actually produced something of a breakthrough for climate adaptation by coastal communities.

US President Donald Trump’s unconventional behaviour at the meeting of Group of Seven leading industrial powers dominated  most media coverage  of the summit. The US leader arrived late, left early, absented himself from the formal discussions on climate change, promoted fossil fuels instead, and then refused to sign the G7 final official communiqué due to its reaffirmation of the Paris Agreement.

Meanwhile, some real breakthroughs on international commitments to climate adaptation, coastal communities and issues at the crossroads of oceans, plastic pollution and global warming, were achieved during the high-level gathering hosted this year by Canada in Charlevoix, just northeast of Québec City.

The other G7 leaders came together to endorse the “Charlevoix Blueprint:” a new strategy for enhancing ocean and coastal “resilience,” a term that is increasingly used within the climate community to mean going beyond adaptation to global warming, but to maintain function in a way that improves on what went before.

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Question for this article:

Despite the vested interests of companies and governments, Can we make progress toward sustainable development?

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Specifically, the Blueprint aims to develop better climate adaptation planning, emergency preparedness and recovery. The signatories are to identify policy gaps, vulnerabilities, and share expertise. In response to disasters, the Blueprint nations are to develop coastal management strategies that enable communities to “build back better,” with provisions to reconstruct both physical infrastructure and natural systems.

Where it can be done, nations are to favour “nature-based solutions” such as protection of wetlands, mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs. These represent natural habitats that protect communities  against the impacts of storms and waves. Such strategies also represent what is coming to be called “low carbon resilience”—those actions or behaviours that are adaptive to climate change and mitigate it at the same time. These natural habitats prevent flooding and erosion, but because they can be carbon sinks, they also work to limit the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

]The Blueprint signatories also want to support such strategies amongst least developed countries, in particular the small island developing states (SIDS), including the efforts to develop early warning systems for extreme weather events. Canada for its part announced $162 million in this regard, focusing on the expansion of climate-risk insurance for Caribbean SIDS and coastal clean energy systems.

The Blueprint included an Ocean Plastics Charter, committing signatories to limiting plastic pollution. This was signed by five of the G7 member states but not Japan. Recent research  mapping the origin of plastic waste aggregating in the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch concluded  that the majority comes from abandoned fishing nets and fishing gear, primarily from Asian nations. Scientists reckon as much as 20 percent is debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami.

The G7 are also to launch an initiative to deploy Earth observation technologies to improve coastal zone management and support disaster risk prevention. G7 energy, environment and oceans ministers are due to meet in Halifax in the fall to develop concrete new actions in this area.

(Thank you to Janet Hudgins, the CPNN reporter for this article.)

global, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

UN Launches First-Ever Global Plastics Report on World Environment Day

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Olivia Rosane for Ecowatch

The theme for this year’s World Environment Day, the world’s largest environmental celebration which takes place June 5, is “Beat Plastic  Pollution.” In honor of the occasion, UN Environment released the first ever “state of plastics” report, tracking government action against plastic waste, a UN Environment press release  reported.

The report, titled “Single-Use Plastics: A Roadmap for Sustainability,” found that more than 60 countries have introduced bans or levies on single-use plastics, and that bans and levies are one of the most effective ways to reduce the use of disposable plastic items.

President and CEO of WWF-Canada, David Miller, said: “WWF-Canada has worked for “The assessment shows that action can be painless and profitable—with huge gains for people and the planet that help avert the costly downstream costs of pollution,” head of UN Environment Erik Solheim said in the report’s foreword. “Plastic isn’t the problem. It’s what we do with it.”

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Question for this article:

If we can connect up the planet through Internet, can’t we agree to preserve the planet?

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The report summed up the extent of the plastic pollution crisis: Only 9 percent of all plastics ever produced have been recycled, while 12 percent have been incinerated and a full 79 percent have ended up in landfills, dumps, or the environment. Plastic bags  are especially a concern and, with Styrofoam, have been the leading subject of plastic product bans. They have been found blocking waterways and worsening natural disasters, blocking sewers and providing a breeding site for disease-carrying insects, and blocking the stomachs and airways of animals like the whale that died  in Thailand this weekend after consuming more than 80 of them.

Fifty percent of the countries that have implemented bans or levies did not have sufficient data to assess the environmental impact of the policies; of the other 50 percent, 30 percent of the bans significantly reduced the use of plastic bags within a year and 20 percent had little impact, either due to poor enforcement or lack of alternatives.

One success story was Morocco, where 421 tonnes of bags were seized after a ban and replaced almost entirely by fabrics. A failed case was Botswana, where a levy on retailers was issued but not enforced, the BBC reported.

The report also recommended that bans and levies be joined by positive measures such as improving waste management, moving towards a circular plastic production and consumption model and providing financial incentives for businesses and customers to develop and use alternative materials.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the report with Solheim in New Delhi Tuesday. India  is this year’s host country for World Environment Day, which was established by the UN in 1972 and first celebrated in 1974.

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China Pu’er Sun River National Park dedicated as IIPT Peace Park

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from the International Institute for Peace Tourism

The IIPT Global Peace Parks Project was launched this past week with the dedication of Pu’er Sun River National Park as an IIPT International Peace Park in collaboration with the China Chamber of Tourism. Dignitaries participating in the ceremony included Madame Wang Ping, Founding Chairman, China Chamber of Tourism (Photo on the left); Mr. Peter Wong Man Kong, Executive Chairman, China Chamber of Tourism; Mr. Yu Jinfang,Co-founder and Developer of Pu’er Sun River National Park; Mrs. May Jinfang, Co-founder and Developer; Mr. Carlos Vogeler, Executive Director, UN World Tourism Organization; Mr. Xu Jing, Regional Director for Asia and Pacific, UN World Tourism Organization; Hon. Gede Ardika, former Minister, Culture and Tourism, Indonesia; Helen Marano, Government and Industry Affairs Director, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC); Louis D’Amore, IIPT Founder and President and various city officials of Pu’er City.


Members of China Chamber of Tourism following the unveiling of the stone plaque
click on photo to enlarge

China Chamber of Tourism Chairman, Peter Wong stated: “Pu’er Sun River National Park is the perfect site for the first IIPT International Peace Park in China as it is a national model of the “wild beauty of nature” covering an area of 216 square kilometers with a wide variety of plants and 812 species of wildlife. In is also a model of people in harmony with nature showcasing the local culture of the diverse ethnic people of the region.”

In his Peace Park dedication address, IIPT Founder and President Louis D’Amore said: “It is truly an honor to be here with you today as we dedicate this IIPT International Peace Park – the first in China, just a few days before the UN International Day of Peace, September 21 – and in support of UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 which calls for peaceful – inclusive and just societies. As we dedicate this park, we also begin what I am sure will be an important and fruitful relationship between the China Chamber of Tourism and the International Institute for Peace through Tourism; a relationship that will bring more peace parks in China and contribute towards the vision of tourism becoming the world’s first global peace industry – and the belief that every traveler is potentially an ambassador for peace.”

The Pu’er Sun River National Park focuses on the theme “wild beauty of nature” in combination with the local culture and the harmony of humans with nature. By operating profit-making projects within the Park, it is able to effectively provide sustainable protection for precious and unique natural and cultural resources. The Pu’er Sun River National Park also serves as a Forest Ecological System Science Education Base; Flora and Fauna Rescue Base; and Global Tourist Attraction for visitors to experience nature and the Pu’er Culture.

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Question related to this article:

How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

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The IIPT Global Peace Parks project has a goal of 2,000 Peace Parks circling the earth by 11 November 2018 – the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War I. The four year commemoration of the World War I Centenary, with its theme of “No More War” – has been supported by IIPT since its launch in 2014.

IIPT is proud to have United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) as a partner in its global campaign. UCLG is the united voice and world advocate of democratic local self-government with a global network of cities, local and regional governments representing 70% of the world population. UCLG goals include contributing to the achievement of the SDG’s, Paris Agreement, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and New Urban Agenda for Sustainable Urban Development.

The Global Peace Parks Project builds on the success of IIPT’s 1992 “Peace Parks across Canada” Project commemorating Canada’s 125th birthday as a nation. IIPT conceived and implemented “Peace Parks across Canada” which resulted in 350 Peace Parks being dedicated by cities and towns from St. John’s, Newfoundland on the shores of the Atlantic, across five time zones to Victoria, British Colombia on the shores of the Pacific.
The Peace Parks were all dedicated on October 8, 1992 as a National Peace Keeping Monument was being unveiled in Ottawa and 5,000 Peacekeepers passing in review. Each park was dedicated with a ‘bosco sacro’ – a peace grove of 12 trees, symbolic of Canada’s 10 Provinces and 2 Territories, as a link to one another, and a symbol of hope for the future. Of the more than 25,000 Canada 125 Projects, Peace Parks across Canada was said to be the most significant.

IIPT International Peace Parks have since been dedicated as a legacy of each IIPT International Conferences and Global Summits. Notable IIPT International Peace Parks include Bethany Beyond the Jordan, site of Christ’s baptism as a legacy of the Amman Summit, 2000; Victoria Falls, as a legacy of the IIPT 5th African Conference, 2011, subsequently re-dedicated as the featured event on Opening Day of the UNWTO 20th General Assembly 2013, co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe; and Medellin, Colombia, dedicated on Opening Day of the UNWTO 21st General Assembly. Photo is Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, first President of Zambia and UNWTO Secretary General, Dr. Taleb Rifai, planting the first of six olive trees during the re-dedication of the IIPT International Peace Park, Opening Day of the UNWTO 20th General Assembly.

About China Chamber of Tourism

The China Chamber of Tourism was formed in 2002 to include all sectors of the travel and tourism industry and related industries throughout China. It is based on a concept of “Pan Tourism” with the belief that tourism as a bond could connect and lead industries to develop co-operatively. Its core beliefs are “tourism is peace” and that world tourism calls for world peace; tourism is culture and the improvement of life quality. China Chamber of Tourism has achieved fruitful co-operation with UNWTO, WTTC, PATA – and now IIPT – enhancing the co-operation and exchange of Chinese and tourism enterprises of other nation

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Solar Leads Record Renewables Investment

.. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ..

An article by Jeremy Hodges for Renewable Energy World

Solar investments eclipsed all other forms of electricity generation in 2017 as China’s green boom accelerated. Investors worldwide plowed a record $161 billion into solar energy last year, more than half the investment in all renewables apart from large hydroelectric projects, according to a report jointly published by the United Nations and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Total investment in renewables rose 2 percent to $280 billion.


In its bid to no longer be seen as the world’s worst polluter, China invested $127 billion in renewable energy last year. More than two-thirds of that was for 53 GW of solar energy, enough capacity to power more than 38 million homes.

Renewables made up a record 61 percent of net power generation capacity added worldwide in 2017. Actual output from clean energy sources accounted for just 12 percent of electricity production, illustrating the gap that needs to be bridged before clean energy can overtake fossil fuels.

“The world added more solar capacity than coal, gas, and nuclear plants combined,” said Nils Stieglitz, president of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, which contributed to the report. “This shows where we are heading, although the fact that renewables altogether are still far from providing the majority of electricity means that we still have a long way to go.”

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Question for this article:

Are we making progress in renewable energy?

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The costs of solar and wind energy have shrunk dramatically in recent years, making the economic case to transition away from carbon-intensive energy sources all the more compelling. Even though coal and gas are still the cheapest sources of electricity, that’s likely to change as soon as 2023, according to BNEF.

China, Australia and Sweden saw the largest increase in investment, which declined for markets that have historically led the way for renewables. U.K. investment fell by 65 percent while Germany’s slipped by more than a third.

Global emissions rose to a record last year in the first annual increase since 2014.

Other figures from the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report include:

* In 2017, $103 billion was invested in new fossil fuel generators while $42 billion went into new nuclear reactors, and $45 billion to large hydro dams

* Renewable energy investment in the U.S. was $40.5 billion, down 6 percent

* Developing economies accounted for a record 63 percent of global investment in renewable energy in 2017, up from 54 percent in 2016

* Europe’s share of world investment fell to just 15 percent in 2017, the lowest recorded since the data series began in 2004

* Renewable energy prevented the emission of 1.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide in 2017

(Thank you to the Good News Agency for calling our attention to this article.

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