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Tag: Development & Aid

  • A River’s Contrasts and Inequalities in the Arid Lands of Brazil

    A River’s Contrasts and Inequalities in the Arid Lands of Brazil

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    Osnir da Silva Rubez prepares the furrows that will take water from the São Francisco river to irrigate his crops in the Brazilian Semi-arid ecoregion. He refuses to join the local drip or micro-sprinkler irrigation system, which is more efficient in water use, fertilisation and soil protection. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
    • by Mario Osava (juazeiro, brazil)
    • Inter Press Service

    JUAZEIRO, Brazil, Jun 12 (IPS) – Osmir da Silva Rubez refuses to join the drip system, and is the only one among the 51 families living in the Mandacaru Public Irrigation Project in Juazeiro, a municipality in the state of Bahia, in the Northeast region of Brazil, to maintain the furrows that carry water to their crops.

    The São Francisco River, which rises in the state of Minas Gerais, near the centre of Brazil, and flows northeast, has boosted irrigated agriculture in its 2,863 kilometres, much of it in semi-arid territory, with rainfall averaging between 200 and 800 millimetres per year.

    It is a privileged basin, located in a region that suffers from water scarcity, especially in the increasingly recurrent droughts, when small rivers and streams dry up.

    Water availability, immense due to the river’s large flow, was increased by the construction of two hydroelectric dams North and South of Juazeiro, a city of 238,000 people, which has developed a fruit-growing industry, mainly for export.

    Mangoes and grapes are the main local crops, grown on large private farms and in the irrigation projects of the state-owned São Francisco and Parnaíba Valley Development Company (Codevasf). Export activity highlights the contrasts and inequalities of the so-called Semi-arid ecoregion.

    Drip irrigation hoses on an Agrodan farm on an island in the São Francisco River, in Brazil's arid Northeast. The company claims to be the country’s largest mango producer and exporter. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
    Drip irrigation hoses on an Agrodan farm on an island in the São Francisco River, in Brazil’s arid Northeast. The company claims to be the country’s largest mango producer and exporter. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

    Flood irrigation

    “The ditches that were initially used for irrigation are wasteful in their use of water. Drip irrigation is mostly used nowadays, since it uses only the necessary water, is monitored by computers and measures of soil humidity,” explained Humberto Miranda, chair of the Bahia Federation of Agriculture.

    “Before, only 30 per cent of the water was used, today more than 90 per cent is used, which means that little is lost,” he said during an IPS tour of various localities in Juazeiro to visit farms and organisations involved in the irrigation project.

    In Mandacaru, the system that enabled the switch to drip irrigation, with ponds and pumping, was implemented in 2011, explained Manoel Vicente dos Santos, one of the first settlers in the project launched in 1973. “Irrigation by furrows was unstable, bringing more water to one plant than to others, a waste,” he recalled.

    But Rubez resists the change. In addition to the investment required in pumps and hoses, the drip system uses a lot of electricity, about 1,000 reais (200 dollars) a month. “And I have no heirs to leave the system to,” the 60-year-old single man joked with IPS.

    Suemi Koshiyama, a Japanese immigrant who became a large producer of grapes and mangoes in the São Francisco river valley, in arid lands in the municipality of Juazeiro, in northeastern Brazil, shows the hose that irrigates his vineyard, drip-fed from above and not on the ground. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
    Suemi Koshiyama, a Japanese immigrant who became a large producer of grapes and mangoes in the São Francisco river valley, in arid lands in the municipality of Juazeiro, in northeastern Brazil, shows the hose that irrigates his vineyard, drip-fed from above and not on the ground. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

    The drip system is a step forward in these irrigation projects. Apart from saving water, it improves soil management, reducing erosion and controlling chemical fertilisation by directing it to the roots through the water, says José Moacir dos Santos, general coordinator of the non-governmental Regional Institute for Appropriate Small Farming(Irpaa).

    But irrigation projects, whether Codevasf or private, do not favour local development, concentrate income, nor offer seasonal jobs during harvests, and they promote inequality, Dos Santos criticised.

    Prosperity for the few

    The wealth amassed by export fruit farming stays in the hands of a few, but creates a perception of prosperity that attracts many poor people to Juazeiro and neighbouring Petrolina, a city of 387,000 people separated by the São Francisco river and linked by a bridge.

    Migration to these two fruit-growing capitals of the Brazilian Northeast “swells their populations, especially their poor and infrastructure-poor peripheries, while emptying nearby cities,” said the activist, son of Manoel Vicente, one of the project’s settlers.

    In his opinion, an “injustice” has been done, because the river supplies the fruit-growing industry that exports its water contained in the fruit to Europe, the United States and Japan. But it does not do the same for the entire riverside population, which also has to resort to other, more distant springs.

    Water pumping station from the São Francisco river to irrigate fruit farming at a project near Juazeiro, a production and export hub for fruit, especially mangoes and grapes, in Brazil's arid northeast. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
    Water pumping station from the São Francisco river to irrigate fruit farming at a project near Juazeiro, a production and export hub for fruit, especially mangoes and grapes, in Brazil’s arid northeast. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

    In addition, most of the farmers have no irrigation. Communities encouraged by the government many years ago and traditional farmers in the basin have no access to water from the river, nor to the financing or other public project perks.

    The dominant monoculture of fruit trees forces food imports. Juazeiro and Petrolina, with a combined population of 625,000, produce less food for local consumption than Campo Alegre de Lourdes, a municipality 350 kilometres away with only 31,000 inhabitants, compared Dos Santos, an agricultural technician.

    The flow of goods, with fruits leaving and other products arriving from various parts of Brazil, has transformed the Juazeiro Producer Market into Brazil’s second largest agricultural trade hub, surpassed only by São Paulo, a metropolis of 12 million inhabitants – 22 million if its large metropolitan area is added.

    “The fruit-growing hub is an artificial system that concentrates the best soils and water of São Francisco on islands and generates the illusion of growth in Greater Juazeiro and Petrolina, where only 5 per cent of the land is suitable for irrigation, with water for only 2 per cent,” said Roberto Malvezzi, an activist with the Catholic Pastoral Land Commission.

    Maciela de Oliveira Silva in the shop where she sells products from the Mossoroca and Region Family Farming Cooperative, such as sweets, jellies and liqueurs made from native fruits from the so-called “grassland fund”, a collective area where farmers extract fruit, produce honey and raise goats and sheep. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS
    Maciela de Oliveira Silva in the shop where she sells products from the Mossoroca and Region Family Farming Cooperative, such as sweets, jellies and liqueurs made from native fruits from the so-called “grassland fund”, a collective area where farmers extract fruit, produce honey and raise goats and sheep. Credit: Mario Osava / IPS

    Suitable alternatives

    For Malvezzi, who has a degree in philosophy and theology, the Semi-arid region’s main economic and productive vocation is small livestock, such as goats and sheep, rather than agriculture.

    A mistake that has cost it multiple crises and impoverishment, as well as the environmental destruction of the Semi-arid region, was the historical expansion of cattle in Northeastern Brazil, whose interior is mostly semi-arid.

    The industrial and commercial chain for goats should be developed, including slaughterhouses and services such as technical assistance and health surveillance, said Malvezzi, who was born in the state of São Paulo, studied philosophy and theology there, but lives in the Northeast since 1979.

    The Semi-arid is a region of family farming, and for nearly three decades has seen a transformation process seeking to adapt its development to local conditions, including the climate. “Living with the Semi-arid”, which means rejecting colonial influences and impositions of the past, is the goal.

    Main canal supplying an irrigation project with water from the São Francisco river in the Semi-arid region. Secondary canals and local pumps in the fruit orchards complete the system that replaced irrigation by flood furrows, practically abolished because of the waste of water. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS
    Main canal supplying an irrigation project with water from the São Francisco river in the Semi-arid region. Secondary canals and local pumps in the fruit orchards complete the system that replaced irrigation by flood furrows, practically abolished because of the waste of water. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

    Small animal husbandry, instead of water-intensive cattle farming, and rainwater harvesting, both for human and animal consumption and for agricultural production, are some of the proven and effective ways.

    In the state of Bahia, a traditional agrarian singularity has been institutionalised, the “grassland fund”, a large collective land, managed for the extraction of native products, such as fruits, and the raising of goats and sheep. Horticulture is expanding strongly throughout the Semi-arid region.

    The Family Agricultural Cooperative of Massaroca and Region (Coofama), in the municipality of Juazeiro, is an example of a grassland fund, whose jellies, liqueurs and other native fruit products, such as umbu, and honey, are sold on the nearby highway and in cities.

    ‘Quiosco da Umbuzada’ is the name given to the roadside shop in the village of Massaroca, and ‘Central da Caatinga’, a shop in the city of Juazeiro, sell the products of Coofama and other family farming cooperatives.

    “Goats survive better in prolonged droughts, they eat leaves even from tall trees,” Coofama farmer Maciela de Oliveira Silva, who runs the roadside shop, where she works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on a minimum wage, equal to 280 dollars, told IPS.

    Eggs are another viable and promising food production in the Semi-arid, according to the Association of Small Producers of Canoa and Oliveira, led by Gilmar Nogueira Lino, owner of some 1,000 hens, also in the south of Juazeiro.

    The association’s 60 families produced 17,444 dozen eggs in 2023, said Lino. “The hens are faster than goats, start providing income in a few months and don’t require large spaces,” he told IPS.

    On his half-hectare property, the farmer has chicken coops and a shop that sells food, drinks and cooking gas. He also donated the land for the association’s headquarters. He only had to overcome the prejudice that “raising chickens is a woman’s business.”

    © Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • To Tackle Climate Crisis, the World Bank Must Stop Financing Industrial Livestock

    To Tackle Climate Crisis, the World Bank Must Stop Financing Industrial Livestock

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    • Opinion by Carolina Galvani, Monique Mikhail (washington dc)
    • Inter Press Service

    WASHINGTON DC, May 29 (IPS) – Last week, the World Bank Group released a new report that highlights the urgent need to drastically reduce GHG emissions to address the climate crisis and calls on countries to act. However, while the World Bank’s acknowledgment of the damaging climate impacts of industrial agriculture is a crucial step forward, it’s simply not enough.

    To address the climate emergency, the World Bank must walk the talk and take action on its own portfolio – which currently has billions invested in livestock production – by halting all financing for the global expansion of factory farming.

    First, the climate consequences of industrial livestock are staggering. As the World Bank’s report points out, the global agrifood system accounts for approximately one-third of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and industrial livestock production accounts for the lion’s share of these.

    Research has shown that livestock production alone will consume nearly half of the world’s 1.5°C emissions budget by 2030 and a staggering 80% by 2050. The World Bank’s report aptly states that “the system that feeds us is also feeding the planet’s climate crisis.”

    The World Bank cannot effectively tackle the climate crisis without a significant shift in lending away from high-polluting industrial livestock and toward a more sustainable food system.

    Second, the World Bank’s continued financing for industrial livestock starkly contradicts its own commitments, spanning from the Paris Agreement targets to the Sustainable Development Goals to the Bank’s biodiversity policies, and even its own mission statement.

    The World Bank itself says that “the world cannot achieve the Paris Agreement targets without achieving net zero emissions in the agrifood system.” Yet, the Bank continues to finance the expansion of industrial livestock – putting the Bank’s financing at odds with its commitment to align its strategies, activities, and investments with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.

    The Bank’s financial support for industrial livestock goes against other obligations as well, including the Bank’s commitment to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    A 2019 report from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development highlights the adverse human health and environmental impacts of industrial agriculture, including livestock and feed production, and the ways in which it undermines several SDGs, including poverty eradication (1), zero hunger (2), good health (3), clean water (6), decent work (8), responsible consumption and production (12), and climate action (13).

    Adding to this, despite the World Bank’s claim that it is “putting nature at the core of development efforts”, the Bank is continuing to undermine biodiversity by supporting the expansion of industrial livestock production when this sector, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), is the primary threat to over 85% of the 28,000 species at risk of extinction.

    Beyond global commitments, financing industrial livestock is also at odds with the World Bank’s own mission statement. World Bank President Ajay Banga took the reins at the World Bank a year ago with a mandate to help countries mitigate the climate crisis.

    As part of that mandate, the World Bank updated its mission statement, stating it will work “to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet.” To achieve this mission, the World Bank must reassess its investments and immediately cease financing the expansion of industrial livestock.

    Finally, like all development institutions, the World Bank has limited resources and must carefully choose the best projects to achieve its overall mission. In practice, this means that every dollar spent on industrial livestock is a dollar not invested in what the World Bank itself has acknowledged is the necessary just transition to a sustainable agrifood system. The Bank must redirect its support toward transitioning to a just and sustainable global food system.

    As the Bank rightly points out in its recent report, “he world has avoided confronting agrifood system emissions for as long as it could because of the scope and complexity of the task…now is the time to put agriculture and food at the top of the mitigation agenda. If not, the world will be unable to ensure a livable planet for future generations.”

    It’s past time for the Bank to heed its own warning.

    The World Bank must immediately cease its support for industrial livestock — a primary driver of climate change, biodiversity loss, public health crises, and food insecurity — and direct the Bank’s resources and considerable influence toward reforming and reshaping agriculture and food systems.

    Our future on a livable planet depends on it.

    Carolina Galvani is the executive director of Sinergia Animal, an international animal protection organization working in the Global South to end the worst practices of industrial animal agriculture. Monique Mikhail is the Agriculture and Climate Finance Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth U.S. Sinergia Animal and Friends of the Earth are members of the Stop Financing Factory Farming coalition.

    IPS UN Bureau


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  • Explainer: Understanding Carbon Trading and its Rationale

    Explainer: Understanding Carbon Trading and its Rationale

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    Kenya is home to the world’s first-ever blue carbon initiative that sold carbon credits from mangrove conservation along its vast coastline. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS
    • by Joyce Chimbi (nairobi)
    • Inter Press Service

    NAIROBI, May 27 (IPS) – Carbon trading has gained growing popularity on the African continent and is considered by many governments as a viable way to achieve their climate targets while building communities. IPS takes a look at what’s behind the carbon market.

    What is carbon trading and where did it come from?

    During the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015, 196 nations agreed to an internationally binding treaty on climate change known as the Paris Agreement. The agreement was a commitment to limit global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this century. 

    A significant rise in global temperatures is a significant threat as it increases the effects of climate change, such as prolonged and severe droughts and deadly floods, like those experienced in Kenya recently, killing people and animals and destroying crops and critical infrastructure.

    One of the biggest contributors to global warming or a dangerous rise in temperatures are greenhouse gas emissions, which include carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Carbon emissions are particularly dangerous. These gases are emitted as human beings go about their day-to-day living and business activities, such as driving a vehicle or running factory machines using coal-generated electricity.

    The Paris Agreement, therefore, requires that nations make significant efforts to reduce carbon emissions. One of the solutions laid out was carbon emissions trading—those who reduce emissions would receive a financial reward and those that emit would bear a financial responsibility.

    Simply put, carbon emissions trading allows you—who is unable to reduce carbon emissions to the required limits—to pay someone who is not only successfully limiting their own carbon emissions but has also gone a step further to remove additional carbon from the atmosphere. A similar approach was deployed in the 1990s to successfully remove sulphur from the atmosphere.

    How does carbon trading work?

    One of the best ways of removing carbon from the atmosphere is by mangrove trees, as they capture 3–5 times more carbon from the atmosphere compared to other types of trees.

    Kenya has various projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere and receive money for doing so through projects such as the Mikoko Pamoja (Swahili for Mangroves Together) and the Vanga Blue Forest. Mikoko Pamoja project was the first in the world to trade in carbon from planting mangroves.

    The Mikoko community plants mangroves and successfully removes at least 3,000 metric tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per year. The project started in 2013 and it will continue to capture carbon for trading until 2033, generating an annual revenue of about USD 130,000 from selling all the carbon captured annually.

    Internationally recognized scientific methods exist to calculate how much carbon a certain business, activity or project emits and how much carbon a project, like the Mikoko Pamoja, captures in a year.

    One tonne of carbon dioxide emitted into the environment is equivalent to one carbon credit. A carbon credit is a permit to emit carbon dioxide. For example, in line with the Paris Agreement, when company X in Europe is unable to reduce their emissions by say 3,000 metric tons, they can ‘artificially’ reduce them by paying for carbon credits from a community in Kenya that is able to reduce emissions and go a step further and remove an additional 3,000 metric tonnes from the atmosphere.

    The community is allowed to sell the excess amount of carbon captured, in this case, 3,000 metric tonnes. The principle of selling and buying carbon credits is that the Kenyan community is already living below their emissions, have no obligation to make additional carbon emission reductions, but have been incentivized to remove more carbon from the atmosphere for money.

    Company X is therefore punished by having to pay for the carbon they are releasing but at the same time rewarded by having their own carbon emissions wiped off by the carbon removal activities conducted by the Kenyan community.

    What is a carbon market?

    There are many carbon markets around the world. The kind of exchange of carbon emitted for money described above is conducted through a carbon market called the Voluntary Carbon Market. The community in Kenya planting mangroves to capture carbon uses a middleman or broker to find a market for their carbon and negotiate the best price on their behalf.

    The money is deposited into the community’s bank accounts for the community’s development projects. For example, Kenya’s Vanga Blue Forest spans over 460 hectares and is expected to avoid emissions of over 100,379tCO2-eq over a 20-year period.

    In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 65 percent of carbon credits issued are in the Voluntary Carbon Market, concentrated in just five countries: Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

    The government of Kenya can enter into a carbon trading arrangement with another government and this bilateral approach is much more lucrative compared to the voluntary approach. The World Bank estimates that one ton of carbon dioxide or one carbon credit would cost between 40 and 80 USD, in line with the Paris Agreement.

    Remember, if you—from anywhere in the world—pay for one carbon credit from the Mikoko Pamoja project, you are essentially buying a permit to emit one ton of carbon dioxide.

    In 2020, the Vanga Blue Forest received USD 48,713 in exchange for the carbon captured that year.

    The voluntary carbon trading sector has grown exponentially and was valued at USD 2 billion in 2022. The players in the voluntary market gathered in Kenya in June 2023 for  the world’s largest carbon credit auction event where more than 2.2 million tonnes of carbon credits were sold.

    This auction worked the same way as say a painting auction works only that carbon is an intangible commodity. Emitters haggle for the best prices to buy carbon credits or permits to help them wipe off their own emission—they pay for the permit to emit.

    What are the advantages and disadvantages of carbon trading?

    Heavy carbon emitters are in the global North. Africa for instance emits about 3.8 percent of global carbon emissions. Kenya’s alone accounts for less than 1 percent of the global carbon emissions.

    Some say carbon trading systems are fraudulent—the global North buys the permission to continue polluting and the global South receives financial crumbs to wipe off the former’s harmful emissions. They also say carbon markets are a new form of colonialism and a distraction as heavy emitters continue to emit without making strides to reduce their own emissions. Human Rights Watch has also expressed a concern about the rights of an Indigenous community in Cambodia as carbon trading continues.

    For others, carbon markets are increasing carbon removal projects while providing the money that developing countries need to accelerate growth and development.

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  • Small Island Developing States can be Nature-Positive Leaders for the World

    Small Island Developing States can be Nature-Positive Leaders for the World

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    • Opinion by Achim Steiner, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez (united nations)
    • Inter Press Service

    UNITED NATIONS, May 22 (IPS) – Small island developing states (SIDS) are scattered across the globe, dotting the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean, the west and east coasts of Africa and the Indian Ocean.

    These low-lying highly indebted countries are on the frontlines of climate change and natural resource scarcity, already facing the extremes of sea level rise, unpredictable weather events, and environmental degradation that millions more will face tomorrow.

    https://www.un.org/ohrlls/content/list-sids

    Yet they also are pioneers, innovating and demonstrating what is possible in a shift to a nature-positive future. Emerging technologies and solutions are re-setting economic and societal priorities to value and optimize natural resources and setting forth a path of thriving resilience.

    In three decades of working together supporting small islands states, these are the three critical success factors we see emerging from these trailblazing island states as the world looks to transition to a nature-positive future.

    One: Nature sits at the heart of this effort.

    Nature is the most effective solution to our interconnected planetary crisis and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It can unlock new and quickly felt benefits of sustainable development.

    Ecosystem services underpin key economic sectors in all vulnerable small island states, from fisheries to agriculture to tourism, but these same sectors have historically imposed serious environmental costs. Transitioning these sectors from ‘highly damaging’ to ‘sustainable’, in ways that are investable and profitable while benefiting communities, sits at the heart of our work together.

    The new Blue and Green Islands Programme, for example, mainstreams the central role of nature and scales nature-based solutions to address environmental degradation across three target sectors—urban, food, and tourism—for nature-positive shifts in fifteen island states.

    Small islands are especially well positioned to benefit from nature-positive economies, counting among them some of the most diverse and unique ecosystems in the world. For them, a nature-positive economy is important not just to stabilize the security of their natural resources and ensure resilient and thriving futures; it assures their role as irreplaceable hosts to many of the world’s migratory and endemic species that make up our global planetary safety net.

    Two: Successful solutions touch all aspects of life and livelihoods.

    Tackling sea level rise isn’t separate from restoring protective coastal ecosystems, which isn’t separate from rapidly expanding new opportunities in sustainable tourism and sustainable fishing. These expanding opportunities drive sustainable development, bringing jobs, economic prosperity, and resilience.

    ‘Whole of island’ approaches are now tackling the conservation of land, water, and ocean resources as interconnected issues. These approaches are championing decarbonization and sustainable livelihoods, increasing access to sustainable energy, increasing the ability of communities to adapt to unpredictable or extreme weather, creating jobs, improving opportunities and wellbeing, and achieving sustainable development goals.

    The logic of integrated approaches is clear: our lives are deeply interconnected with our environment and our opportunities the world over. The challenge is adapting and shifting systemic norms that are out of step and out of date for the collective future we want. Whole of island issues demands ‘whole-of-society’ inclusion and coordination, across ministries and sectors, building on locally owned and existing structures and initiatives, and seeking private sector engagement and community empowerment at every level.

    Today, all our projects undertaken with island states promote integration and inclusion and are designed to ensure that multiple challenges can be addressed at scale and pace simultaneously.

    Early efforts through the Integrating Watershed and Coastal Areas Management (IWCAM), the Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (IWEco Project) and the Pacific Ridge to Reef Programme in Pacific SIDS, for example, helped to pioneer the integrated approaches we are seeing today under the global programs in SIDS.

    Three: Innovation is the accelerator.

    Successful projects demonstrate the disproportionate importance of innovation to turn our most urgent challenges into opportunities for sustainable development. Representing nearly 20% of the world’s exclusive economic zones, many of these islands are incubating new and investable nature-based solutions that can be scaled up to support successful transitions to nature-positive economic sectors and centres of excellence, both in the islands themselves and to the benefit of countries beyond.

    For example, with UNDP and GEF support, Seychelles issued the world’s first ‘blue bond’; Cuba mainstreamed nature into policies and practices to reverse degradation of the Sabana-Camagüey ecosystem driven by agriculture, livestock, fisheries, and tourism; and the GEF’s Small Grants Programme supported local communities to ban single-use plastics in the Maldives.

    New initiatives with innovative partners such as the Global Fund for Coral Reefs also seek to attract and de-risk private sector investment into local businesses to protect and restore important coral reef ecosystems. These initiatives offer opportunities for integration that are now inspiring similar examples across other islands.

    Nothing without partnerships.

    A broad and inclusive coalition of government, private sector, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and other partners is critical to further accelerate nature-positive transformation and increase impact.

    New partnerships with the private sector to identify and deploy new business models and instruments to support nature-positive outcomes are also a major part of this effort.

    Small Island Developing States have in front of them an opportunity to scale and replicate their successes and make outsized contributions to the implementation of environmental conventions including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (The Biodiversity Plan), the Paris Agreement and the UNCCD Strategic Framework, as well as progress towards their sustainable development goals.

    In responding to the most pressing development needs of small island states, the nature-positive economic transitions that are emerging, sector by sector, taking an integrated, innovative and community-informed approach, offer answers to development challenges with applications far beyond their precarious and precious coastlines.

    Achim Steiner is Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Carlos Manuel Rodriguez is CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility (GEF)

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  • South Africa will be President of G20 in 2025: Two much-needed Reforms it Should Drive

    South Africa will be President of G20 in 2025: Two much-needed Reforms it Should Drive

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    Credit: IMF
    • Opinion by Danny Bradlow (pretoria, south africa)
    • Inter Press Service

    During its G20 presidential year, South Africa will host a summit of heads of state and government. It will also be responsible for organising and chairing about 200 meetings of ministers and officials. These will come from the G20 members, invited countries and international organisations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

    The meetings will focus on issues such as the challenges facing the global economy and whether the current arrangements for global economic governance are able to respond effectively.

    The G20 presidency, therefore, presents South Africa with an opportunity to promote reforms in global economic governance. But there are constraints. It will inherit an agenda from Brazil, the current G20 chair. And it will have to respond to developments in the current dynamic and complex global environment.

    Danny Bradlow

    The IMF/World Bank spring meetings held in April in the US suggest some achievable objectives for the G20 next year. There was a great deal of discussion about the inability of current arrangements to adequately address global challenges like climate, public health, inequality, poverty and digitalisation.

    There’s not necessarily agreement on how to prioritise these challenges. And, unfortunately, the views of the rich states, which prioritise issues like carbon emissions, dominate the discussions. For example, the World Bank highlighted the fact that, in the 2023 financial year, it increased the funds loaned for climate-related purposes by more than 20%, allocating 41% of all its lending to climate.

    But its own survey of its borrower countries shows that climate ranks number 11 on the list of priorities of its borrower states. Health, education, agriculture and food security, and water and sanitation rank much higher. Nevertheless, at least two gaps became evident in the discussions.

    The first relates to IMF reform. The second concerns the relationship between international organisations and their member states.

    South Africa should aim to fill these gaps. It should encourage the G20 to commission two studies on the scale and scope of the challenges that the international community faces, and propose some responses. Ideally, it should convince the G20 to commission these studies in 2024 so that it can begin discussing policy responses in 2025.

    This kind of approach has been effective. Over the last few years, the multilateral development banks have been the subject of G20-commissioned studies. This has led to proposals designed to make them “bigger and better”.

    Shortcomings

    The need for IMF reform is becoming more urgent. It is adapting its operations to deal with the macro-economic impacts of issues like climate, gender and inequality. The IMF has created a Resilience and Sustainability Trust that is providing financing to 18 countries, primarily for adaptation. It is reviewing its Debt-Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries so that it incorporates these “new” issues.

    These changes are being made in an opaque and unpredictable way, however. The IMF has not made publicly available the principles and procedures it uses when deciding what aspects of these “new” issues to take on.

    It can’t accurately assess the full impacts of these issues unless it understands how communities, workers, businesses and civil society organisations will respond to the social and environmental impacts of specific policy and fiscal initiatives with macroeconomic implications. It cannot gain this information without consulting these groups.

    This means it must engage more with a broader range of stakeholders than it did when it focused exclusively on more traditional macroeconomic and financial stability concerns. These new issues, therefore, raise questions about the appropriate form for the relationship between the IMF and its member states.

    At the spring meetings, the Development Committee of the World Bank and the IMF “reiterated the importance of accountability mechanisms in enhancing development outcomes and stimulating internal learning and feedback.”

    Yet the IMF remains the only international financial institution without an independent accountability mechanism.

    The second gap relates to the fact that developing countries are spending more on external debt service than on health and education. This is undermining their efforts to deal with climate change, inequality and sustainable development goals. Some discussants also regretted that there was a net outflow of funds from the global south to the global north.

    As some have noted, the amount of funding committed to new development financing initiatives by rich countries is paltry compared to what’s needed. This has led, for example, economic ministers from Brazil, Germany, South Africa and Spain to call for a global tax on billionaires.

    This is an important and creative idea. But the proposal raises difficult questions about state sovereignty and about the design of the institutions of global governance.

    What’s needed

    While multilateral development banks have been the subject of G20-commissioned studies, the IMF has not undergone a similar examination.

    South Africa should commission a group of experts to study how the IMF should change to take on these new issues. The study should look at IMF governance, operational policies and practices, and its financial needs. The purpose would be to identify the current shortcomings in structures and functions.

    Experts should also think of ways to make the IMF more responsive to the needs and priorities of all its member states and their citizens.

    Second, South Africa should call for a study of how best to divide responsibility between states and the international financial institutions. This is particularly important when it comes to the environmental and social impacts of operations.

    The purpose would be to understand how the roles and functions of these institutions are evolving and how this is affecting their relations with their member states. The study could propose ways to ensure that the structure and functions of institutions are both respectful of state sovereignty and appropriate for the responsibilities that the institutions are assuming.

    Raising a global wealth tax for developmental purposes could be one example used in this study.

    Danny Bradlow is a Professor/Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria. In addition to his position at the University of Pretoria, he is also a Compliance Officer in the Social and Environmental Compliance Unit of the UNDP and Co-Chair of the Academic Circle on the Right to Development, which advises the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development.

    Source: The Conversation– a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good. The University of Pretoria provides funding as a partner of The Conversation AFRICA.

    IPS UN Bureau

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  • The Bleak déjà vu in Darfur

    The Bleak déjà vu in Darfur

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    Food is distributed to Sudanese refugees in Koufron, Chad. Credit: WFP/Jacques David
    • Opinion by James Elder (darfur, western sudan)
    • Inter Press Service

    DARFUR, Western Sudan, May 09 (IPS) – As dawn breaks over Darfur, my return after two decades feels heavy. Many millions are suffering once again. Twenty years ago, I was part of the humanitarian effort to make a difference. That was in the early 2000s, when celebrities and world-famous journalists would make the trek in a well-intentioned effort to focus attention on the atrocities across Darfur.

    Meanwhile, a former UN staff member who worked for a decade in Sudan’s Darfur region for the African Union-United Nations mission, UNAMID, has told UN News how she had to “avoid stepping on the bodies in the streets” as she fled for her life to neighbouring Chad. March 2024.

    But despite years of progress, this return is difficult; something akin to a bleak déjà vu. Indeed, in many respects, this time it is much, much worse for children and women. Sudan’s Darfur region has long been plagued by conflict, displacement, and unimaginable suffering.

    But now, as Sudan is torn apart by warring parties, there are no Hollywood actors, nor coordinated, concerted international pressure from politicians and media, to tackle what is the largest displacement crisis for children on the planet.

    Darfur faces one of the world’s worst man-made disasters, yet so few people are talking about. After a year of fighting, more than 4.5 million children have been displaced. That’s more children than the entire population of many countries.

    My initial experience 20 years ago left an indelible mark on me. Now, two decades later, I find myself standing once again on the soil of Darfur, the landscape hardly changed, but the problems all too familiar.

    There’s a frightful, familiar pattern to this current war. The fighting has been brutal. The ceasefires almost non-existent. The clashes spreading. And the atrocities many, with girls and women so frequently targeted.

    “If they couldn’t carry it, they burnt it”

    Talking to the people, most of whom are displaced, I hear familiar themes from 20 years ago. Fighters didn’t just battle each other but looted whatever they could find, including basics like beds, mattresses, blankets, pots and pans or clothes. They took everything and, as an elderly woman told me in the city of Genenia: “If they couldn’t carry it, they burnt it.”

    As I travel across West Darfur, I see evidence of a rebuilt life demolished once again, this time for the next generation. There were schools, health clinics and water systems less than 20 years old that now, after intense fighting, have been destroyed.

    Lifesaving services that protect children and families again on the brink of collapse. Frontline workers like nurses, teachers, doctors, have not been paid in months. They are running out of medicines. Safe water is sparse.

    Similarly, for those who were children the last time I was in Darfur it is again a desolate place. University students and graduates, mostly young men but some women – young people who wanted a job in economics, medicine or IT – are now refugees in Chad with next to nothing. They crave the tiniest opportunity.

    Dreams on hold

    In the chaos of this war, the brightest minds have been forced to abandon their studies, their ambitions shattered. As 22-year-old Haida said to me in Darfur: “I had a dream – to study medical science. I was living that dream. Now I have nothing. I do not dream. Sadness is my friend.”

    Her gentle voice, perfect clarity, and utter grief floor me. I can only imagine how much more attention Sudan would get if the world could meet young Sudanese women like Haida.

    Or Ahmed, 20, now in Farchana, Chad: “I cannot afford to dream here.” How then to reawaken their dreams? Those in power need to negotiate a ceasefire, and ensure aid is no longer blocked – from any side.

    Those in the region need to show leadership. Those in donor countries need to show compassion – and translate that into funding to address immediate needs.

    I speak to Nawal, 24, from Zelinge in West Darfur, for whom the stress of war had become so much that she delivered her baby, at home, two months premature. And then, as she was giving birth, Nawal’s house was bombed. Miraculously, she and her baby survived, but when I met her, the baby was badly malnourished. I will always remember the look of this mother, as she whispered to me, head bowed, “I am a nutritionist, but look at my child’.

    She was ashamed. I thought she was heroic. She had walked for a day to get her baby to a facility where the baby could receive treatment from UNICEF, but without additional resources and improved access, she will be one of the few lucky ones.

    James Elder is UNICEF’s spokesperson. Follow him @1james_elder

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  • We Should Aim to be at Peace with Nature, Says David Cooper of UN Convention on Biological Diversity

    We Should Aim to be at Peace with Nature, Says David Cooper of UN Convention on Biological Diversity

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    Bee-harvesting in an urban setting. Preparations are underway for the 16th Biodiversity Convention of the Parties (COP16) in Cali, Valle del Cauca. Credit: USDA
    • by Stella Paul (hyderabad & montreal)
    • Inter Press Service

    HYDERABAD & MONTREAL, May 02 (IPS) – In a world faced with habitat loss and species extinction, climate change, and pollution, it’s crucial that countries develop their national action plans and create a society that lives in harmony with nature, says David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in an exclusive interview with IPS.

    And in a year where more than 4 billion people across the globe are expected to participate in elections, Cooper believes that politicians should put biodiversity on their manifestos.

    Since taking the reins from the previous Executive Director, Elizabeth Mrema, Cooper has been at the forefront of steering the CBD towards the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

    Later this year, world leaders will gather in Cali, Colombia for the 16th Biodiversity Convention of the Parties (COP16) slated for October 21 to November 1, 2024 for which preparations are currently underway.

    Cooper gives insight into the core issues that will be on the top of the COP16 agenda, the current status of biodiversity finance, including the newly operationalized biodiversity fund, the upcoming meetings of the scientific and technical bodies of the CBD, the current status of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP) and what is likely to unfold in the coming months in Digital Sequence Information (DSI).

    David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
    David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

    Biodiversity Finance: On Track but at Slow Pace

    The UN Biodiversity Convention aims to mobilize at least USD 20 billion per year by 2025 and at least USD 30 billion per year by 2030 for biodiversity-related funding from all sources, including the public and private sectors.

    However, the current situation with biodiversity funding shows that while progress is happening, it’s not fast enough. Some countries and groups are trying hard to give more money to projects that help nature, but overall, it’s still below expectations, and there are unfilled promises, Cooper acknowledges.

    “We need to see a serious road map,” Cooper says, “All countries, in particular the donor country community, have to see how we are going to achieve at least that USD 20 billion by 2025 because that’s imminent.”

    He called on big donors to honor their commitments.

    “It’s really important that the big donors who promise money actually follow through and give the money they said they would. We need everyone to work together to make sure there’s enough money to protect our plants, animals, and the places they live,” Cooper says. “Certainly, we need to see all countries put efforts behind all of the goals and targets of the framework and that, of course, includes those on financial resources.”

    Cooper welcomed the decision by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to establish a new fund, the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund. He said the CBD secretariat was working closely with Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, the GEF CEO, and his team.

    “We then saw a number of contributions to that fund coming. The contribution from Canada is a significant one of 200 million Canadian dollars. Other significant donations came from Germany, Spain, Japan, and most recently, Luxembourg. Actually, the contribution from Luxembourg, if we look at its pro rata, given the size of the Luxembourg economy, is also quite generous, even though it’s only USD 7 million in total.”

    National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs)

    It’s not only about funding, Cooper says, but countries showing their commitment to their agreements, including developing NBSAPs. He acknowledged that very few countries had submitted so far.

    “It’s only a few countries so far, and Spain, Japan, China, France, Hungary, and Ireland have submitted their NBSAPS, as well as the European Union,” says Cooper.

    While he is optimistic that all the countries will develop their targets, he recognizes that it’s a complex process.

    “I think most countries are in the process of developing their national targets, which is the first thing they’re supposed to do. But this is a process that is also supposed to engage all the different sectors of the economy and all the different parts of society, with the engagement of local communities, indigenous peoples, businesses, and so on.”

    The CBD supports the countries through the complexities.

    “The developing countries in particular have been supported through the Global Environment Facility. We’ve also been organizing a number of regional dialogues so that countries can share their experience as they move forward,” Cooper says.

    At COP15, it was decided that all countries should submit their NBSAPs, if possible, before COP16.

    “If they’re not able to submit their full NBSAPS by then, then at least they should provide their updated national targets. So, we do expect many, many countries to have progressed on their NBSAPs by COP16. Immediately prior to COP16, there will be another meeting of the subsidiary body on implementation to also take stock of where we are on that.”

    COP16: What’s In, What’s Out

    The core focus of CBD COP16 is likely to revolve around the adoption and implementation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This framework sets out the global targets and goals for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use for the next decade and beyond. Key aspects of the framework may include targets related to halting biodiversity loss, promoting sustainable resource management, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and ensuring equitable sharing of the benefits derived from biodiversity.

    “I think I can highlight four key areas for COP 16,” says Cooper. “The first is that we have to see, and we have to have demonstrated progress in terms of implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework. That means national targets are set. That means NBSAPs developed in at least a majority of countries. That means funds are flowing, which means, as I said before, a credible path towards this USD 20 billion by 2025 target. It also means the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund should be receiving more funds and supporting more projects.”

    The second core issue will be the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) on genetic resources. There was an agreement made at COP15 to establish this mechanism, but no details were fleshed out at that time, so those details are now being negotiated in an intergovernmental working group.

    “Of course, the establishment of such a mechanism with a fund would give another major boost to the Convention because it would bring in another source of funding.”

    The third area would be finance, he says.

    “The fourth area that I would highlight is the need to further strengthen the role of indigenous peoples and local communities as key actors.”

    He also points out that there’s a number of other issues, such as the issue of biodiversity and health and synthetic biology, that need to be managed, including looking at a risk assessment and risk management for, for instance, gene-edited mosquitoes.

    “They’ve determined that the theme of the COP will be peace with nature, which is a broad theme that will include many, many issues,” he reveals.

     Plastic Pollution Treaty and CBD’s Role

    The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) on plastic pollution in April 2024 at the Shaw Center in Ottawa, Canada, aims to develop an internationally legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, to end plastic pollution by 2040.

    Ending plastic pollution is also one of the biodiversity targets, Cooper says, adding that the CBD is actively involved in the logistical organization of INC-4.

    “Also, the reduction of waste from plastics and pollution from plastics is one of the elements of target 7 of the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. So, we are seeing the success of INC-4 negotiations as hugely important for the implementation of the Framework,” he says.

    What to Watch out for Between Now and COP16

    Although all eyes will be on the COP16 negotiations, there are a number of global events taking place in the next few months that will contribute to the agenda and determine the level of the world’s preparedness for the conference.

    “The most important ones are obviously the SBSTTA (Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice) and the SBI (Subsidiary Body on Implementation), then this working group on Digital Sequence Information that will take place in August,” Cooper says.

    Like the SBI, SBSTTA is a subsidiary body established under the CBD. While the SBI specifically assists in reviewing progress in the implementation of the Convention and identifies obstacles to its implementation, among other functions, SBSTTA plays a crucial role in ensuring that decisions made under the CBD are informed by the best available scientific evidence and technical expertise.

    “Then we have the G7 and G20 processes coming up, which are important processes to show leadership. The CBD COP itself will be followed by the COPs of climate change and desertification, making the linkage between these. Also, we expect Colombia and the indigenous peoples will host just before COP, a pre-cop focusing on indigenous peoples and local communities and their roles,” Cooper says.

    Finally, as a record 64 countries across the world hold their elections this year to elect a new national government, does this provide a unique opportunity to speak about biodiversity and should biodiversity, like climate change, be made an election issue?

    “Definitely,” says Cooper.

    “If we look at many of the extreme events that people suffered from, particularly last year, whether these be fires, wildfires, droughts, storms, or floods, you know, these are largely attributed by the media to climate change. Climate change is increasing the probability and severity of these events, but these events are also happening because of ecosystem degradation because we haven’t been managing biodiversity and ecosystems well. So, I think we all have an opportunity to make this message and these links clearer. Politicians have a particular responsibility to do so, and I hope more of them will do so as these various elections in various parts of the world pan out.”

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  • Cuban Family Harnesses Biogas and Promotes its Benefits

    Cuban Family Harnesses Biogas and Promotes its Benefits

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    Preschool teacher Iris Mejías and her husband Alexis García, a retired university professor, stand next to the geomembrane biodigester that since December 2023 provides about four cubic meters of biogas daily for their agricultural activities and the needs of their home in the semi-urban neighborhood of Sierra Maestra, in the municipality of Boyeros on the south side of Havana. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS
    • by Luis Brizuela (havana)
    • Inter Press Service

    HAVANA, Apr 26 (IPS) – Just to obtain a good fertilizer it was worth building a biodigester, says Cuban farmer Alexis García, who proudly shows the vegetables in his family’s garden, as well as the wide variety of fruit trees that have benefited from biol, the end product of biogas technology.

    García and his wife Iris Mejías organically grow all the agricultural products that make them self-sufficient, on the land around their home in the semi-urban neighborhood of Sierra Maestra, in the municipality of Boyeros on the south side of Havana.

    “I used to use a little urea, but because of the economic situation it has become very difficult to import this and other fertilizers. The bioproducts are an opportunity to make up for that shortage and, in some cases, function as pesticides,” García, a 62-year-old retired university professor who is now dedicated to his crops, told IPS.

    Biol is the liquid effluent with a certain degree of stabilization that comes out of the biodigester, once the process of anaerobic digestion of organic matter, which includes animal manure, crop waste and/or liquid waste, has been completed. It is rich in nutrients for crops and for restoring soil through fertigation.

    García pointed out that the challenges of obtaining energy and the need to process manure prompted the installation of the geomembrane biodigester, which as of December 2023 provides about four cubic meters of biogas per day.

    This is one of the three types of biodigesters most used at a small and medium scale in Cuba, together with the mobile type, also known as the Indian model, and the fixed dome or Chinese biodigester.

    “I had read a little about it and wanted to have a biodigester. With some savings we decided to start building one. In addition to the support of our sons Alexis and Alexei, we had the backing and advice of José Antonio Guardado,” coordinator of the Biogas Users Movement (MUB), said García.

    Founded in 1983, the MUB brings together some 3,000 farmers who use this technology in this Caribbean island nation of 11 million people.

    Preschool teacher Iris Mejías uses biogas to cook food, which gives her autonomy, saves money and improves the quality of life in her home in the south of the Cuban capital. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS
    Preschool teacher Iris Mejías uses biogas to cook food, which gives her autonomy, saves money and improves the quality of life in her home in the south of the Cuban capital. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS

    Biogas opportunities

    Mejías, 59, said that “with biogas you lose the fear of not having enough fuel for cooking. It provides security.”

    Meiías, a teachers at a preschool for the young children of working mothers, says that when the economic crisis became more severe in the 1990s, she cooked with firewood, charcoal, kerosene and even coconut shells to prepare her family’s daily meals.

    “If you cook with electrical equipment, you depend on the power supply, or if you have a gas cylinder (liquefied petroleum gas), you worry that it will run out and you won’t have a spare. In both cases the biodigester saves money,” she said.

    Mejías said it is easier to cook food for domestic animals and heat water “without smut or smoke that makes it necessary to wash your hair every day or makes it difficult to take care of your hands.”

    Studies show that methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with a warming power 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide (CO2).

    Proper management of the biological methane resulting from the decomposition of agricultural residues and manure can generate value and be a cost-effective solution to avoid water and soil contamination.

    Therefore, its extraction and use as energy, especially in rural and semi-urban environments, can be a solution to reduce electricity consumption and help combat climate change.

    According to García, the island could receive greater energy benefits if there were clear incentives for the installation of biodigesters.

    Although the acute domestic economic crisis has had a very negative impact on the national swine and cattle herd, “many dairies and pig farms do not know what to do with the daily output of manure. In fact, our biodigester is fed from nearby facilities where it is piled up and they give it to us for free,” he said.

    Alexis García dries coffee beans next to solar panels installed on the roof of his house in southern Havana. The possibility of storing energy with the back-up of recovered batteries provides the family with approximately three hours of autonomy during blackouts. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS
    Alexis García dries coffee beans next to solar panels installed on the roof of his house in southern Havana. The possibility of storing energy with the back-up of recovered batteries provides the family with approximately three hours of autonomy during blackouts. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS

    Other incentives

    Cuba has a biogas production potential of 615,595 cubic meters per year from agricultural and industrial production, according to the Bioenergy Atlas 2022.

    That volume represents 189,227 tons of oil equivalent per year or 710,095 megawatt hours (MWh) per year. Of the total, 63 percent comes from agricultural production, he said.

    In García’s opinion, Cuba’s rural environment “is in a better position to achieve the desired energy independence. But economic facilities would be necessary, such as loans for the construction of biodigesters, bonuses for people to produce that energy and access to buy lamps, pots and even refrigerators that use biogas.”

    Of Cuba’s 11 million inhabitants, about 23 percent, some 2.3 million people, live in rural areas, according to official statistics.

    On the other hand, it is estimated that there are some 5,000 biodigesters on the island, although conservative estimates by specialists consider it possible to expand the network to 20,000 family units.

    Experts argue that the direct use of biogas is more efficient than transforming it into electricity.

    A significant percentage of Cuba’s four million households use electricity as the main energy source for cooking and heating water for bathing, which represents about 40 percent of consumption.

    Cuba is a country highly dependent on fuel imports.

    During the last five years, in parallel to the deterioration of the domestic economic situation, the decline of the main sources of foreign currency and the strengthening of the U.S. embargo, the authorities have faced increasing difficulties in meeting the demand for fuel.

    About 95 percent of Cuba’s electricity generation relies on fossil fuels. The government aims to increase clean sources from the current five percent to around 30 percent of electricity generation by 2030.

    “Imagine what it would mean if not all, at least most of the houses in the Cuban countryside had a biodigester or solar panels. Any strategy that encourages independence from the national power grid, or that provides energy, would be very positive,” said García.

    In recent years, the international Biomas-Cuba project (2009-2022) focused on helping to understand the importance of renewable energy sources in rural environments, the role of on-farm biodigesters and waste treatment systems in swine facilities.

    The initiative, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Cosude), was coordinated by the Indio Hatuey Experimental Station, a research center attached to the University of the western province of Matanzas, and involved related institutions in several of the country’s 15 provinces.

    Ministerial Order 395 of the Ministry of Energy and Mines of 2021 stipulated that each of Cuba’s 168 municipalities must have a biogas development program and strategy, and coordinate its management and implementation with their respective provinces.

    In addition, the non-governmental Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Respect for the Environment (Cubasolar), together with the MUB, encourages training workshops and the advice of specialists.

    Banana clusters can be seen growing in the backyard of the García-Mejías home in southern Havana. Both the vegetables in the nursery and the fruit trees benefit from biol, the end product of biogas technology, which provides fertilizer. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS
    Banana clusters can be seen growing in the backyard of the García-Mejías home in southern Havana. Both the vegetables in the nursery and the fruit trees benefit from biol, the end product of biogas technology, which provides fertilizer. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS

    Moving towards energy independence

    One of the aspirations of the García-Mejías family is to achieve energy sustainability for their home and agricultural production.

    “We foresee the construction of a second biodigester, but this one will have a mobile dome, which should provide two cubic meters of biogas per day, but much more efficiently, and with a higher pressure. With a higher volume we can benefit some neighbors,” García said.

    On the roof of their house, six 720-watt solar panels backed up by recovered batteries give them autonomy of approximately three hours of electricity in the event of a power failure.

    “We plan to install a wind turbine, as well as a solar heater made of plastic pipes. We want to set up a demonstration area in the house to show the advantages of renewable energies and demonstrate how everything we do is done using these energy sources,” said the former professor.

    “We need a greater culture and awareness about renewable energies. There is resistance among some places and people. On the other hand, there are the high prices which do not foment the rapid expansion of technologies and equipment,” García said when IPS asked him in his home about the obstacles to increasing the household use of renewables.

    “People hear about the biodigester and think it’s difficult. It takes a little work, but then the benefits are many. There is a lack of information in the media. People come to us looking for help in building biodigesters. We also receive students, which opens up an opportunity for the new generations to grow up with the culture of using nature in a sustainable way,” he added.

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  • Small Island States Fostering Effective Energy Transition To Achieve a Blue Economy

    Small Island States Fostering Effective Energy Transition To Achieve a Blue Economy

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    Renewable energy for small island states formed part of the debate at the Fourteenth Session of the IRENA Assembly in Abu Dhabi. Credit: Amitava Chandra / Climate Visuals
    • by Aimable Twahirwa (abu dhabi)
    • Inter Press Service

    ABU DHABI, Apr 24 (IPS) – Small Island Developing States (SIDS), a distinct group of 39 states and 18 associate members, are making efforts to promote the blue economy as they possess enormous potential for renewable energy relying on the sea.

    Experts predict that switching to renewables will help SIDS countries decarbonize power generation as an appropriate option for islands to cut their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, fulfill Paris Agreement pledges and contribute to the global fight against climate change.

    In addition, ocean energy technologies, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), are likely to offer high predictability, making them suitable to provide a continuous supply of power.

    Dr Vince Henderson, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade, and Energy, Dominican Republic, told IPS that the key has been prioritizing the development of various forms of renewable energies, focusing on clean and efficient energy exploration and exploitation.

    While SIDS have shown climate leadership through 100 percent renewable energy ambitions, experts believe that realizing these ambitions is critical.

    “Renewable energy innovations are a winning formula for our blue economy’s development,” said Henderson, whose country generates 85 percent of its electricity from imported fossil fuels.

    A delegation of Ministers from SIDS member countries addressing a press briefing at the Fourteenth Session of the IRENA Assembly in Abu Dhabi. Experts predict the widespread use of renewable energy among SIDS could have a positive impact on reducing the cost of renewable energy. Credit: Aimable Twahirwa/IPS
    A delegation of Ministers from SIDS member countries addressed a press briefing at the Fourteenth Session of the IRENA Assembly in Abu Dhabi. Experts predict that the widespread use of renewable energy among SIDS could have a positive impact on reducing the cost of renewable energy. Credit: Aimable Twahirwa/IPS

    By 2030, the renewable energy generation output for the whole SIDS member states is anticipated to reach 9.9 GW from current 5 GW.

    According to an analysis by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on the updated NDCs, a minimum investment of USD 10.5 billion is required to meet the additional capacity target, of which 3.2 GW is dependent on external financial assistance.

    “Improving a new system for mobilizing the much-needed financing to implement effective decarbonization actions is crucial,” Henderson said in an exclusive interview.

    While some experts believe that the widespread use of renewable energy among SIDS could have a positive impact on reducing the cost of renewable energy, such as solar photovoltaic, wind, and bioenergy, providing reliable and affordable electricity is considered an important step to ensure that the SIDS population is accessible to reliable social services such as health, education, public transport, and housing services.

    Arieta Gonelevu Rakai, Regional Programme Officer, Islands, at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), told IPS that despite progress achieved in decarbonizing the electricity sector, challenges remain in transport, industry, tourism, and services for islands.

    The ambitious target means that Island states will continue to upgrade renewable technologies to stimulate the rapid expansion of renewable energy installation while improving the efficiency and stability of power generation

    “International cooperation and collaborations between governments, regional and multilateral institutions, and the public and private sector are needed to drive this transformation,” said Rakai during an exclusive interview.

    Through established partnerships such as the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative (LHI), which is coordinated by IRENA, small islands saw a steady increase in the newly-installed capacity of clean energy thanks to a partnership with various stakeholders working with donor agencies to provide streamlined access to grants.

    While new efforts seek to explore energy for the benefits of blue economic resources, some experts believe that renewable technologies, although not yet cost competitive with fossil fuels, are set to become less costly over time.

    Miriam Dalli, Malta’s Minister of Environment, Energy, and Regeneration of the Grand Harbour, stressed that for small islands to meet their internal electricity demand while reducing their imports of electricity and fossil fuels, the development of alternative energy sources is crucial.

    For example, Malta, being an archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea, in which the islands generally use diesel generators to produce electrical power, is emphasizing increasing the share of primary energy consumption that comes from renewable technologies, with a major focus on solar and wind that sweeps its coasts and land.

    Sea wave energy happens to be another source of renewable energy in Malta, using the energy released by the wave to produce energy.

    “Marine energy is turning to be the most viable means for Small Island’s energy generation,” Dalli told IPS of the initiatives currently undertaken by the Mediterranean Archipelago to shift from fossil fuels to clean energy.

    Scientists and decision-makers gathered earlier last week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for the 14th Session of the IRENA Assembly. Current global efforts to decarbonize both energy supply and demand from renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass can help small  islands reap the benefits of a rapidly growing ocean economy.

    According to the latest IRENA’s projections, ocean energy can provide clean, local and predictable electricity to coastal countries and island communities around the world, with the potential to generate a total capacity of 350 gigawatts (GW) by 2050.

    The deployment of ocean energy technologies, according to experts, can also facilitate new revenue streams and higher cash flows for territories, helping to reduce the levelized cost of electricity in these locations.

    Kerryne James, Minister of Climate Resilience, Environment, and Renewable Energy of Grenada, points out that some islands, such as Grenada, are perfect for solar and geothermal power.

    Grenada’s clean energy goals for increasing energy efficiency and implementing renewable energy from geothermal, wind, and solar technologies are matched by its renewable resources, which more than exceed current electric sector capacity.

    “We are currently implementing appropriate plans to further explore various renewable energy sources and support grid resilience,” she told IPS.

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  • UN Lives CEO Katja Iversen Talks About the Power of Popular Culture and Sounds Right

    UN Lives CEO Katja Iversen Talks About the Power of Popular Culture and Sounds Right

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    UN Live’s CEO Katja Iversen at the launch of ‘Sounds Right’. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS
    • by Naureen Hossain (new york)
    • Inter Press Service

    NEW YORK, Apr 22 (IPS) – UN Live’s CEO, Katja Iversen, says the way to engage people in the environment is through popular culture—film, music, gaming, sports, food, and fashion. She is excited about the Sounds Right project, which puts the sounds of nature—bird songs, waves, wind, and rainfall—at the center of a campaign to support those involved in climate action.

    In an exclusive interview with IPS, Iversen shares the motivation behind this innovative project.

    The Sounds Right initiative was officially launched on April 18. It established NATURE as an official artist, eligible to earn royalties. Music fans were invited to support nature conservation by listening to NATURE’s recordings or tracks with musicians. This initiative was developed and delivered by the Museum for the United Nations (UN Live) and a broad range of partners in the music and environmental sectors.

    IPS: How was the Sounds Right initiative conceived? What is the significance of recognizing NATURE in the same way that we recognize and reward musical artists through royalties?

    Katja Iversen: The “Sounds Right” initiative was conceived as a global music movement to prompt conversations about the value of nature, raise innovative financing for conservation, and inspire millions of fans to take action.

    The original idea came out of a project called VozTerra in Colombia, which the Museum for the United Nations—UN Live helped initiate. The initiative, as it looks today, has been developed by UN Live in close partnership with musicians, creatives, and nature sound recordists, as well as environmental, campaigning, and global advocacy organizations and VozTerra.

    The significance of the initiative is that it treats NATURE as the artist she truly is and nature’s sounds—such as bird songs, waves, wind, and rainfall—as artistic works deserving of royalty payment. It leverages the power of music to connect fans with nature by having artists feature natural sounds in new and existing tracks.

    It is going to be really big. To test things out, NATURE was discretely established as an official artist two weeks ago on various streaming platforms, including with some pure nature sounds. As of today, on Spotify alone, NATURE is in the top 10 percent of artists, with over 500k monthly listeners and almost 5 million streams—even before the initiative is officially launched and a playlist with artists featuring nature tracks goes online.

    IPS: How was the Museum for the UN—UN Live able to bring together artists, music executives, and environmental groups for this initiative?

    Iversen: The Museum for the UN—UN Live, together with EarthPercent, has organized the collaboration between artists, music executives, and environmental groups by leveraging our unique position at the intersection of culture, sustainable development, and diplomacy. We, at UN Live, have a track record of engaging very diverse communities in innovative cultural programmes, and we were able to draw on our extensive networks and entrepreneurial skills to bring together a broad variety of groups around a great idea.

    It is a truly unique coalition of partners, including EarthPercent, AKQA, Hempel Foundation, Dalberg, Count Us In, VozTerra, Axum, Music Declares Emergency, Earthrise, Eleutheria Group, The Listening Planet, Biophonica, Community Arts Network, Limbo Music, LD Communications, No. 29, and Rare.  We developed the initiative in consultation with the UN Department of Global Communications, and we’ve also joined forces with The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society, APCO, Riky Rick Foundation, AWorld x ActNow and others to reach the many millions of people.

    Sounds Right poster.
    Sounds Right poster.

    IPS: How do you foresee artists and environmental groups from developing countries connecting with this initiative now and in the future?Iversen: We are very serious about this not being a Global North undertaking. Recognizing that the global majority is often at the forefront of experiencing the impacts of loss of biodiversity and climate change while living in some of the world’s most important ecosystems, this is also where the solutions and the most important voices are found—both the voices of humans and nature. Of the first group of 16 artists on the first Feat Nature playlist, there are musicians from Venezuela, Colombia, Kenya, India, and Indonesia. And on future compilations, more will come.

    Just imagine that as NATURE the artist grows and grows, more and more musicians will want to collaborate and feature nature in their music. We are looking forward to working with musicians from across the globe and will, in time, potentially also develop special releases focused on certain geographies, issues, or groups.

    The funds raised will be distributed under the guidance of the Sounds Right Expert Advisory Panel, a group of world-leading biologists, environmental activists, representatives of Indigenous Peoples, and experts in conservation funding. The majority of the experts are from the global majority.

    IPS: How does ‘Sounds Right’ go toward serving the SDGs?

    Iversen: Well, we are the Museum for the United Nations, and we are here to rally the world around the work, values, and goals of the United Nations, so naturally Sounds Right is also aligned with the SDGs.

    More particularly, it aligns with the goals related to life on land (SDG 15) and underwater (SDG 14) by funding conservation projects through royalties collected from nature-based recordings. Additionally, by raising awareness and fostering an appreciation for the environment through music, the initiative supports SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals) and also justice.

    Importantly, Sounds Right is an example of the power of popular culture and exemplifies how creative industries and popular culture platforms can contribute to achieving the SDGs, including by merging artistic expression with environmental activism.

    IPS: How does the Museum for the UN—UN Live leverage culture to promote the SDGs?

    Iversen: If we could solve the world’s problems and achieve the SDGs with data, facts, figures, and reports alone, it would have been done. What we also need is to work with culture, norms, opinions, feelings, and hearts. We know that popular culture—film, music, gaming, sports, food, fashion—affects people’s opinions, norms, and actions. So if we really want to change and if we want to reach the many, we go to where the many are. It’s in their earbuds, it’s on their phones, it’s on their screens, and it’s on their sports fields. That’s where you hit both the head and the heart.

    That’s what we need, in addition to the facts and the figures. U.N. Live worked with popular culture, unleashed the power of popular culture to reach many people—millions and billions of people—because they use popular culture. So we have to go where the people are with the messages they can understand and the actions they want to take.

    IPS UN Bureau Report


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  • Solar Power and Biogas Empower Women Farmers in Brazil

    Solar Power and Biogas Empower Women Farmers in Brazil

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    Leide Aparecida Souza, president of the Association of Residents of the Genipapo Settlement in the rural area of Acreúna, a municipality in central-western Brazil, stands next to breads and pastries from the bakery where 14 rural women work. The women’s empowerment and self-esteem have been boosted by the fact that they earn their own income, which is more stable than from farming, and provide an important service to their community. CREDIT: Marina Carolina / IPS
    • by Mario Osava (acreÚna/orizona, brazil)
    • Inter Press Service

    ACREÚNA/ORIZONA, Brazil, Apr 16 (IPS) – A bakery, fruit pulp processing and water pumped from springs are empowering women farmers in Goiás, a central-eastern state of Brazil. New renewable energy sources are driving the process.

    “We work in the shade and have a secure, stable income, not an unsteady one like in farming. We cannot control the price of milk, nor droughts or pests in the crops,” said Leide Aparecida Souza, who runs a bakery in the rural area of Acreúna, a municipality of 21,500 inhabitants in central Goiás.

    The bakery supplies a variety of breads, including cheese buns and hot dog buns, as well as pastries, cakes and biscuits to some 3,000 students in the municipality’s school network, for the government’s school feeding program, which provides family farming with at least 30 percent of its purchases. Welfare institutions are also customers.

    The bakery is an initiative of the women of the Genipapo Settlement, established in 1999 by 27 families, as part of the agrarian reform program implemented in Brazil after the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, which has so far settled 1.3 million families on land of their own.

    Genipapo, the name chosen for the settlement, is a fruit of the Cerrado, the savannah that dominates a large central area of Brazil. Each settled family received 44 hectares of land and local production is concentrated on soybeans, cassava and its flour, corn, dairy cattle and poultry.

    Six solar panels will reduce the costs of the women's bakery, installed on the former estate where 27 families were given land in Acreúna, in the Brazilian state of Goiás, as part of the country's ongoing agrarian reform program. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS
    Six solar panels will reduce the costs of the women’s bakery, installed on the former estate where 27 families were given land in Acreúna, in the Brazilian state of Goiás, as part of the country’s ongoing agrarian reform program. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS

    Bakery empowers rural women

    The women of the Association of Residents of the Genipapo Settlement decided to create a bakery as a new source of income 16 years ago. They also gained self-esteem and autonomy by earning their own money. In general, agricultural and livestock income is controlled by the husbands.

    Each of the women working at the bakery earns about 1,500 reais (300 dollars) a month, six percent more than the national minimum wage. “We started with 21 participants, now we have 14 available for work, because some moved or quit,” Souza said.

    A year ago, the project obtained a solar energy system with six photovoltaic panels from the Women of the Earth Energy project, promoted by the Gepaaf Rural Consultancy, with support from the Socio-environmental Fund of the Caixa Econômica Federal, the regional bank focused on social questions, and the public Federal University of Goiás (UFG).

    Gepaaf is the acronym for Management and Project Development in Family Farming Consultancy and its origin is a study group at the UFG. The company is headquartered in Inhumas, a city of 52,000 people, 180 km from Acreúna.

    Due to difficulties with the inverter, a device needed to connect the generator to the electricity distribution network, the plant only began operating in March. Now they will see if the savings will suffice to cover the approximately 300 reais (60 dollars) that the bakery’s electricity costs.

    Iná de Cubas stands next to the biodigester that she got from the Women of the Earth Energy project in the municipality of Orizona, in the center-east of the Brazilian state of Goiás. The biogas generated benefits the productive activities of small farmers in rural settlements, as do solar plants on a family or community scale. Image: Mario Osava / IPS
    Iná de Cubas stands next to the biodigester that she got from the Women of the Earth Energy project in the municipality of Orizona, in the center-east of the Brazilian state of Goiás. The biogas generated benefits the productive activities of small farmers in rural settlements, as do solar plants on a family or community scale. Image: Mario Osava / IPS

    “It’s not that much money, but for us every penny counts,” Souza said. Electricity is cheap in their case because it is rural and nocturnal consumption. Bread production starts at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. from Monday to Thursday, according to Maristela Vieira de Sousa, the group’s secretary.

    The industrial oven they use is low-consumption and wood-burning. There is another, gas-fired oven, which is only used in emergencies, “because it is expensive,” said de Sousa. Biogas is a possibility for the future, which would use the settlement’s abundant agricultural waste products.

    Alternative energies make agribusiness viable

    Iná de Cubas, another beneficiary of the Women of the Earth Energy project, has a biodigester that supplies her stove, in addition to eight solar panels. They generate the energy to produce fruit pulp that also supplies the schools of Orizona, a municipality of 16,000 inhabitants in central-eastern Goiás.

    The solar plant, installed two years ago, made the business viable by eliminating the electricity bill, which was high because the two refrigerators needed to store fruit and pulp consume a lot of electricity.

    The abundance of fruit residues provides the inputs for biogas production, an innovation in a region where manure is more commonly used.

    The refrigerators in which Iná de Cubas keeps the fruit and fruit pulp that she prepares for sale to schools in Orizona in central Brazil consume a great deal of electricity. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS
    The refrigerators in which Iná de Cubas keeps the fruit and fruit pulp that she prepares for sale to schools in Orizona in central Brazil consume a great deal of electricity. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS

    “I only use an additional load of animal feces when I need more biogas,” said Cubas, who gets the manure from her neighbor’s cows, since she does not raise livestock.

    On her five hectares of land, Cubas produces numerous species of fruit for her cottage industry.

    In addition to typical Brazilian fruits, such as cajá or hog plum (Spondias mombin), pequi or souari nut (Caryocar brasiliense) and jabuticaba from the grapetree (Plinia cauliflora), she grows lemons, mangoes, oranges, guava and avocado, among others.

    For the pulp, she also uses fruit from neighbors, mostly relatives. The distribution of her products is done through the Agroecological Association of the State of Goias (Aesagro), which groups 53 families from Orizona and surrounding areas.

    Agroecology is the system used on her farm, where the family also grows rice, beans and garlic. The crops are irrigated with water pumped from nearby springs that were recovered by the diversion of a road and by fences to block access by cattle, which used to trample the banks.

    “The overall aim is to strengthen family farming, the quality of life in the countryside, incomes, and care for the environment, and to offer healthy food, without poisonous chemicals, especially for schools,” explained Iná de Cubas.

    Biodigesters made of steel and cement, solar energy for different purposes, including pumping water, rainwater collection and harvesting, are part of the “technologies” that the Women of the Earth Energy project is trying to disseminate, said Gessyane Ribeiro, Gepaaf’s administrator.

    In the area where Iná de Cubas lives, the project installed five biodigesters and seven solar pumps for farming families, in addition to solar plants in schools, she said.

    The eight solar panels on the roof of the Cubas family’s house, in the rural area of Orizona, make small agro-industrial processes viable, adding value to the wide diversity of native fruits from different Brazilian ecosystems, such as the Cerrado savannah and the Amazon rainforest, along with species imported throughout the country’s history. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS

    Network of rural women

    The Women of the Earth Energy Network, brought together by the project and coordinated by Ribeiro, operates in six areas defined by the government based on environmental, economic, social and cultural similarities. In all, it involves 42 organizations in 27 municipalities in Goiás.

    The local councils choose the beneficiaries of the projects, all implemented with collective work and focused on women’s productive activities and the preservation of the Cerrado. All the beneficiaries commit themselves to contribute to a solidarity fund to finance new projects, explained agronomist Ribeiro.

    “The Network is the link between the valorization of rural women, family farming and the energy transition,” she said. “We chose family farmers because they are the ones who produce healthy food.”

    “We offer technological solutions that rely on the links between food, water and energy, to move towards an energy transition that can actually address climate change,” said sociologist Agnes Santos, a researcher and communicator for the Network.

    Recovering and protecting springs is another of the Women’s Network’s activities.

    Two solar panels run a pump installed in a spring in the forest to pump the water needed by the 29 cows owned by Nubia Lacerda Matias' family in Orizona, in the state of Goiás, near Brasilia. Thus the cows stopped drinking water in the springs, which are now fenced off, vital to protect the water source for local families living downstream. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS
    Two solar panels run a pump installed in a spring in the forest to pump the water needed by the 29 cows owned by Nubia Lacerda Matias’ family in Orizona, in the state of Goiás, near Brasilia. Thus the cows stopped drinking water in the springs, which are now fenced off, vital to protect the water source for local families living downstream. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS

    Nubia Lacerda Matias celebrates the moment she was invited to join the movement. She won a solar pump, made up of two solar panels and pipes, which bring water to her cattle that used to damage the spring, now protected by a fence and a small forest.

    “It’s important not only for my family, but for the people living downhill” where a stream flows, fed by various springs along the way, she said.

    But the milk from the 29 cows and corn crops on her 9.4-hectare farm are not enough to support the family with two young children. Her husband, Wanderley dos Anjos, works as a school bus driver.

    Iná de Cubas’ partner, Rosalino Lopes, also works as a technician for the Pastoral Land Commission, a Catholic organization dedicated to rural workers.

    In his spare time, Lopes invents agricultural machines. He assembles and combines parts of motorcycles, tractors and other tools, in an effort to fill a gap in small agriculture, undervalued by the mechanical industry and scientific research in Brazil.

    © Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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  • Pioneering Digital Initiative Empowers Pacific Islands to Tackle Climate Disasters

    Pioneering Digital Initiative Empowers Pacific Islands to Tackle Climate Disasters

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    Andiswa Mlisa, Principal Advisor – Business Development, PIRMO at SPC giving a demo at the Digital Earth Pacific launch. Credit: SPC
    • by Catherine Wilson
    • Inter Press Service

    Apr 15 (IPS) – Winning a battle for survival requires understanding the opponent. And, for the peoples of 22 island nations and territories scattered across more than 155 million square kilometres of Pacific Ocean, the volatility and wrath of the climate are their greatest threats.

    The region harbours three of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, while eight are among those that suffer the highest disaster-related losses to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    But decision-makers at all levels across the region are grappling with a lack of reliable, detailed information about the connections between climate extremes and changes occurring on their islands. In a bid to bridge the deficit of data, the regional scientific and principal organisation, the Pacific Community (SPC), is spearheading a new project, called Digital Earth Pacific, to capture extensive satellite information about climate change and natural disasters in the region.

    “This is a real first for the Pacific and will bring incredible value to the region, which is so vast, but managed and stewarded by a small number of overstretched people in our member governments,” Dr Stuart Minchin, Director-General of the Pacific Community in Noumea, New Caledonia, told IPS.

    Mary Nipisina cultivating her peanut garden in Tanna, Vanuatu. Farmers will be able to access the DEP for easy access to up-to-date satellite derived information. Credit: SPC
    Mary Nipisina cultivating her peanut garden in Tanna, Vanuatu. Farmers will be able to access the DEP for easy access to up-to-date satellite derived information. Credit: SPC
    Pacific Island communities cannot afford escalating economic consequences of climate disasters. Credit: SPC
    Pacific Island communities cannot afford escalating economic consequences of climate disasters. Credit: SPC

    “Digital Earth Pacific provides a solution to the tyranny of distance that our Pacific people have to live with every day, allowing operational earth observation satellites to assist in monitoring and management of the vast Blue Pacific Continent,” he continued.

    Satellites provide an invaluable timeline of pictures, past and present, of the ways climate change and natural disasters are affecting coastlines, forest cover, population centres, and food production.

    The Pacific Islands are home to about 12.7 million people and natural disasters are leading to annual average losses in the region of USD 1.07 billion, reports the Australian Aid Agency.

    Digital Earth Pacific, launched by the Pacific Community in October last year, aims to halt that trend. To do this, it will set up far-reaching digital public infrastructure that gives national leaders, decision-makers, policymakers, and citizens, including farmers and local communities, easy access to up-to-date satellite-derived information. It will equip islanders to make better decisions about everything from building climate-resilient infrastructure to planting crops.

    The project will draw on the wealth of scientific information from Microsoft’s Planetary Computer and treat it as ‘public goods’ to be used by those who need it. It is now in the last stages of the first phase of development, with significant progress already made in establishing the digital infrastructure and designing products and applications. Minchin said that they had captured “coastline change, mangroves, and surface water resources, and each of these products is available for every island atoll and rock across the entire Blue Pacific Continent.”

    This is only “the beginning, though, with a significant pipeline of other products in development, bringing the region not just a historical view of how these issues have impacted local areas but an ongoing operational monitoring tool that will be updated regularly with new satellite observations,” Minchin explained.

    The development of products and services has been informed by extensive consultations with Pacific Island countries. “The insights from the consultations gave the project a very good indication of what kind of baseline data is missing and where earth observations can fit in for sound decision-making,” Sachindra Singh, the Geoinformatics Team Leader in the Pacific Community’s Geoscience Division in Suva, Fiji, told IPS.

    There is no Pacific Island nation that has not suffered the blow of devastating cyclones, the merciless corrosion of land by the sea or human hardships when the necessities of food and water perilously decline in the face of droughts or saltwater contamination.

    This century, the Pacific faces a forecast of relentless temperature increases, extreme rainfall, and floods that risk the perishing of crops and rises in human illness and disease, such as heat stress and dengue fever, reports the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). More destructive cyclones and rising sea levels will lead to continued loss and damage to towns, villages, and basic services, for instance, water, sanitation, power, and roads.

    In recent years, the region has been burdened with exorbitant loss and damage bills from cyclones. In 2015, Cyclone Pam cost Vanuatu USD 449.4 million, while Cyclone Winston, which descended on Fiji in 2016, caused damages to the value of US$600 million.

    SPC Director General-Stuart Minchin at the DEP Launch in Noumea last year. It is hoped that the project will assist in the containment of the impacts of climate disasters in terms of lives and livelihoods. Credit: SPC
    SPC Director General Stuart Minchin at the DEP Launch in Noumea last year. It is hoped that the project will assist in the containment of the impacts of climate disasters in terms of lives and livelihoods. Credit: SPC
    Destruction from the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha?apai eruption and tsunami in 2022. Natural disasters are leading to annual average losses in the region of USD 1.07 billion. Credit: SPC
    Destruction from the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha?apai eruption and tsunami in 2022. Natural disasters are leading to annual average losses in the region of USD 1.07 billion. Credit: SPC

    Pacific Island nations cannot afford the escalating economic consequences of climate disasters. Especially because ‘countries in the Pacific region commonly face low GDP growth, high reliance on grants and external loans and under-development in disaster-resilient infrastructure, the economic impact of natural disasters tends to be larger than for other comparable low-income and emerging economies,’ reports the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    The new digital project is, therefore, an essential tool for prevention, ensuring that islanders can act effectively before the next disaster hits and build lives that are resilient to climate excesses in the decades ahead.

    At this stage, the project will have operational products ready to use by 2024.

    “All this information is made easily accessible through the Digital Earth Pacific website in a user-friendly viewer,” Singh said.

    Users can then “identify how their shorelines have changed over time, what areas of their islands are floodprone or have historically faced droughts. They will be able to identify how the health of their mangroves recovers after a severe tropical cyclone and monitor the progress of replanting efforts over the years,” he continued.

    A major beneficiary will be the Cook Islands, a self-governing group of 15 islands, including low-lying coral atolls, located between Tonga and French Polynesia.  It has a population of about 17,500 people who live on a total island landmass of 240 square kilometres. Here, people contend with limited land for food production, an expanding population, and constrained water resources. And, from November to April each year, the country is exposed to tropical cyclones.

    John Strickland, Director of Emergency Management in the Cook Islands, told IPS that the country was particularly prone to cyclones, flooding, sea surges, and drought.

    “With 30 years of satellite data collected through Digital Earth Pacific… has provided images of how the Cook Islands’ coastal area has been affected by climate change, also indicating water observations during floods,” Strickland said.

    “With the data captured, this will assist the Cook Islands in future planning on ensuring that affected coastal and low-lying areas affected by floods are captured and monitored. It will provide us the ability to report on affected areas and forecast, in future, zones that are vulnerable during a disaster.”

    The Pacific Community also believes that access to the data will aid economic growth by informing better investment and planning by local industries and businesses.

    Bringing such a massive infrastructure scheme to fruition will take an equally sizeable investment. And the Pacific Community is currently seeking donors and partners who will help the vision become reality.

    “We have already received strong support from the National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United Kingdom and New Zealand governments and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, allowing us to develop the Digital Earth Pacific capability for the first year or two of operation and we are very grateful for this support to date,” Minchin said. But he emphasised that ongoing financial and technical support is vital in the coming years.

    Ultimately, the Pacific Community’s goal is to give islanders the power to forge sustainable lives, limit climate-related poverty, reduce fiscal exposure, and retain their sovereignty.

    &IPS UN Bureau Report


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  • To Mitigate Climate Change Associated Disasters That Impact the Agricultural Sector – Launch Multipronged Efforts

    To Mitigate Climate Change Associated Disasters That Impact the Agricultural Sector – Launch Multipronged Efforts

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    In 2023, the United Nations released a report revealing that extreme weather disasters had incurred economic losses totaling $4 trillion, with significant impacts felt across various sectors, notably agriculture. Credit: Miriet Abrego / IPS
    • Opinion by Esther Ngumbi (urbana, illinois, us)
    • Inter Press Service

    Additionally, the report highlighted the economic losses and other impacts extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, and tropical cyclones have on agriculture.

    Indeed, globally, and in the United States, record-breaking, extreme weather disaster events, such as flooding, storms, and droughts, have become extremely costly and excessively too common.

    According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 377 events have resulted in losses of over $2.6 trillion have been documented. In 2023, the United Nations released a report showing that extreme weather disasters have resulted in economic losses worth $4 trillion, including in the agricultural sector.

    Undoubtedly, this should worry all since the agricultural sector is vital for meeting our food and nutrition security needs. In the United States, for example, agriculture, food, and related industries contribute approximately $1.4 trillion to the gross domestic product.

    In Asia, Africa, and many other continents, the agricultural sector is equally important, and further serves as a source of employment, and thus a poverty-reducing sector. According to UN FAO, agriculture accounts for over 35 percent of Africa’s GDP.

    Emerging, therefore is the need for multipronged efforts to help to mitigate the impacts these climate change associated disasters have on agriculture.

    First. Inform agricultural sector stakeholders including farmers about newly launched technologies and most recent science-backed climate solutions.

    Researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators continue to bring to life novel technologies, climate solutions, and innovations that can be deployed to help to mitigate climate change impacts.

    From artificial intelligence powered prediction models that can reliably forecast when disasters are going to happen, prompting stakeholders to act, to climate resilient crops, to regenerative agricultural practices such as cover cropping, mulching, and digging trenches that can help mitigate the impacts of drought and flooding to indoor agriculture that cushions agricultural crops from weather, pests and water and space limitations.

    To make sure that this information is available, governments or innovators could keep a tab or have an inventory of all recent climate solutions. This can be a one stop database that carries the most recent info.  It could be in the form of a climate solutions dashboard.

    Complementing information is the need to create incentives to accelerate the adoption of these newer climate solutions, technologies, and strategies. Monetary incentives, for example, could go a long way in facilitating the rapid adoption of research backed climate solutions for agriculture. For example, in Illinois, farmers who are practicing regenerative practices such as cover cropping are eligible for a three-year contract payment of $50 per acre.

    Moreover, there is a need to actively engage the next generation of farmers. Programs such as the recently launched US Department of Agriculture climate corps, a program that will mobilize over 100 young people to help advance sustainable agriculture, is a move in the right direction.

    Second. Continue to invest in research, entrepreneurs, agencies, and programs dedicated to climate research. 

    Research continues to be central in helping to generate new solutions. As such, there is need to keep funding researchers that are actively engaged in research aimed at generating newer solutions or understanding the direct and indirect impacts of climate change associated disasters.

    As an example, in 2023, USDA invested over $46M in the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program that funds research that has over the years resulted in the development of climate-smart solutions. In the same year, The Rockefeller Foundation committed $1billion to advance climate solutions.

    Third.Take good data before, during, and after climate disasters.

    Good data can be leveraged to help address climate change impacts to agriculture including being used in machine learning, to help to create predictive models that are continuing to revolutionize our ability to predict disaster events and act. Moreover, data can be used to introduce real-time solutions while helping to accurately capture solutions that are working.

    Certainly, data driven solutions will continue to be important now and in the future and should continue to be leveraged.

    At the core of preventing direct impacts of weather events on the agricultural sector should be a respect for nature and biodiversity.

    Indeed, we live in a biodiverse world, that has other creatures in our ecosystem. For example, the soil matrix is home to earthworms and microbes that underpin agricultural productivity. As such, strategies, solutions, and interventions rolled out should also protect these invisible friends.

    In dealing with record-breaking extreme weather events that directly and indirectly impact the agricultural sector, we must choose to launch multipronged solutions that leverage data, incorporate newly available climate solutions and innovations, and create incentives to amplify the adoptions of these solutions. A functioning agricultural sector will continue to be important as we strive to meet our food and nutrition security needs.

    Esther Ngumbi, PhD is Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, African American Studies Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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  • Endowment Funds Can Revolutionise Sarcoma Care in Developing Countries

    Endowment Funds Can Revolutionise Sarcoma Care in Developing Countries

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    Kaposi’s sarcoma virus. The World Health Organization predicts a 60% rise in global cancer cases over the next two decades, with an 81% increase expected in low- and middle-income countries. Credit: Shutterstock.
    • Opinion by Nicholas Okumu (nairobi)
    • Inter Press Service

    NAIROBI, Apr 02 (IPS) – Despite global childhood cancer mortality rates dropping by half over the past 50 years, these promising statistics do not extend to Africa and the Global South, where limited resources mean that most cancers are diagnosed at advanced stages.

    Consequently, the region reports survival rates of as low as 15% for musculoskeletal sarcomas, a group of cancers that develop in the bones and soft tissues of the body, when it has spread to other areas of the body from the original location.

    Worse still, the World Health Organization predicts a 60% rise in global cancer cases over the next two decades, with an 81% increase expected in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As a doctor specialising in the treatment of cancer, I am confronted daily with the realities of cancer care disparities.

    Consider, additionally, that LMICs have historically concentrated their limited healthcare resources on combating infectious diseases and improving maternal and child health, which formed the bulk of the disease burden. This focus has left healthcare systems unprepared to confront the growing burden of cancer.

    The infrastructure gap is undeniable. In 2019, over 90% of high-income countries reported comprehensive cancer treatment services readily available in their public health systems, compared to a mere 15% in low-income countries. This underscores the need for solutions that bridge the gap in cancer care quality.

    Each patient’s story is a vivid illustration of the profound inequities in our global healthcare system.

    Endowment funds offer a sustainable way to radically enhance cancer care in under-resourced regions. These funds are an investment portfolio that draws its initial capital from donations and thereafter—when managed effectively—becomes interminable.

    The aim is to create a financial foundation that supports a wide array of initiatives, including research, treatment, training, and infrastructural development, making equitable, high-quality care a reality for all.

    Examples can be drawn from the Aga Khan University Faculty of Health Sciences Endowment and the more famous Harvard Endowment. A large corpus of capital is invested, and the returns generated from that investment are then used to fund initiatives the endowment supports perpetually.

    The Aga Khan endowment, valued at approximately USD 63 million (PKR 1,151,195,960), supports academic posts, student scholarships, research, and patient welfare, ensuring long-term financial security for the university.

    Unlike project-based funding, endowment funds provide a steady income stream, ensuring long-term support for crucial healthcare initiatives.

    This financial stability empowers healthcare institutions to develop a resilient healthcare ecosystem, addressing immediate needs such as awareness campaigns and long-term goals, including specialist training programs.

    Additionally, endowment funds shift control from donor preferences to a targeted approach, as every dollar invested is directed towards initiatives with the most significant potential; therefore maximising the impact.

    Furthermore, through careful investment strategies, the corpus of the fund can grow over time, creating a perpetual source of funding for sarcoma care.

    This financial sustainability is particularly important for a chronic disease like sarcoma, where the need for funding is constant.
    The Kenya Cancer Policy 2019-2030 outlines a comprehensive strategy to address cancer control in Kenya.

    However, a significant funding gap of USD 399,991,000 over the next five years poses a challenge. Sarcomas represent approximately 5% of this funding requirement.

    Therefore, a Kenya Sarcoma Trust is envisaged to fill the staggering funding gap, estimated at $19.9 million over the next five years or 3.9 million dollars annually.

    By establishing an endowment fund of 39.4 million US dollars dedicated explicitly to sarcoma care and research, the trust aims to bridge the gap in sarcoma care experienced in Kenya.

    This model can be a precedent for how niche healthcare areas can be sustainably funded, empowering healthcare institutions to enact systemic changes and improve patient outcomes. Endowment funds can be diversified to support a broader range of healthcare initiatives in the future, but for now, tackling the significant burden of sarcoma is a crucial first step.

    Endowment funds represent a powerful form of innovative financing for healthcare in LMICs. They attract private sector investment and create a sustainable funding stream, aligning with recommendations from organisations urging increased private sector participation in health financing for these countries.

    This will form a considerable part of their corporate social responsibility/shared value and provide a new avenue for funding development as traditional donors grapple with dwindling resources.

    While endowment funds offer a promising solution, some concerns merit discussion. Establishing a large endowment fund requires a significant upfront investment.

    However, alternative fundraising strategies can be explored, such as phased approaches or targeted campaigns for wealthy individuals and organisations. Additionally, concerns about management expertise can be addressed by partnering with experienced financial institutions with a proven track record in managing endowment funds.

    The long-term nature of endowment funds shouldn’t overshadow their potential for immediate impact. Strategic allocation of initial investment returns and securing bridge funding through other means can address current needs.

    Finally, ethical considerations regarding a focus on specific diseases can be mitigated by using a similar model for other neglected diseases.

    Endowment funds can be diversified to support a broader range of healthcare initiatives.

    Transparency and accountability in managing the endowment fund are crucial to ensure public trust and continued support. Regulatory frameworks in developing countries must be adapted to facilitate the creation and management of endowment funds.

    A collaborative effort is essential to bridge the cancer care gap. Governments, private sector leaders, philanthropic organisations, and high-net-worth individuals must unite to support the creation of well-managed, transparent endowment funds dedicated to cancer care in LMICs.

    This innovative financing approach promises to make quality cancer treatment accessible to all, irrespective of geography, marking a step towards making hope a universal reality in the battle against cancer.

    Dr. Nicholas Okumu is an orthopedic surgeon heading the orthopedic oncology unit at the Kenyatta National Hospital and formerly the head of the department of orthopedics at the same institution. He is the CEO of Stratus Medical Imaging Solutions, a private health care provider in Nairobi. He is a 2024 Global Surgery Advocacy fellow.

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  • WHO Calls for More Data on Violence Against Older Women and Women With Disabilities

    WHO Calls for More Data on Violence Against Older Women and Women With Disabilities

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    Older women and women with disabilities are underrepresented in global data on violence against women. Credit: WHO/Kiana Hayeri
    • by Naureen Hossain (united nations)
    • Inter Press Service

    UNITED NATIONS, Mar 29 (IPS) – Older women and women with disabilities experience abuse that is unique to their demographics, yet they are underrepresented in national and global databases, according to findings shared by the World Health Organization (WHO).

    On Wednesday, WHO and UN-Women released two new briefs, the first in a series that will discuss neglected forms of violence, including gender-based violence. The two briefs, titled Measuring violence against older women and Measuring violence against women with disability, investigate the types of violence that these groups face through the data available. Through reviewing existing studies into violence against women, the research team was able to synthesize the information available on this topic and its scope across different countries.

    As was noted by Dr. Lynnmarie Sardinha, Technical Officer at WHO and the UN Special Programme on Human Reproduction (HRP) for Violence against Women Data and Measurement, and author of the briefs. The limited data on older women and women with disabilities undermines the ability of programmes to meet their needs. “Understanding how diverse women and girls are differently affected, and if and how they are accessing services, is critical to ending violence in all its forms.”

    One in three women is affected by gender-based violence in these forms. For older women—aged 60 years and over—and women with disabilities, they are also subjected to other forms of abuse and neglect, usually at the hands of caregivers, family members, or healthcare institutions such as nursing homes. Examples of this include controlling behaviors such as withholding medicine and assistive devices, and financial abuse. Though these forms of neglect and abuse have been observed, the studies that the briefs reviewed seemed to focus more on intimate partner violence through physical and sexual abuse. The briefs acknowledge, however, that violence against women should not only be exemplified by intimate partner violence. The prevalence of this example hints at further nuances that are not sufficiently captured in the studies due to their limitations.

    Violence against older women can manifest in other ways as they and their partners/perpetrators age. Although women aged 15–49 are at higher risk of intimate partner and sexual violence, older women are still likely to experience it, and this can shift towards other forms of abuse, such as neglect, economic abuse, and psychological abuse. The brief on older women reveals, however, that there is limited data to definitively state its prevalence. This is particularly the case for low- and middle-income countries; the data that was compiled for this brief comes largely from high-income countries, a gap that the reports are aware of. Older women are represented in only ten percent of the data on violence against women.

    Only 6 percent of the studies reviewed for women with disabilities included measures of violence specific to this group. The lack of questions specific to this demographic indicates that they are, perhaps unconsciously, unaccounted for when measuring the scale of violence against women. Data collection procedures may not be designed to accommodate women with disabilities or prevent them from self-reporting, such as deaf or hard-of-hearing women who are unable to participate in surveys conducted through the telephone.

    The briefs also suggest that women who live with lifelong disrespect and neglect may not recognize the specific forms of violence, which could account for fewer instances being reported. This could also apply to older women, where surveying and reporting mechanisms are geared towards women of reproductive age, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

    This may also speak of socio-cultural attitudes towards violence against older women that are steeped in ageism, harmful stereotypes, and discriminatory cultural norms that prevent them from sharing their experiences.

    The WHO briefs make several recommendations to address the evidence gaps. Among them are extending the age limit for survey participation and incorporating questions that relate to different types of violence. Data collection should also account for cultural-specific contexts of violence and abuse across different countries. Women with disabilities should be consulted in research at every stage when designing surveys targeted at them, which will allow for a broader spectrum of disabilities to be accounted for.

    Read the briefs on women with disability and older women.

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  • Taliban Rule Exacerbates Malnutrition Crisis: Afghan Women and Children Hardest Hit

    Taliban Rule Exacerbates Malnutrition Crisis: Afghan Women and Children Hardest Hit

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    Millions of children are suffering from malnutrition in Afghanistan. Credit: Learning Together
    •  kabul
    • Inter Press Service
    • The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons

    KABUL, Mar 22 (IPS) – Malnutrition in Afghanistan has reached an unprecedented level, according to United Nations humanitarian organizations. It is estimated that half of the country’s population grapples with severe hunger year-round, placing Afghanistan among the top ten nations globally with the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality due to malnutrition.

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is experiencing a budget shortfall, and without additional funding support thousands of Afghan children may die from acute malnutrition, the organization sounded out in a recent tweet.

    The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that between May and October 2023, 15.5 million people faced severe food insecurity, with 2.8 million in emergency situations.

    According to WFP, four million people, including 3.2 million children under five years are suffering from acute malnutrition in Afghanistan.

    It largely stems from the worsening economic situation that has gripped the war-torn country within the last few years. Pregnant women do not have adequate access to proper nutrition both before and after birth, which cascades down to affect their infants.

    The widespread hunger and malnutrition among the most vulnerable population groups in the country is also exacerbated by the rule of Taliban who returned to power in 2021.

    The hard-line Islamists have banned women from engaging in salaried employment, which in turn has decreased the level of humanitarian assistance reaching women most in need.

    For instance, Soheila, the mother of a malnourished child, gave a moving narrative of how the death of her husband has deepened poverty in the family. She became the sole breadwinner of the family, even though her earnings from working in a hairdressing salon could barely meet their needs, all of which dried up when the Taliban assumed power and she was no longer allowed to work.

    Soheila and her two small children no longer have enough food and have resorted to begging in front of bakeries and around neighbours’ houses just to eat once a day.

    Even though the Taliban Ministry of Health does not provide any statistics on the deaths of mothers and children due to malnutrition, international organizations and doctors working in the country provide a grim picture facing women and children in the country.

    Last year, the United Nations Population Fund reported that Afghanistan is one of the countries with the highest maternal mortality rate in Asia and the Pacific, with 638 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

    Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, recently raised concerns about the worsening situation of malnutrition in Afghanistan. According to him, a significant number of children and women in 25 of Afghanistan’s 36 provinces are suffering from malnutrition.

    Dr. Hamidullah Ahmadi, physician at the nutrition department of Kabul Children’s Health Hospital, says that the number of malnourished patients has increased compared to previous years due to poverty and the economic crisis.

    He added that dozens of malnourished children are registered every day, in serious need of medical attention. Some of them suffer from moderate to acute malnutrition with imminent risk of severe health complications and death.

    Dr. Soraya (pseudonym), an official of the nutrition department at the Children’s Health Hospital in Kabul, says the number of malnourished patients attending the facility has increased threefold in the last year, far below the medicines and material they receive from international organizations to treat them.

    Soraya requests that aid organizations and the World Food Program address the issue of famine and hunger among Afghan children as soon as possible to avoid the occurrence mass starvation of children.

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  • Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarized World in the Context of Zimbabwe?

    Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarized World in the Context of Zimbabwe?

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    • Opinion by Ayodele Odusola (harare, zimbabwe)
    • Inter Press Service

    HARARE, Zimbabwe, Mar 21 (IPS) – This year’s UNDP Global Human Development Report (HDR) marks a dramatic shift away from the cautious optimism espoused in the HDR just four years ago: despite reaching a new high, the Global Human Development Index now evolves meaningfully below the 2019 trend – threatening to make global development losses permanent.

    Perhaps for citizens of many countries, it is easy to see why this would be the case. In our relentlessly interconnected world, citizens bear witness to dangerous geopolitical quagmires; unpredictable climate shocks threaten everyday livelihoods; and the world still struggles with the human consequences of insecurity and inequality in nearly every form.

    It is because of these inequalities – at least – that every Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country has rebounded to recover to its pre-2019 Human Development Index trend – yet only about half of the world’s Least Developed Countries have done so.

    That is, while wealthier countries recover, much of rest of the world has lost – and remains below – the encouraging trajectory countries had once experienced before 2019.

    Can I surprise the reader by saying not all is doom and gloom?

    Twenty five (25) of the African countries recovered to their pre-COVID-19 trend.

    Further, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Human Development Index for Zimbabwe rose from 0.549 in 2021 to 0.550 in 2022 (the closer this number stands to 1.0, the higher the level of human capability and individual choice). This result puts Zimbabwe in Medium Human Development category.

    Still, although Zimbabwe increased in HDI value – and was ranked 159 out of 193 countries – its ranking dropped by 13 points between 2021 and 2022, implying that 13 countries (including Angola, Cameroon, Comoros, Kenya, Solomon Islands, and Zambia) outperformed Zimbabwe in improving their levels of human capability in 2022.

    This notwithstanding, Zimbabwe is ranked 22nd in Africa, along with Uganda. It is also one of the best 10 countries in Africa on mean years of schooling – and one of the best 15 in Gender Development Index with a value of 0.936 out of 1.0.

    To build on successes and even further advance Zimbabwe’s development, there remains quite a lot we can do.

    The United Nations Development Programme, (UNDP) in partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe, is making significant strides towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Zimbabwe, with real successes in areas of food security (SDG2), health and wellbeing (SDG3), access to energy (SDG7), and building resilience (a cross-cutting issue) across the SDGs.

    Towards eliminating hunger, UNDP and the Government of Zimbabwe have supported over 40,000 farmers in southern Zimbabwe with climate-smart crop varieties, producing nutritious produce resistant to climate stress.

    These efforts have produced yields as high as 74% beyond traditional harvest levels, supported by new climate-change informed infrastructure, such as automatic weather stations, rain gauges, hydro stations, and irrigation facilities – with over 1.1 million beneficiaries.

    This partnership has also established 230 Farmer Field Schools to establish peer-to-peer learning between smallholder farmers.

    Further, an ongoing partnership has ensured that 98% of Zimbabwe’s 1.3 million people living with HIV are currently on Anti-Retroviral Therapy, while 1,044 health facilities have now installed solar power, including 447 solarized boreholes to supply safe water. In terms of staffing, 25,000 critical health workers are now on paid retention to provide support, along with 6,606 village health workers.

    Additional government partnerships led to the installation of a 152 kilowatt solar minigrid system with lithium battery storage in Binge and Chipinge, as well as 150 biogas digesters to facilitate safer, environmentally-friendly cooking. Existing boreholes are now equipped with solar pumps and improved water storage, while 100 vulnerable households now have solar household lighting.

    Programmes to build resilience in Zimbabwean communities trained thousands of people on new vocational skills, provided affordable financial services to smallholders, and supported livestock management to over 85,000 farmers – investing dramatically to improve the quality of life with the support of our development partners.

    These achievements are all thanks to the partnership and collaboration among the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Global Fund, and UNDP Zimbabwe, as well as strategic collaboration with the European Union, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and the governments of Sweden and Denmark.

    While these efforts constitute solid progress, of course more must be done.

    One major challenge that development partners must confront is the “chilling effect” the debt arrears – and other economic conditions – have had on Foreign Direct Investments. I want to commend the 2024 Budget of the Government of Zimbabwe that committed $55 million to deal with issues relating to the Global Compensation Deed and Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements.

    Committed implementation of the budgetary provision and improved governance across all levels of government are all key to accelerating progress on clearing debt arrears.

    While UNDP and its Government partners have cooperated in a Structured Dialogue Platform to decrease debt and increase Zimbabwe’s fiscal health, more must be done by creditors to clear Zimbabwe of these external debt arrears. Rolling back the arrears, placing the country towards a financially healthy condition, would signify the kind of risk reduction that appeals to private investment.

    To this end, the Government alone cannot achieve the SDGs. Instead, a whole-of-society approach is central to their achievement. The private sector must be aggressively engaged to profitably invest in Zimbabwe’s development, offering sustainable opportunities to build upon the above achievements, scaling up the kinds of successes that dramatically advance achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Towards providing all stakeholders – including the general public – with valuable services and constructive information, Zimbabwe’s CSOs and media houses have a valuable role to play, as well.

    Too many opportunities for progress exist to be disheartened. As always, we have solutions as well as problems – and our own dedication, hard work, and ingenuity remain key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

    Dr. Ayodele Odusola is UNDP Zimbabwe Resident Representative.

    These are Algeria, Botswana, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Congo (Democratic Republic), Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda

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  • How A Program in Ghana to Create Green Jobs Can Be a Lesson for US Mayors & Across the Globe

    How A Program in Ghana to Create Green Jobs Can Be a Lesson for US Mayors & Across the Globe

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    • Opinion by Elizabeth K. T. Sackey, Vittoria Zanuso (accra / new york)
    • Inter Press Service

    ACCRA / NEW YORK, Mar 19 (IPS) – For the past eight years, Chiso has collected waste as part of Accra’s informal waste management sector. Since arriving in Ghana from Nigeria, he has earned enough to allow him and his family to survive, but saving money has been nearly impossible.

    For Chiso, accessing the formal labor market has been challenging due to factors like obtaining a national ID. Without access to a formal job, Chiso has no negotiating power, leaving him at the mercy of fluctuating market prices and aggressive competitors, jeopardizing his health and livelihood.

    For years, Accra has faced two concurrent trends: the arrival of displaced people like Chiso into the city from elsewhere in the country and West Africa, and a growing need for workers in green jobs to make the city cleaner, healthier and safer. Many displaced people in Accra, like most other cities, struggle to find good-paying jobs.

    At the same time, Accra grapples with improper waste management – the World Bank estimates that around 20,000 Ghanaians die prematurely each year from poor water, sanitation and hygiene, most of them living in Accra,

    Teaming up with the Mayors Migration Council, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly devised a solution to tackle both of these issues at once, and turn what could be seen as a challenge into the opportunity to build a greener, more inclusive city: we would help migrant workers enroll in formal waste cooperatives, while helping fill gaps in the city’s waste management value chain.

    Since the program’s launch last year with support from the Global Cities Fund for Migrants and Refugees, we’ve successfully established a cooperative of 40 waste workers and assisted over 250 people in situations similar to Chiso’s register for national health insurance.

    We also convened national and city authorities to advocate for nationwide policy changes to make it easier for migrants to access jobs by simplifying requirements for national identification and other services.

    And we’re alleviating the daily strains that migrants in Accra face, such as creating a child care center in a major hub for informal waste workers to provide safe spaces for children away from the hazardous sites where their parents work.

    This program not only demonstrates what happens when funds are given directly to the governments closest to the people, but also illustrates how migrants can fill employment gaps, contributing to greener and more inclusive cities. And it can be done anywhere in the world – including in the U.S.

    Like Ghana, many cities have large numbers of migrants eager to work in the formal economy, coupled with a shortage of workers to take on green jobs. In the U.S. this is particularly the case following recent investments from the Inflation Reduction Act that will boost the green labor market with more than 1.5 million new clean energy jobs by 2030.

    Given the large scale of labor demands, this could result in a worker shortage. But migrant workers could play an important role in accelerating the green transition by filling skills gaps and labor needs like those that are expected in the U.S. in the next few years. We believe that mayors across the U.S. and the globe could also develop win-win programs that match migrants who want to work with jobs that cities need to fill.

    Several U.S. mayors for example, including Mayor Ron Nirenberg in San Antonio, Mayor Kate Gallego in Phoenix, Mayor Karen Bass in Los Angeles, Mayor Mike Johnson in Denver, and Mayor Brandon Johnson in Chicago, have already been champions for migrants in their communities.

    In these cities, migrants constitute a large proportion of the workforce in rapidly growing green industries like waste management and manufacturing.

    As the number of migrants and displaced individuals seeking refuge in cities continues to rise in the U.S. and worldwide, there’s a need to support the mayors embracing them as active contributors to the transition to a green economy. Despite doing more with less, mayors often lack access to the funding and resources needed to implement solutions like Accra’s at scale.

    Accra’s green jobs program serves as a model for the effectiveness of directly funding mayors who know their cities’ needs and opportunities best. We call on the philanthropic community to join us and lead by example by localizing their giving and investing directly in cities, and we call on mayors across the world to consider how they can create win-win opportunities for migrants and their city’s economies.

    Elizabeth K. T. Sackey is Mayor of Accra, Ghana and Vittoria Zanuso is Executive Director of the Mayors Migration Council.

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  • Africans Can Solve the Disease that Haunts Us Heres How

    Africans Can Solve the Disease that Haunts Us Heres How

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    It is critical that African scientists tackle African problems, and the reasons extend beyond access. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS.
    • Opinion by Khisi Mdluli (boston, us)
    • Inter Press Service

    BOSTON, US, Mar 15 (IPS) – I was born in Brakpan, Johannesburg, South Africa, and grew up in eSwatini (known then as Swaziland). People in these two countries share one predominantfear: unemployment. Other worries in these countries and others in the region include unwanted pregnancies, low income and food safety. The diseases that are dreaded the most are cancer and diabetes. Feared infectious diseases include HIV-AIDS, COVID and cholera.

    Even though South Africa and eSwatini are among the more than two dozen African countries with a high burden of either tuberculosis (TB), drug-resistant TB or HIV/TB co-infections, TB is not feared in the same way, even though it is the disease that haunts my people the most.

    So many are affected on the African continent by TB, which hits the young and vibrant the hardest in our region and in the world. Eswatini joins the seven most populous sub-Saharan African countries — Ethiopia, DR Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania — where TB hits the 25-34 and 35-44 age brackets especially hard.

    It is not just the years of life that this disease takes away from us, but also the future leadership and economic productivity of our countries. I see this even within my own family, with one niece currently being treated for TB and another niece having survived drug-resistant TB a few years back.

    World TB Day is March 24, a day when we will hear about ending TB by 2030 — even though it is a disease that has been with us forever. With only six years left, that goal seems too distant. To achieve this goal, we need better awareness, yes. But we also need Africans to be fully engaged with the rest of the world, which includes conducting drug discovery and development research for TB in Africa.

    Most of the current TB drugs, like the drugs for most diseases that affect Africans, are developed by companies in high-income countries. We saw what that meant in the delayed rate at which lifesaving COVID vaccines reached African countries; the high-income countries that helped develop the vaccines received them much faster.

    This is why, for the Gates Medical Research Institute’s trials testing investigational treatments or vaccine candidates, the relationships that we establish with the trial sites in Africa and elsewhere are meant to support those facilities when they eventually take the lead on future trials.

    It is critical that African scientists tackle African problems, and the reasons extend beyond access. Local scientists have a better understanding of the social fabric and context threatened by diseases like TB; they understand which solutions could be adopted and embraced and which will remain on the shelf.

    In September 2023, the United Nations held a High-Level Meeting where member states agreed to boost the amount of funding for TB research by a fivefold increase by 2027 — but no guidelines on geography were placed on this pledge.

    More than 90% of current funding for TB R&D currently comes from North America and Europe, and most of those funds stay in the high-income countries, and train and develop and indeed employ scientists in the high-income countries. Of the high-burden countries, only India has an investment in the field large enough to be noted — at 1.9% of the total global funding.

    Funding specifically earmarked for TB (and antimicrobial resistance) research in Africa would ensure that more of it takes place on African soil. Funding is needed to build appropriately equipped research and production infrastructure, much like the new mRNA vaccine facility being built in Rwanda.

    Such facilities would be staffed with African scientists, who would get opportunities to expand their basic and applied research skills. The H3D Research Centre at the University of Cape Town, led by Dr. Kelly Chibale, is one example of how successful African ingenuity can be, with four patents already filed.

    Together with the much-needed funding from Africa’s better-resourced foreign partners in high-income countries, African governments should incentivize African businesses, African foundations and charities, and high-net-worth Africans to build African Research Institutes to train, develop and employ African scientists.

    Developing medicines for diseases like TB that are killing African youth and stunting Africa’s economic growth should be everyone’s priority, in Africa and the world.

    It is critically important that such efforts are not tied to immediate profits, as this leads to disappointment and ends with dwindling funds for research.

    Drug discovery is a “long and winding road” that begins with building talent and infrastructure and expanding the critical mass of well-trained drug developers. Investment in biomedical research should be for the sake of expanding biomedical knowledge and training young scientists; the discoveries and the profits will follow.

    The timing couldn’t be more appropriate than now as new futuristic technologies — including artificial intelligence, machine learning and high-speed connectivity — are entering the drug development arena.

    We can now see a point when the health profile and the life expectancy of people in Africa could be comparable to the rest of the world. Africa and the world should be guided by the belief that all lives have equal value and that health equality is ensured for everyone, on all continents.

    Khisimuzi (Khisi) Mdluli, PhD, is a TB Drug Scientist and a Discovery Project Leader at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI).

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  • Brazil’s Biofuel Potential Set to Expand Thanks to Sustainable Aviation Fuel

    Brazil’s Biofuel Potential Set to Expand Thanks to Sustainable Aviation Fuel

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    An Air Force plane brings home Brazilians who managed to escape the war in Gaza as part of a humanitarian operation. Airplanes shorten distances but pollute the atmosphere and aggravate the climate crisis by emitting two percent of greenhouse gases. Sustainable biofuels can mitigate that damage. CREDIT: FAB
    • by Mario Osava (rio de janeiro)
    • Inter Press Service

    RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 13 (IPS) – Brazil is counting on biofuels to assert itself as an energy powerhouse in the near future, as a decisive supplier of low-carbon jet fuel, a requirement of the climate crisis.

    The electrification of automobiles has tended to curb the strong ethanol and biodiesel agribusiness developed in the country since the 1970s. But demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) now offers the possibility of significant new expansion for many decades to come.

    Electrically powered airplanes are not viable with current technology, and will not be for a long time. “Batteries are very heavy and store little energy,” said Arnaldo Walter, a mechanical engineer and professor at the University of Campinas.

    Nor is green hydrogen, the fashionable ecological fuel, an alternative for aviation, because of the difficulty of storage and the need for temperatures of more than 250 degrees Celsius below zero to keep it in a usable liquid form. In addition, the entire design of aircraft would have to be changed, a process that could only be achieved in the long term.

    Brazil has everything it needs to become a major producer of green hydrogen, which is generated by electrolysis of water, but requires abundant electricity from renewable sources. That is the case in this country, especially in the Northeast region, which has huge potential in wind and solar energy, in addition to ports closer to Europe than those of other competitors.

    The solution is biomass-derived fuel, which does not require altering the format of aircraft or their turbines, by naturally replacing aviation kerosene, the use of which generates two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

    Climate requirements

    “Not just any biofuel will do, it has to meet the requirements for environmental, social and economic sustainability certification,” Walter told IPS by telephone from the southern city of Campinas, with a population of 1.1 million people located 90 kilometers from São Paulo.

    Deforestation, for example, is one of Brazil’s Achilles’ heels, given the reports of forests being cleared to grow soybeans, whose oil will probably be one of the main raw materials for SAF. It is not enough to decarbonize the fuel, but also the whole process of its production.

    The goal is to meet the target set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

    “SAF is the only economically viable and available alternative, despite its sustainability challenges,” argued Amanda Ohara, a chemical engineer and fuel specialist with the non-governmental Climate and Society Institute, in an interview with IPS in Rio de Janeiro.

    Soybean monoculture represents half of agricultural production and is the main Brazilian export. It occupies extensive areas of the Cerrado, the Brazilian savannah, and part of the Amazon rainforest, after extensive deforestation. It can now provide the oil for the production of sustainable aviation fuel, known as SAF. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS
    Soybean monoculture represents half of agricultural production and is the main Brazilian export. It occupies extensive areas of the Cerrado, the Brazilian savannah, and part of the Amazon rainforest, after extensive deforestation. It can now provide the oil for the production of sustainable aviation fuel, known as SAF. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS

    Soybeans and sugarcane, abundant but disputed

    Brazil is the world’s largest soybean producer, with an output of 154 million tons in 2023, about half of which was exported to China. Its oil is the main raw material for biodiesel, which is blended with fossil diesel in this country at a current proportion of 14 percent. Congress is discussing the possibility of raising it to 25 percent in the future.

    In addition to its thriving agriculture, based largely on oilseeds and sugarcane, which can supply SAF plants, the country has ample potential for expansion.

    “Brazil has favorable conditions for biofuels, such as available land, good climate and rainfall, although they are now more uncertain than before,” said Walter. Tens of millions of hectares of land degraded by extensive cattle ranching in the past can be used to recover production.

    In Latin America’s largest country, with 850 million hectares of territory, only 61 million hectares were dedicated to agriculture and 164 million to cattle pastures in 2022, according to MapBiomas, a monitoring platform of a network of organizations focused on climate change.

    The government set a goal of recovering 40 million hectares of degraded land in 10 years, almost the same as the area planted with soybeans today: 44.6 million hectares.

    Soy already has a well-established market and consumers. Dedicating part of its oil to SAF competes with these uses and will require a large expansion of its cultivation, that is to say, new lands and the risk of deforestation, which together with changes in land use constitute the great source of greenhouse gases in the country.

    They represent economic and environmental costs that drive the search for alternatives.

    The macauba, a tropical palm tree whose scientific name is Acrocomia aculeata, is attractive because of its high oil productivity and its presence in almost all of Brazil, as well as in other Latin American countries under various names, such as coyol, corojo, grugru or macaw palm.

    It has not yet been commercially produced, nor has it been domesticated, making it a long-term, risky bet.

    But Acelen, a company controlled by the Mubadala Investment Company of the United Arab Emirates, is promoting a project to grow macauba palm trees on 200,000 hectares of land in northeastern Brazil to produce SAF as of 2026.

    To this end, it has an oil refinery in Mataripe, 70 kilometers from Salvador, capital of the northeastern state of Bahia, acquired in 2019 from the state-owned oil company Petrobras.

    Ethanol is another alternative raw material, which, like soybean oil, has the advantage of large-scale production, but competes with other uses. In Brazil, sugarcane is the main source of ethanol, whose consumption as a fuel is almost as high as that of gasoline.

    In its anhydrous form, it currently accounts for 27 percent of gasoline sold, a mix that is expected to rise to 30 percent or even 35 percent. But ethanol is also used alone, in its hydrated form. In Brazil today, almost all cars have flexible engines, powered by gasoline or ethanol, or by a mixture of any proportion.

    A photo of the monotonous landscape of sugarcane in one of the plantations in the interior of the state of São Paulo, which provides almost half of the sugar and ethanol produced in Brazil. The 31 billion liters of ethanol in 2023 could be tripled in 20 years by increasing productivity and monoculture, to provide surpluses for the production of SAF. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS
    A photo of the monotonous landscape of sugarcane in one of the plantations in the interior of the state of São Paulo, which provides almost half of the sugar and ethanol produced in Brazil. The 31 billion liters of ethanol in 2023 could be tripled in 20 years by increasing productivity and monoculture, to provide surpluses for the production of SAF. CREDIT: Mario Osava / IPS

    Cane and corn ethanol

    Ethanol lags behind vegetable oils in the production of SAF, but will benefit from a production boom expected in the coming years. It will be able to triple its annual production, which totaled 31 billion liters in 2023, without the need to greatly expand the cultivated area, according to industry leaders.

    Brazil is already the country that grows the most sugarcane in the world, which allows it to lead the sugar market and occupy second place in ethanol, surpassed only by the United States, where corn is the main source.

    Raízen, a joint venture between the British oil transnational Shell and Brazil’s Cosan, is studying the new biofuel, also in partnership with universities, while expanding its ethanol production, of which it is the national leader.

    It is a pioneer in second-generation ethanol, extracted from sugarcane bagasse and other cellulose-based waste. This ensures up to 50 percent more ethanol, without the need for more crops. The company has already started up eight plants of this type and expects to have 20 in operation by 2030, despite the fact that they are more expensive than conventional plants.

    Sugarcane productivity should also increase in the coming years, according to agronomic researchers, who expect to see production rise twofold mainly due to the planting of new varieties with genetic improvements.

    In addition, second-crop corn, generally planted after soybeans in the same area, has allowed an increasing production of ethanol, especially in the midwest region of Brazil. It already represents 17 percent of the national total.

    There are other alternatives, such as fossil derivatives but with reduced greenhouse gas emissions, wood from trees that grow faster in tropical countries such as Brazil, animal oils, and even cooking oil.

    Each one requires different technologies, with their own costs, maturation times and environmental effects, said Walter. Logistical conditions, dispersion or facilities for collecting raw materials can also determine the most promising alternatives.

    “There is no single solution, no silver bullet. We will have to combine various alternatives, depending on the intended or possible scale,” Ohara said. The choice is no longer purely economic, but also responds to the climate emergency, because “gas emissions must be reduced as a matter of urgency,” she added.

    The expansion of monocultures will be inevitable in a country like Brazil, which aims to ensure a sustainable supply, but the damage can be mitigated with agroforestry systems, combining oilseeds with other crops, which diversify the vegetation and conserve the soil, proposed the chemist and environmentalist who worked for six years with biofuels in the state-owned Petrobras consortium.

    © Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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