The African Science
Covering African science with an African eye
Covering African science with an African eye
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
AFRICAN SCIENCE<br />
<strong>Science</strong> + Policy + Practice = Development<br />
Vol 00110<br />
Sep-Oct 2018: Focus on CLIMATE CHANGE<br />
News<br />
CCDA VII meets<br />
in Kenya for<br />
the first time<br />
Caritas Kenya<br />
Launches an<br />
Environmental<br />
Initiative<br />
Caritas Kenya in collaboration<br />
with Kenya Conference of<br />
Catholic Bishops (KCCB) recently<br />
launched an environmental<br />
campaign initiative to champion<br />
for environmental conservation.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Church is part of a bigger<br />
initiative meant to make the<br />
country and the world green”, said<br />
Chairman of Caritas Archbishop<br />
Martin Kivuva.<br />
Africa urged<br />
to tap into its<br />
blue economy<br />
Experts have urged Africa to<br />
consider the economic potential of<br />
her oceans. With good reason, Africa<br />
is excited over the prospects of<br />
sharing in the multi-trillion maritime<br />
industry, with the continent’s<br />
Agenda 2063 envisioning the blue<br />
economy as a foremost contributor<br />
to transformation and growth.<br />
<strong>The</strong> United Nations has described<br />
Africa’s oceans, lakes and rivers as<br />
the “new frontier of the Africa.<br />
Climate change,<br />
boosts slavery<br />
Kenya for the first time played host to<br />
the 7th Climate Change and Development<br />
in Africa Conference (CCDA<br />
VII). Successive meetings had been<br />
convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Conference brought together<br />
various stakeholders to interrogate Africa’s<br />
nationally determined contributions and<br />
define actionable climate agendas. Against<br />
the backdrop of an assessment report by<br />
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate<br />
Change the meeting was convened under<br />
the auspices of Pan <strong>African</strong> Climate Justice<br />
Alliance (PACJA). <strong>The</strong> IPCC report demonstrated<br />
warming throughout Africa, consistent<br />
with anthropogenic climate change<br />
— Cont Page 3<br />
Britain’s Prince Charles said in Nigeria<br />
that climate change is reviving<br />
a banished slave trade in Africa and<br />
condemnned the trade during a stop<br />
in Ghana, saying that the atrocity has<br />
left an indelible stain on the world’s<br />
history. He said cliamte change is<br />
endangering Africa through a growing<br />
threat to food security.<br />
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla,<br />
the Duchess of Cornwall, also<br />
visited Nigeria.
2 | ASNS NEWS Oct - Nov | 2018<br />
PACJA, UNECA<br />
host FCPF meet<br />
Agriiculture is on<br />
agenda, CSOs say<br />
Mr Munoru, Forester<br />
<strong>The</strong> Pan <strong>African</strong> climate justice Alliance<br />
(PACJA) jointly with UNECA<br />
hosted the Africa FCPF regional exchange<br />
workshop in Nairobi. <strong>The</strong><br />
workshop was held back-to-back<br />
with the seventh Conference on Climate<br />
Change and Development in<br />
Africa (CCDA-VII). <strong>The</strong> workshop<br />
was aimed at facilitating regional ex-<br />
change to encourage first-hand learning<br />
and sharing of experiences from<br />
civil society and forest dependent IPs<br />
engagement in REDD+ processes,<br />
and from the Capacity Building Project<br />
being implemented by PACJA<br />
and MPIDO.<br />
<strong>The</strong> project under the Forest carbon<br />
partnership Facility aims at<br />
strengthening the knowledge of <strong>African</strong><br />
Civil Societies, Local Communities<br />
and forest dependent Indigenous<br />
Peoples on REDD+.<br />
<strong>The</strong> workshop brought together<br />
over 50 participants drawn from<br />
all the 18 FCPF countries namely;<br />
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central <strong>African</strong><br />
Republic, Democratic Republic<br />
of Congo, Republic of Congo, Cote<br />
d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana,<br />
Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique,<br />
Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania,<br />
Togo and Uganda.<br />
Mr Mithika, CEO, PACJA<br />
Agriculture is one of the main<br />
source of livelihood and income in<br />
Africa. Additionally, agriculture is<br />
central to food security and unlocking<br />
youth entrance to job market. Women<br />
are the majority of the producers.<br />
When holistic analysis of the sector is<br />
done, reality of climate change cannot<br />
be ignored in Africa. Agricultural investment<br />
is a core issue that cannot be<br />
separated from land as a resource. For<br />
effective agricultural production and<br />
practices, land is a vital resource, and<br />
access to it is important in production<br />
and in building resilient communities<br />
that tackle climate change.<br />
“Agriculture is central to food security<br />
and in unlocking youth entrance<br />
to the job market while land is at the<br />
core of it, and access to land is important<br />
in production” Mithika Mwendwa<br />
the executive director PACJA<br />
“When discussing climate change,<br />
land is a factor of production with the<br />
majority of the producers are women”<br />
OXFAMs position.<br />
Food is grown on land, rivers flow<br />
on land. Food is about land. Without<br />
food there is insecurity. Without food<br />
you will bend low and your voice will<br />
not be heard” Ejim Lovelyn<br />
“Agriculture can half poverty way<br />
better than other sectors including oil<br />
and gas. This is because agriculture<br />
includes both women and youth” Joel<br />
Mzinga
Sep - Oct | 2018<br />
ASNS NEWS | 3<br />
CCDA in Kenya cont from Page 1<br />
From page 1<br />
has increased considerably<br />
over time warning that future<br />
warming impacts are likely<br />
to cause wide fluctuations in<br />
thermal and precipitation dynamics.<br />
Responding to the current and future<br />
impacts of climate change, the<br />
parties to the United Nations Framework<br />
Convention on Climate Change<br />
submitted an intended nationally determined<br />
contributions (INDC’s)as the<br />
new global climate governance framework<br />
to limit the increase in the global<br />
average temperature to well below 2oC<br />
above pre-industrial levels.<br />
<strong>The</strong> INDC’s forms part of the Paris<br />
Agreement on climate change, on<br />
which the global climate actions will<br />
be built after 2020.<br />
As of June 2018, of the 54 <strong>African</strong><br />
countries signatories to the Paris<br />
Agreement, 44 had submitted their<br />
nationally determined contributions to<br />
the Framework Convention.<br />
<strong>The</strong> INDC’s are imperative in ensuring<br />
that <strong>African</strong> countries re-exam-<br />
Participants keenly follow the opening ceremony at the CCDA 7 conference<br />
that took place in Nairobi Kenya in Ocober.<br />
ine their options under the changing<br />
global political landscape to effectively<br />
promote climate resilience and low<br />
carbon emission as outlined in Agenda<br />
2063: <strong>The</strong> Africa We Want and the Paris<br />
Agreement. Translating NDC’s into<br />
concrete actions, however, requires,<br />
among other things, implementation<br />
plans that prioritize specific sectoral<br />
climate actions and predictable finance<br />
flows, sustained capacity-building and<br />
the transfer of relevant technologies<br />
from developed countries.<br />
This, in turn, calls for serious dialogue<br />
and interaction between policymakers,<br />
scientists and researchers, as<br />
well as other stakeholders, to support<br />
the translation of the nationally determined<br />
contributions into action plans<br />
and programmes.<br />
<strong>The</strong> gathering built on the sixth<br />
Conference, which focused on understanding<br />
the implementation implications,<br />
challenges and opportunities of<br />
the Paris Agreement in the context of<br />
Africa’s development priorities prior<br />
to it coming into effect on 4 November<br />
2016.<br />
In keeping with the Conference’s<br />
founding philosophy, the seventh meeting<br />
was intended to facilitate sciencepractice-policy<br />
dialogue.<br />
Three themes guided the dialogue:<br />
advancing the implementation of the<br />
nationally determined contributions in<br />
Africa, the role of climate information<br />
and services in support of those contributions<br />
and climate finance for them.<br />
CHECK<br />
AFRICA SCIENCE NEWS SERVICE<br />
https://africasciencenews.com/
4 | ASNS NEWS<br />
Sep - Oct | 2018<br />
Explore local funds options, Africa told<br />
Mr Robert Bakika was a member of the panel that discussed financing for climate during<br />
the 7th Climate Change and Development in Africa conference held in Nairobi<br />
Mr Robert Bakika was a member of the<br />
panel that discussed financing for climate<br />
during the 7th Climate Change and Development<br />
in Africa conference held in Nairobi.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Climate Focus Team met and had a<br />
chat with Mr Bakika. Here is the excerpts.<br />
CF: Africa says it has projects for<br />
funding. But the Multi development<br />
banks say the projects are not bankable.<br />
What is the way out for Africa in the<br />
context of the CCDA7?<br />
Bakika: In my presentations today I started<br />
by saying that what Africa wants does not<br />
communicate. While government representatives<br />
from Africa insist that its priority<br />
in climate financing debates is adaptation,<br />
but the financial needs they prioritise<br />
are for mitigation<br />
CF: Is it because the Africa does not<br />
understand the difference?<br />
Bakika: No they do. But what they say is<br />
their priorities is not what they are communicating<br />
as priority.<br />
CF: How should they communicate<br />
this?<br />
Bakika: Because, one is the different<br />
funding streams available is more towards<br />
mitigation than adaptation. Secondly, the<br />
continent is failing to tap into the existing<br />
domestic sources of financing that they<br />
could use to finance their adaptation needs.<br />
I gave an example of two Kenyan companies<br />
that annually report huge profits. For<br />
example, the Safaricom Ltd announced<br />
last year an equivalent of USD500 million<br />
profits. <strong>The</strong> question is, how do governments<br />
inform the investments of such<br />
companies to shift into green investment<br />
with projects that will reduce vulnerability<br />
in such areas in the arid and semi-arid<br />
areas which I hear makes 79% of Kenya?<br />
Why would the Kenyan government go for<br />
a loan which will take 8 years of negotiating<br />
for a concession before they are finalized?<br />
Instead, the government could negotiate<br />
with Safaricom to invest into such<br />
green projects and then pay the Safaricom<br />
after some agreed years.<br />
Second thing I highlighted is the tapping<br />
into commercial banks which have<br />
different mandates to explore different<br />
packages to meet customer needs. If you<br />
see commercial banks in Europe, most<br />
green projects are being undertaken by<br />
commercial banks through equity financing<br />
or green bonds. Thirdly, financing for<br />
adaptation can no longer be guaranteed<br />
anymore. Why? I gave an example that<br />
the combined financing by Multilateral<br />
Development banks (World Bank, European<br />
Investment Banks, <strong>African</strong> Development<br />
Banks etc) claim to have mobilized<br />
now USD35 billion. Of these they have<br />
deployed 79% of this money to mitigation<br />
projects mostly as loans (81% of what has<br />
been disbursed). Yet we in Africa are saying<br />
that financing for climate change should<br />
not be loans. <strong>The</strong>se are facts. Fourthly, the<br />
existing financial mechanisms like the<br />
GCF, Adaptation Funds and GEF are no<br />
longer interesting to donors. In GCF, the<br />
contributing governments are no longer<br />
interested. Yesterday, Australia announced<br />
of its plans to pull out of GCF. It is only<br />
Japan left in it. If Japan pulled out of GCF,<br />
it will collapse because Japan is the greatest<br />
contributor.<br />
Adaptation Fund under LDCF, Kenya<br />
does not benefit under LDCF as this only<br />
benefits few LDC countries where Kenya<br />
does not qualify. It can only get from the<br />
Adaptation Funds, but it is also having<br />
challenges, donors are no longer meeting<br />
their pledges and the money that have been<br />
replenished under the Clean Development<br />
Mechanism is no longer available since the<br />
CDM markets collapsed. This gives the<br />
picture in the international financial market,<br />
that there is no new money. <strong>The</strong>y are<br />
working but are slow and our governments<br />
should not be made to wait. <strong>The</strong>re is also<br />
a commitment under the Addis Ababa Action<br />
Agenda to advance domestic resources.<br />
<strong>The</strong> question we are asking is can the<br />
governments begin to look inwards given<br />
the slowness of the international financial<br />
markets<br />
Climate finance: Tobiko lauds 5 States<br />
Kenya’s Environment and<br />
Forestry CS Keriako Tobiko has commended<br />
five counties in the country<br />
for successfully implementing the<br />
model of devolved climate finance<br />
that is crucial towards achieving low<br />
carbon emission regime.<br />
Noting that Devolved governance<br />
was playing a crucial role in assisting<br />
Kenyans develop ways to mitigate effects<br />
of climate change at community<br />
level, Mr.Tobiko, said County Climate<br />
Change Fund mechanism integrated<br />
climate risk and empowered poor and<br />
vulnerable communities in the face of<br />
climate change. He said the counties<br />
had put in place structures and processes<br />
enabling access and manage<br />
climate finance in transparent and accountable<br />
manner.<br />
In a speech during the country’s<br />
first PACJA convened National Conference<br />
on Climate Governance in<br />
Nairobi, Mr. Tobiko said the implementation<br />
of climate change actions<br />
was the responsibility of both government<br />
and non-state actors. <strong>The</strong> Cabinet<br />
Secretary lauded county governments<br />
for putting in place climate<br />
Tobuko<br />
change actions, demonstrating the<br />
critical role devolved governance play<br />
in the country’s transition towards a<br />
low carbon climate resilient development<br />
pathway.<br />
Kenya, like any other developing<br />
countries, he said was vulnerable to<br />
the adverse impacts of climate change<br />
due to the high dependence on climate-sensitive<br />
agricultural production<br />
but will leave no stone unturned in<br />
coming up with mitigation actions.<br />
<strong>The</strong> CS said increased frequency<br />
and intensity of extreme weather<br />
events like droughts and floods have<br />
hit many regions across Kenya and<br />
posing a challenge to the attainment<br />
of the 2030 sustainable development<br />
agenda. “<strong>The</strong> poor, women<br />
and children in the various areas are<br />
most affected due to their low adaptive<br />
capacity. <strong>The</strong>se threats, however,<br />
present some opportunities towards<br />
innovative and green investments,”<br />
he said.<br />
Mr. Tobiko said Kenya’s Nationally<br />
Determined Contribution<br />
(NDC) outlined the country’s climate<br />
change commitment under the Paris<br />
Agreement.“Adaptation is a priority<br />
in Kenya and its contribution is envisaged<br />
through mainstreaming of adaptation<br />
actions into all sectors of the<br />
medium term plans to ensure strengthened<br />
resilience to climate change,”<br />
the Cabinet Secretary said.<br />
He said Kenya’s mitigation actions<br />
target abatement of the greenhouse<br />
gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030<br />
relative to the business-as-usual scenario<br />
of 143 million tonnes of carbon<br />
dioxide equivalent.<br />
However, he noted that achievement<br />
of NDC contribution is subject<br />
to international support in the form of<br />
finance, investment, capacity building,<br />
and technology development and<br />
transfer. “Collaboration between the<br />
government and partners is therefore<br />
essential for implementation of the<br />
NDC”, said Tobiko.
Sep - Oct | 2018<br />
ASNS NEWS | 5<br />
Our November- December issue is in the<br />
process of production.<br />
Our focus in the issue will be on agriculture.<br />
Are you;<br />
i) a research institute?<br />
ii) Seed Company?<br />
iii) An NGO focused on agriculture?<br />
iv) in Agri-business?<br />
You fit. Send in<br />
a) Your content<br />
b) Your service<br />
c) Your Products<br />
Book an Advert and get one or two pages of<br />
unabridged content space.<br />
Speak to your world, and Frame of the issue<br />
of your interest<br />
Rates<br />
Full Page: USD 5000<br />
Half Page: USD 3500<br />
Quarter page : USD2800<br />
Fill the form below and submit before<br />
December 5<br />
Name:<br />
Organisation:<br />
Position/Title:<br />
_______________________________________<br />
_______________________________________<br />
_______________________________________<br />
Booking for<br />
Full Page:<br />
Half Page:<br />
Quarter Page:<br />
_______________________________________<br />
_______________________________________<br />
_______________________________________<br />
Any special instructions<br />
I would like my content and advert to be at the centre spread / back page / editorial and commentary page<br />
I am paying 50% on December 5. Will pay the remaining 50% on December 18 at the delivery of the magazine.<br />
Sign: ______________________________________<br />
All Cheques must be written in favour of SSA (Services in Scientific Work in Africa) P. O. Box 2141, 00100, Nairobi Tel: +2540202051330
6 |ASNS NEWS Sep - Oct | 2018<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
What Climate<br />
science means<br />
for Africa<br />
Africa is home to one in six of the world’s<br />
people and rising. From its sensitive ecosystems<br />
to booming cities, the continent is vulnerable to<br />
climate change and increasingly important to<br />
tackling it.<br />
Yet fewer than one in ten contributors to a<br />
landmark UN report on the science of 1.5C global<br />
warming launched this month were <strong>African</strong>, of<br />
whom many were based at universities outside<br />
the region.<br />
A shortage of observational data, high journal<br />
fees and lack of compensation for contributors<br />
throw up barriers to participation in the Intergovernmental<br />
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process,<br />
experts tell Climate Home News.<br />
“Africa’s participation in the IPCC assessments<br />
is very limited,” says James Murombedzi,<br />
coordinator of the <strong>African</strong> Climate Policy Centre<br />
at the United Nations Economic Commission for<br />
Africa (UNECA).<br />
Whereas the IPCC draws confident conclusions<br />
about trends in the EU, North America and<br />
Australia, there is a lot of uncertainty around <strong>African</strong><br />
findings. Some chapters have no <strong>African</strong><br />
authors, or only one.<br />
Consequently, Murombedzi says <strong>African</strong><br />
theories, perspectives and experiences are inadequately<br />
represented.<br />
<strong>The</strong> numbers<br />
Eight out of 91 lead authors of the IPCC special<br />
report on 1.5C global warming were from<br />
Africa.<br />
A further 78 are among the 783 contributing<br />
authors to the three working groups, with most<br />
focused on the impacts of climate change.<br />
Of the 489 expert reviewers of the first draft,<br />
only 25 were <strong>African</strong>s, or 5%.<br />
<strong>The</strong> problem starts with patchy raw data. “Climate<br />
change is based on long term observations<br />
of weather patterns,” says Murombedzi. “<strong>The</strong>re<br />
is very little climate observation infrastructure in<br />
Africa, and therefore very little is known about<br />
what is actually happening in terms of climate<br />
impacts in Africa.”<br />
That is compounded by a lack of resources<br />
to get <strong>African</strong> research published in the peerreviewed<br />
journals the IPCC relies on to make its<br />
assessments.<br />
“<strong>African</strong> scientists lack funding, capacity,<br />
technology, human resource to undertake and<br />
monitor front line research and publish their findings,”<br />
says Brad Garanganga, a climate scientist<br />
from Zimbabwe. “It’s leaving huge data gaps as<br />
research is mainly donor-driven, as <strong>African</strong> governments<br />
do not invest in research.”<br />
Africa misses out on REDD+<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a significant disconnect between<br />
global policy optimism on the benefits of<br />
REDD+ and local realities, experts said Thursday<br />
at the start of a two-day talkson “Market<br />
policy versus market mechanisms in the implementation<br />
of the Paris Agreement”.<br />
“REDD+ is alive but not well” Dr. Adeniyi<br />
Kashwan of the University of Connecticut told<br />
a cross-section of climate change experts in<br />
Addis Ababa.As climate change continues to<br />
threaten mankind, the world depends in part<br />
on forests to diminish its devastating effects.<br />
“Forests cover 30% of the world’s land<br />
surface and are also one of the world’s best<br />
methods of storing carbon, absorbing 2.4 billion<br />
tonnes of carbon dioxide each year and<br />
storing billions more” said Dr. Wallace Anacho,<br />
an environmentalist.<br />
According to scientists, deforestation rates<br />
have increased significantly in Africa in the<br />
last decades jeopardizing the efforts to mitigate<br />
the impact of climate change. One initiative<br />
to stop deforestation is Reduced Emissions<br />
from Deforestation and (forest) Degradation<br />
commonly referred to as REDD+. About 29<br />
<strong>African</strong> countries are involved in the REDD+<br />
project.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> basic idea of REDD+ is that, you pay<br />
countries and indigenous populations to plant<br />
and protect forests” said Dr. Yetibitu Moges<br />
of the Ethiopian Ministry of environment, forest<br />
and climate change.<br />
<strong>The</strong> payment usually comes in form of<br />
credits referred to as carbon credits and it is<br />
expected to provide an alternative way of life<br />
to indigenous populations that hitherto relied<br />
on forest products to survive. That is what is<br />
supposed to happen but experts are now worried<br />
that since the initiation of REDD+ by the<br />
United Nations, rights of some local communities<br />
have been abused.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> future is not as bright as expected. In<br />
many countries we are seeing rights abuses.<br />
Here, we are talking about right to land, right<br />
to forests, right to take things out of the forest<br />
not just timber but vegetable food, non-timber<br />
forest products that people rely on for survival”<br />
said Dr. Adeniyi adding that bans on<br />
forest exploitation have in many cases proved<br />
detrimental to local communities.<br />
“In enforcing these bans we see the use of<br />
military force, police and rangers often going<br />
into the forest with sophisticated ammunition<br />
to harass and terrorize communities. We have<br />
seen these in many <strong>African</strong> countries sometimes<br />
resulting in the loss of lives”.<br />
<strong>The</strong> theory that you exclude indigenous<br />
communities from using the forest and then<br />
give them alternative means to survive has in<br />
many cases not materialized on the field, Dr.<br />
Adeniyi said.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> carbon credit is often shared between<br />
consultants, sometimes foreign consultants<br />
and governments and a little bit offered to<br />
communities. So what is given to communities,<br />
if at all anything is given to them from<br />
REDD+ benefits is nothing compared to what<br />
they are losing. <strong>The</strong>se benefits cannot sustain<br />
livelihoods that indigenous people have developed<br />
over time”.
Sep - Oct | 2018<br />
ASNS NEWS | 7<br />
Africa Development Bank to triple<br />
climate change funding to Africa<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>African</strong> Development Bank (AfDB)<br />
will triple its funding to 5 billion US dollars<br />
to fund an ambitious Climate Action<br />
Change Plan for the period 2016-2020 in<br />
Africa.<br />
James Kinyangi of the AfDB and the<br />
ClimDev Fund, disclosed the plan will explore<br />
modalities for achieving adaptation,<br />
adequacy and effectiveness of climate finance,<br />
capacity building and technology<br />
transfer – building skills for <strong>African</strong> economies<br />
to fully harness the potential for adaptation<br />
in high technology sectors.<br />
“Under this plan, the Bank, which hosts<br />
the ClimDev Africa Special Fund, will triple<br />
its annual climate financing to $5 billion<br />
a year by 2020,” Kinyangi said, reiterating<br />
the Bank’s commitment to continue working<br />
with <strong>African</strong> countries and its partners<br />
to deepen partnerships and investments that<br />
will address the impacts of climate change<br />
On the other hand , <strong>African</strong> has been<br />
handed a mandate to implement the Paris<br />
Agreement through apt operationalization<br />
of their nationally determined contributions.<br />
Speakers at the Seventh Climate Change<br />
and Development in Africa (CCDA – VII)<br />
conference in Nairobi, October 10,2018,<br />
unanimously agreed Africa should lead the<br />
way in the implementation.<br />
James Murombedzi, Officer in Charge of<br />
the Economic Commission for Africa’s <strong>African</strong><br />
Climate Policy Center (ACPC), said<br />
while the Agreement was a treaty between<br />
states, its implementation was a challenge<br />
to countries.<br />
“Africa as a continent has the potential<br />
to drive the implementation of the Paris<br />
Agreement,” he said noting that sustainable,<br />
inclusive and equitable development<br />
which does not increase atmospheric carbon<br />
Climate justice activists demonstrate<br />
for the Paris Agreement<br />
Mr James Kinyangi shares his thoughts with participants during the CCDA 7 held in Nairobi in<br />
October/<br />
concentrations was possible. “But for these<br />
opportunities to be realized, a lot needs to<br />
be done by the different countries”, he observed.<br />
Kenya’s Environment and Forestry Cabinet<br />
secretary, KeriakoTobiko called on<br />
<strong>African</strong> governments to exercise political<br />
good will to ensure the Paris Agreement<br />
implementation was effective. “Without<br />
political goodwill recommendations from<br />
scientists as contained in the Agreement<br />
cannot be translated into policies,” observed<br />
Tobiko. He pointed out that Climate<br />
change was impacting many <strong>African</strong> countries<br />
making life perilous for the vulnerable<br />
population, women, children, reason<br />
why the Paris Agreement implementation<br />
was more urgent.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> implementation of the Paris Agreement<br />
remains a priority for the continent to<br />
adapt to the inevitability of climate variability<br />
and change. It is however important<br />
to emphasize that achieving the goals of<br />
the Agreement require committed leadership<br />
from state and non-state actors,” the<br />
CS said.<br />
Murombedzi said, among other actions,<br />
countries were enjoined to integrated green<br />
economy in the development action plans.<br />
‘“Integration of green economy and other<br />
innovative carbon free investments in national<br />
action plans have today become<br />
critical,” he noted commending the Intergovernmental<br />
Panel on Climate Change’s<br />
(IPCC) global warming of 1.5 °C above<br />
pre-industrial levels. <strong>The</strong> IPPC report he<br />
added, meant that there was a chance for<br />
a stable climate system allowing sustainable<br />
development if emissions were halted<br />
in the projected time frame.<br />
“Besides halting emissions to have an<br />
organized transition to a carbon neutral future<br />
in the shortest time, restructuring our<br />
economies to ensure sustainable development<br />
without further emissions will ensure<br />
a stable climate system,” Murombedzi<br />
said.<br />
He said it has been demonstrated that in<br />
addressing these challenges, there were opportunities<br />
to be harnessed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> seventh Conference on Climate<br />
Change and Development in Africa also<br />
geared at addressing the missing links for<br />
enhanced uptake and use of Climate Information<br />
and Services into development<br />
planning, policy and practice in Africa,<br />
including sectoral contributions as well as<br />
understand the various options to finance<br />
climate action, including the modalities for<br />
unlocking available and new forms of climate<br />
finance.
8 ASNS NEWS Sep - Oct| 2018<br />
PICTORIAL<br />
Mr Mithika Mwenda<br />
meets with the<br />
officials from FES<br />
of Germany in the<br />
sidelines of the<br />
CCDA 7 conference<br />
in Nairobi<br />
Nice meeting you my friend, Mr Mumboredzi (left) seems to tell the<br />
unidentified colleague<br />
speakers upon speakers shared their thoughts on how Africa can go about<br />
beating the impacts of climate change<br />
Not bad if i could just receive important business call in the midst of this<br />
conference...Mr Githinji<br />
<strong>The</strong> media capacity building workshop was held ahead of the CCDA 7<br />
Conference
Sep - Oct | 2018<br />
ASNS NEWS | 9<br />
Tobiko: Unite your voices<br />
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for<br />
Environment and Forestry Keriako<br />
Tobiko has advised <strong>African</strong> countries<br />
to speak with one voice during<br />
the COP 24 in Katowice, Poland,<br />
arguing that climate change was a<br />
matter of great concern for the continent.<br />
“Africa is the most vulnerable<br />
continent despite contributing only<br />
about 4% to global greenhouse gas<br />
emissions but when we go to argue<br />
our case we speak in tongues and<br />
come back with no deal,” he lamented.<br />
Tobiko who representing President<br />
Uhuru Kenyatta, during the<br />
opening of CCDA VII the said climate<br />
change was a matter of great<br />
concern for Africa hence the need<br />
for its leaders to speak with a strong<br />
unified voice so as to be heard when<br />
participating in multilateral climate<br />
negotiations and other global issues.<br />
“We have all experienced the devastating<br />
and unprecedented impacts<br />
of climate change on our peoples’<br />
lives and livelihoods as well as our<br />
<strong>African</strong> Group of Negotiators to the UNFCCC Legal Adviser Seth<br />
Osafo<br />
national economies.,” he said adding<br />
there was need for a unified<br />
approach during COP24. <strong>African</strong><br />
Group of Negotiators to the UN-<br />
FCCC Legal Adviser Seth Osafo<br />
echoed similar sentiments arguing<br />
that Africa’s single voice was<br />
critical during the COP 24 this year<br />
slated for Katowice, Poland. He<br />
said priorities for Africa included<br />
effective Implementation of existing<br />
Instruments and Conventions,<br />
entry into force of Doha Amendment,<br />
and completion of work on a<br />
balanced Rule Book for the implementation<br />
of the Paris Agreement.<br />
ECA pledges to help Africa<br />
fight climate change<br />
<strong>The</strong> Economic Commission for<br />
Africa (ECA) has pledged to work<br />
with <strong>African</strong> Member States to<br />
explore climate governance prospects<br />
for structural transformation<br />
towards achieving the aspirations<br />
of Agenda 2063 and the sustainable<br />
development goals, Mr. James<br />
Murombedzi of the ECA’s <strong>African</strong><br />
Climate Policy Centre (ACPC)<br />
said Tuesday. Speaking in Nairobi,<br />
Mr. Murombedzi said while<br />
the ECA was aware that climate<br />
change was now the major risk in<br />
the achievement of Agendas 2030<br />
and 2063, it will continue to seek<br />
pathways through which to contribute<br />
to poverty reduction through<br />
successful mitigation and adaptation<br />
to climate change in the continent.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> <strong>African</strong> Climate Policy<br />
Centre, through the ClimDev Africa<br />
initiative, is already exploring<br />
the climate governance prospects<br />
for Africa structural transformation<br />
towards achieving the aspirations<br />
of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs,” he<br />
said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ACPC is also promoting,<br />
with support from the Department<br />
for International Development<br />
(DfID), the Weather and Climate<br />
Information Services (WISER),<br />
the production and use of climate<br />
information to build the capacities<br />
of hydrological and meteorological<br />
authorities across the continent.<br />
Climate change:<br />
ECA to act<br />
Africa needs to urgently adopt<br />
climate resilient development pathways<br />
if it is to survive the adverse<br />
impacts of climate change, the<br />
Economic Commission for Africa<br />
(ECA) has warned.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ECA also warned that Africa<br />
will not successfully implement the<br />
sustainable development agenda<br />
and its 50-year development plan,<br />
Agenda 2063 if urgent climate actions<br />
are not taken now.<br />
Fossils slow<br />
climate action<br />
<strong>The</strong> fossil fuel industry has been<br />
active in lobbying for delays in<br />
global climate action. If the targets<br />
of the Paris Agreement on climate<br />
change to reduce emissions are to<br />
be met, the fossil fuel industry will<br />
be losing money. A study on “Revolving<br />
doors and the fossil fuels<br />
industry”, presented by the Greens/<br />
EFA Group in the European Parliament<br />
at the Bonn Climate Talks in<br />
Bonn recently called for the adoption<br />
of a strong conflict of interest<br />
policy. <strong>The</strong> report gathers studies of<br />
revolving doors between the fossil<br />
fuel industry and States.<br />
Climate change<br />
lead to diseases<br />
<strong>The</strong> study, published in PLOS<br />
Medicine (link is external), is based<br />
on 27 years of data from Mana<br />
Pools National Park in Zimbabwe.<br />
<strong>The</strong> mathematical model developed<br />
by Dr Lord and co-authors suggests<br />
that temperature increases over<br />
the last three decades have already<br />
caused major declines in local<br />
populations of tsetse flies, thereby<br />
providing a first step in linking temperature<br />
to the risk of sleeping sickness<br />
in Africa.<br />
Dr Lord said: “If the effect at<br />
Mana Pools extends across the<br />
whole of the Zambezi Valley, then<br />
the transmission of trypanosomes<br />
is likely to be have been greatly<br />
reduced in this warm low-lying region.”
10 | ASNS NEWS Sep - OCT | 2018<br />
Climate change fuel conflicts<br />
Climate experts are blaming escalating violent<br />
conflicts in Africa to natural calamities occasioned<br />
by climate change.<br />
Henry Mutembei, scholar with Nairobi-based<br />
Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and environmental<br />
studies, warned that the continent’s stability<br />
was at stake following climate change-linked disasters<br />
that have fueled inter-communal skirmishes<br />
and forced migration of productive segment of the<br />
population.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> nexus between climate change and surge<br />
in conflicts, insecurity and migration in Africa is<br />
overwhelming thus placing a heavier responsibility<br />
on governments to address this phenomenon with<br />
urgency,” said Mutembei.<br />
He said noted that the Horn of Africa and Sahel<br />
regions have become flashpoints as famines and<br />
water stress disrupt the livelihoods of agro-pastoral<br />
communities.<br />
“Rapid desertification is already causing a migration<br />
crisis and sporadic conflicts in the Sahel<br />
region.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se climate refugees that are increasing in<br />
numbers pose serious threats to global security,”<br />
said Mutembei. He suggested that targeted investments<br />
in resilience projects including climatesmart<br />
agriculture and restoration of vital ecosystems<br />
could forestall resources-based conflicts in<br />
Africa.<br />
Bethlehem Abebe, an analyst with regional bloc,<br />
the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development<br />
Prof Mutembei<br />
(IGAD), said the security and forced migration dimension<br />
of climate change in Africa should be accorded<br />
priority. “It is evident that climate change is<br />
causing forced mobility and tensions among communities<br />
as they compete for scarce resources. What<br />
is required now is better resilience for refugees and<br />
host communities,” said Abebe. Ruth Omondi, a<br />
conflict resolution specialist, said that skirmishes<br />
linked to climatic shocks are bound to increase in<br />
Africa hence the need for governments to prioritize<br />
coping mechanisms for communities living<br />
in the hotspots. “Severe climatic conditions are<br />
pushing pastoralists and small-scale farmers to<br />
the edges hence the need to develop adaptation<br />
programs that ensures their livelihoods are not<br />
destabilized,” said Omondi adding that regulated<br />
mobility for communities affected by climatic<br />
shocks was key to prevent conflicts.<br />
Experts root for innovative<br />
climate change financing<br />
Shaddad<br />
Greater focus on domestic resource<br />
mobilization as opposed to dwindling overseas<br />
support is key to sustain financing of climate<br />
resilience projects in Africa, campaigners on<br />
climate change have said.<br />
Speaking during a Pan-<strong>African</strong> climate forum<br />
in Nairobi head of Sudanese Environmental<br />
Conservation Society Muawia Shaddad, said<br />
<strong>African</strong> countries should enact robust policy<br />
and legislative frameworks to bridge climate<br />
financing gaps through domestic resource<br />
mobilization.<br />
“Over dependence on foreign donors to<br />
finance climate change programs here in Africa<br />
is no longer tenable and we have no choice but<br />
to look for resources internally. It is doable given<br />
the level of economic vitality in the continent,”<br />
Shaddad said. He said <strong>African</strong> countries should<br />
strengthen public private partnerships to scale up<br />
their financing of climate resilience projects that<br />
accelerate low carbon growth while generating<br />
new jobs for the youthful population. Leader<br />
of a Zambian small-holder farmers’ coalition<br />
Robert Chimambo proposed higher taxation<br />
on fossil fuels and mineral wealth abundant in<br />
Africa to help finance climate change adaptation<br />
and mitigation.“Part of revenue generated from<br />
mining activities and exploitation of fossil<br />
fuels should be channeled towards community<br />
based resilience projects like reforestation,<br />
water management and climate smart agropastoralism,”<br />
said Chimambo. In countries such<br />
as Kenya, the experts suggested that in addition<br />
to the international support, Kenya needs to<br />
increase budget allocations for climate change<br />
adaptation and mitigation response actions at<br />
national and county levels. In this case, the<br />
counties are expected to prioritise climate<br />
change interventions in their County Integrated<br />
Development Plans (CIDPs), design climate<br />
change programmes that respond to the needs.
Sep - OCT | 2018<br />
ASNS NEWS | 11<br />
Africa to inject<br />
$9b to Agric<br />
Expansive lush sugarcane plantations<br />
stretching to 8000 hectares in<br />
Kenya’s semi arid Kwale County<br />
along the coastal line is a clear testimony<br />
that irrigated agriculture<br />
could be the magic bullet for a<br />
green revolution in Africa.<br />
Yields at the Kwale sugar plantation<br />
are higher than they would be were<br />
it rain-fed, and there is no need to<br />
worry about variations in seasonal<br />
rainfall, said Pamela Ogada, the<br />
general manager for the KISCOL<br />
Sugar Company.<br />
Unite, Africa<br />
leaders told<br />
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta<br />
has called on <strong>African</strong> leaders to<br />
work in unity to be able to combat<br />
effects of climate change.Saying<br />
that climate change is a matter of<br />
life and death for Africa and the<br />
continent has experienced devastating<br />
and unprecedented impacts<br />
of climate change on its peoples’<br />
lives and livelihoods and national<br />
economies. “Given that our shared<br />
ecosystems and natural resources<br />
know no boundaries, it is essential<br />
that we continue to speak in one<br />
voice to safeguard the basis of our<br />
development and seek transformative<br />
solutions,” Uhuru said last<br />
week.<br />
Fewer biofuels,<br />
more green space<br />
Growing and harvesting bioenergy<br />
crops--corn for ethanol or trees to<br />
fuel power plants, for example--is<br />
a poor use of land, which is a precious<br />
resource in the fight against<br />
climate change, says a University<br />
of Michigan researcher.<br />
Untampered green areas like<br />
forests and grasslands naturally<br />
sequester carbon dioxide, and they<br />
are one of society’s best hopes for<br />
quickly reducing the greenhouse<br />
gas in the atmosphere, says John<br />
DeCicco, research professor at the<br />
U-M Energy Institute.<br />
Climate change:<br />
Kenya lauded<br />
Kenya was recently lauded for<br />
leading Africa in trying to find solutions<br />
to threats posed by climate<br />
change through policy development,<br />
devolution and establishment<br />
of the Climate Change Council,<br />
among other initiatives.<br />
ECA’s Mr. James Murombedzi,<br />
Officer in Charge of the <strong>African</strong><br />
Climate Policy Center (ACPC),<br />
commended Kenya for developing<br />
a sophisticated framework for the<br />
governance of climate change in<br />
the country.<br />
Billions to be<br />
raised for Africa<br />
Sponsors of development<br />
projects in Africa, borrowers,<br />
lenders, and public and private<br />
sector investors meet in South<br />
Africa to accelerate the continent’s<br />
investment opportunities<br />
in sectors not limited to energy,<br />
infrastructure, transport and utilities,<br />
industry, agriculture, ICT<br />
and Telecoms, water and sanitation<br />
and health and education.<br />
According to a statement from<br />
the Africa Development Bank<br />
(AfDB), the forum targets a total<br />
pipeline of 230 projects worth<br />
over US$208 billion.According<br />
to the bank, 28 boardroom<br />
sessions will curate, screen and<br />
ensure the projects are bankable<br />
and reach financial close.
Africa <strong>Science</strong><br />
Covering <strong>Science</strong> with an <strong>African</strong> eye |Sep-Oct 2018<br />
News<br />
Published by<br />
SSA (Services in Scientific Work in Africa)<br />
P. O. Box 2141, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya<br />
Tel: +2540202051330 :<br />
Email: info@africasciencenews.com<br />
web: https://www.africasciencenews.com/<br />
Industrial emissions: <strong>Science</strong> have confirmed the emissions are increasing global warmth<br />
<strong>African</strong> climate experts are calling for government<br />
regulated greenhouse gas emissions to halt atmospheric<br />
temperature rise posing serious threats to<br />
livelihoods and natural assets on the continent.<br />
<strong>The</strong> experts concurred that the future of <strong>African</strong><br />
communities was at stake as global warming will<br />
trigger recurrent droughts, food shortages, new epidemics<br />
and disruption to ecosystems.<br />
Yacob Mulugetta, an Ethiopian scholar and lead<br />
author of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate<br />
Change (IPCC) special report on global warming,<br />
said that rising temperatures will reverse socioeconomic<br />
gains <strong>African</strong> countries have made in<br />
recent times.<br />
“Global temperatures rise that has been influenced<br />
by human activities is having profound consequences<br />
in Africa where extreme weather events have occurred<br />
with bigger intensity,” said Mulugetta.<br />
“Actionable targets to limit greenhouse gas emissions<br />
are inevitable in order to enhance climate resilience<br />
for <strong>African</strong> communities,” he added.<br />
Mulugetta said that the international community<br />
has a moral obligation to support climate change mitigation<br />
and adaptation in Africa through deployment<br />
of green technologies and awareness creation.<br />
He warned that rising temperatures will adversely<br />
affect power generation, tourism, infrastructure development<br />
and human settlements in the World’s<br />
second largest continent.<br />
“Limiting the atmospheric temperatures below<br />
1.5 degrees Celsius is not an option if we are to save<br />
communities, nature and livelihoods in vulnerable<br />
<strong>African</strong> countries,” Mulugetta said.<br />
Mark Majodina, Regional Representative for the<br />
World Meteorological Organization, said action on<br />
atmospheric warming should be embedded in Africa’s<br />
development agenda.<br />
“Basic scientific evidence reveal that Africa is<br />
warming rapidly hence worsening the vulnerability<br />
of communities to extreme weather events. Putting a<br />
cap on carbon emissions is key to enhance the resilience<br />
of populations,” said Majodina.<br />
<strong>African</strong> countries should be at the center of global<br />
conversations on innovative ways to halt warming<br />
of the planet that has escalated against a backdrop<br />
of consumption of fossil fuels to power industrial<br />
growth.<br />
Prof. Laban Ogallo, a Kenyan Climate Scientist<br />
and scholar advised that less costly but effective options<br />
including reforestation, clean manufacturing,<br />
protection of watersheds and adoption of renewable<br />
energy sources, had the potential of accelerating low<br />
carbon development in Africa.<br />
Rising temperatures will<br />
reverse socio-economic<br />
gains <strong>African</strong> countries<br />
have made in recent times.