09-08-2022

TueSdAY, AuGuST 9, 2022
5
FionA hArVeY
Leaders of African countries are likely to
use the next UN climate summit in
November to push for massive new
investment in fossil fuels in Africa,
according to documents seen by the
Guardian.
New exploration for gas, and the
exploitation of Africa's vast reserves of
oil, would make it close to impossible for
the world to limit global heating to 1.5C
above pre-industrial levels.
However, soaring gas prices have
made the prospect of African supplies
even more attractive, and developed
countries, including EU members, have
indicated they would support such
developments in the current gas
shortage.
The Guardian has seen a technical
document prepared by the African
Union, comprising most of Africa's
states, for the "second extraordinary
session of the specialised technical
committee on transport,
transcontinental and interregional
infrastructure and energy committee", a
meeting of energy ministers that took
place by video conference from 14 to 16
June.
The five-page document, and
accompanying 25-page explanation,
indicates that many African countries
favour a common position that would
inform their negotiating stance at the
Cop27 UN climate summit, scheduled
for this November in Egypt, which
would entail pushing for an expansion
of fossil fuel production across the
continent.
The document states: "In the short to
medium term, fossil fuels, especially
natural gas will have to play a crucial
role in expanding modern energy access
in addition to accelerating the uptake of
Africa ramping up its fossil fuel output
renewables."Member states of the
African Union will meet again, in Addis
Ababa, this week to confirm the stance
to be taken. They are expected to argue
that Africa must be allowed to benefit
from its fossil fuel reserves, as rich
countries already have done, and that
developed countries by contrast must
take the lead on sharp cuts to their
emissions.
However,
environmental
campaigners from across the continent
fear that the exploitation of gas and oil in
Africa would bust global climate targets,
prevent the development of renewable
energy in Africa, and instead of being
used for the benefit of ordinary people,
would enrich multinational
corporations, investors and the elite in
some countries.
Mohamed Adow, the director of the
thinktank Power Shift Africa, said it
would be a mistake for Africa to opt for
fossil fuels instead of moving straight to
renewable energy. "Africa is blessed
with abundant renewable energy, in sun
and wind. Africa should not be shackled
to expensive fossil fuels for decades," he
said.
Lorraine Chiponda, the coordinator of
the Africa Coal Network, said: "The
prospect that African leaders are
presenting and pushing for gas
developments and investment is
overwhelming and reckless given the
climate impacts that threaten the lives of
millions of people in Africa having seen
worsening droughts and hunger,
recurring floods and cyclones. Fossil
fuel projects have neither solved energy
African countries are moving towards a common position that they need to expand fossil fuel production
to meet their energy needs.
Photo: AFP
poverty in Africa where 600 million
people still live in energy poverty nor
brought any socio-economic justice to
African people."
The International Energy Agency
warned last year that no new fossil fuel
developments could take place if the
world was to stay within 1.5C of preindustrial
levels. Recent extreme
weather, including heatwaves and
wildfires in Europe and North America,
has intensified fears that the climate
crisis is progressing faster than had been
anticipated.
African countries are also expected to
be among the most damaged by the
impacts of the climate crisis. Drought is
already afflicting a large swathe of the
Horn of Africa at present, and millions
of people are "marching toward
starvation", the World Food
Programme has warned.
But the soaring price of gas, driven by
war in Ukraine and the recovery from
the Covid pandemic, has spurred many
countries to see a potential bonanza in
the unexploited reserves remaining in
Africa. Research by the Guardian earlier
this year revealed scores of "carbon
bombs" - fossil fuel reserves that if
exploited could put the global climate
targets well out of reach.
Fatima Ahouli, regional coordinator
of Climate Action Network Arab World,
said leaders seeking new fossil fuel
exploitation were contributing to a new
form of colonialism.
"Calling for more and new
exploitation of fossil fuels in Africa is
driven by the same hungry countries
who only see Africa as a goldmine," she
said.
Gas in Africa is set to become of the
flashpoints of the Cop27 climate talks.
The EU has indicated it would support
the production of gas in Africa, as it
urgently seeks new sources of gas
following Vladimir Putin's invasion of
Ukraine and subsequent threats to gas
exports from Russia.
Mary Robinson, the chair of the
Elders group of former statespeople and
high-ranking business leaders, has also
weighed in on the issue, controversially
telling the Guardian earlier this year that
African countries must be allowed to use
their gas, though she insists it must be
for domestic use, for electricity and as a
clean cooking fuel, rather than being
exported to the EU.
About 580 million people in Africa
still lack access to electricity and modern
energy.
Adow said exploiting gas in Africa
would merely lock countries into a highcarbon
future. He called for rich
countries to make funds and support
available for poorer countries to move to
renewable energy instead. "There is
plenty of opportunity for renewable
energy in Africa, but countries need help
to construct the infrastructure."
The silent spread of myrtle
rust fungus
GrAhAM reAdFeArn
An invasive fungus
attacking some of
Australia's most
ecologically important tree
species has spread to
Western Australia while
also flourishing in damp
conditions along the
country's east, driving a
"silent extinction" and
prompting urgent calls for
a national response.
Experts warn if the
myrtle rust fungus detected
in the east Kimberley
reaches the state's
biodiversity-rich southwest,
the consequences
could be disastrous for
those ecosystems.
Since being detected in a
New South Wales nursery
in 2010, the fungus -
recognisable for its bright
yellow spots and rusting on
leaves - has established all
along the east coast and
been detected in every state
except South Australia.
One 2021 study predicted
myrtle rust could claim at
least 16 rainforest plants
within a generation in an
extinction event of
"unprecedented
magnitude".
The fungus affects plants
in the myrtaceae family - a
diverse group that includes
rainforest species,
paperbarks, eucalypts and
myrtles. The once
widespread native guava
has been almost wiped out
by the fungus.
A team led by WA's
Department of Primary
Industries detected the
fungus on nine broad- and
narrow-leafed paperbarks
in the east Kimberley in late
June. The exact species of
melaleuca affected isn't yet
known.
The department is
surveying tourist hotspots
and nurseries, with no new
detections so far. The
potential impacts were "yet
to be determined", a
department spokesperson
said, but the disease could
cause tree death, dieback,
species loss and
compromise ecosystems.
Dr Louise Shuey, a forest
pathologist at Queensland's
Department of Agriculture
and Fisheries, travelled to
the Kimberley to help with
the detection effort.
"Myrtle rust can travel
hundreds of kilometres on
the wind and that's why it's
spreading so far," she said.
The location was
searched after modelling
pointed to isolated wetland
as a likely location,
spreading from affected
plants in the Northern
Territory to the east.
Alyssa Martino, a
research scientist at the
University of Sydney, has
begun testing 25 WA
melaleuca species for their
susceptibility to the fungus,
which originated in South
America. The first three
tested have shown high
susceptibility.
Martino said the rust was
sending plant species to
extinction,
so
understanding how
different plants reacted
would help the
conservation effort.
Shuey said keeping the
rust out of WA's
biodiversity hotspot in the
south-west would be
crucial, as it was the
planet's most diverse area
for myrtaceae - with almost
half the world's species.
Myrtle rust can travel hundreds of kilometres on the wind and that's why it's spreading so far.
Photo: Louise Shuey
Bob Makinson, a
conservation botanist,
coordinated a national
action plan - developed
voluntarily by concerned
scientists and wild plant
managers - through the
Australian Network for
Plant Conservation.
About 350 Australian
species have been
identified as fungus hosts.
Makinson said the
myrtaceae in the state's
south-west were intrinsic
parts of the ecosystem.
"Many of them are part of
the spring wildflower
communities that attract
tourists from all over
Australia and the world,"
he said.
"If it establishes there, we
are likely to see a large
increase in the number of
host species and in the
number of native species
threatened with decline or
extinction. That could be a
biological disaster."
The fungus especially
likes humidity and fresh
vegetation, and so thrives
in new growth after rain or
post-bushfire, meaning wet
conditions in the country's
east had provided the
perfect environment.
The national action plan
was finalised in 2020 but
hasn't been formally
adopted by governments.
"While some agencies
and researchers are being
heroically active on it, their
efforts need to be
broadened, stitched
together and better
resourced," Makinson said.
James Trezise,
conservation director at the
Invasive Species Council,
said myrtle rust was driving
a "silent extinction" among
Australia's diverse plant
life.
"It's clear the system for
dealing with this major
environmental threat isn't
working," he said.
"Australia already has the
inglorious title as a world
leader on mammal
extinctions. If we do not
strengthen our threat
abatement and biosecurity
systems, we may find
ourselves as a world leader
in plant extinctions also."
The federal environment
minister, Tanya Plibersek,
agreed that a coordinated
response was needed and
said the government was
working to implement a
national action plan.
"There've been targeted
investments to do a
national stocktake of
myrtle rust-susceptible
species and deliver specific
myrtle rust training to
Indigenous rangers and
landowners in NSW and
Queensland," she said.
The rediscovered Santa Marta sabrewing.
GrAeMe Green
A rare hummingbird has
been rediscovered by a
birdwatcher in Colombia
after going missing for
more than a decade.
The Santa Marta
sabrewing, a large
hummingbird only found
in Colombia's Sierra
Nevada de Santa Marta
mountains, was last seen
in 2010 and scientists
feared the species might be
extinct as the tropical
forests it inhabited have
largely been cleared for
agriculture.
But ornithologists are
celebrating the rediscovery
of Campylopterus
phainopeplus after an
experienced local
birdwatcher captured one
on camera. It is only the
third time the species has
been documented: the first
was in 1946 and the second
in 2010, when researchers
captured the first photos of
the species in the wild.
Yurgen Vega, who
spotted the hummingbird
while working with the
conservation organisations
Selva, ProCAT Colombia
and World Parrot Trust to
survey endemic birds in
Sierra Nevada de Santa
Marta, said he felt
"overcome with emotion"
when he saw the bird.
"The sighting was a
complete surprise," he
said. "When I first saw the
hummingbird I
immediately thought of the
Santa Marta sabrewing. I
couldn't believe it was
waiting there for me to
take out my camera and
start shooting. I was
almost convinced it was
the species, but because I
felt so overcome by
emotion, I preferred to be
cautious; it could've been
the Lazuline sabrewing,
which is often confused
with Santa Marta
sabrewing. But once we
saw the pictures, we knew
it was true."
The Santa Marta
sabrewing is listed as
critically endangered on
the IUCN red list of
threatened species and
features in the Top 10
"most wanted" list in the
conservation organisation
Re:wild's Search for Lost
Birds, a worldwide effort to
find species that have not
been seen for more than 10
years. The bird is so rare
and elusive that John C
Mittermeier, the director
of threatened species
outreach at American Bird
Conservancy, likened the
sighting to "seeing a
phantom".
The hummingbird Vega
saw was a male, identified
by its emerald green
feathers, bright blue throat
and curved black bill. It
was perched on a branch,
vocalising and singing,
behaviour scientists think
is associated with
courtship and defending
territory.
The Sierra Nevada de
Photo: Yurgen Vega
The sighting of a rare
hummingbird
Santa Marta in northern
Colombia is home to a
wealth of wildlife,
including 24 bird species
not found anywhere else.
But scientists estimate that
only 15% of the mountains'
forest is intact. It is hoped
the surprise sighting of the
Santa Marta sabrewing
will help to protect their
remaining habitat,
benefiting many different
species found there.
"This finding confirms
that we still know very little
about many of the most
vulnerable and rare species
out there, and it is
imperative to invest more
in understanding them
better," said Esteban
Botero-Delgadillo, the
director of conservation
science with Selva:
Research for Conservation
in the Neotropics. "It is
knowledge that drives
action and change - it is not
possible to conserve what
we do not understand.
"The next step is going
out there and searching for
stable populations of this
species, trying to better
understand where it does
occur and what the most
critical threats are in situ.
Of course, this must
involve people from local
communities and local and
regional environmental
authorities, so we can
begin a research and
conservation programme
together that can have real
impact."