Author: Ruth Sego

The 14th session of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, AMCEN came to a close today amidst intense lobbying by pan-african civil society movements and major groups for a renewed commitment to climate financing for adaptation on the African continent. The currently available climate financing mechanisms are non-binding and therefore most countries, especially Annex 1 countries, do not have to legally commit to it. According to Transparency international, the current climate finance mechanism models are not sustainable. The green climate fund has in particular been described as a shell, with very little money committed to it. Lack of transparency and public disclosure in  decision making processes, Policy capture and undue influence from interested parties, Conflict of interest, Creative accounting and reporting , Double counting of emissions, Mismanagement of public resources are some of the issues highlighted as interferences to fully realizing the benefits of climate financing models under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC.

Indeed, financing for climate change has been turned into a political showdown and it is the hope of many, especially developing countries worst affected by climate change that the  commitment made under the Durban Platform for Enhaced Action to ‘launch a process to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties, through a subsidiary body under the Convention will be realised so as to legally bind countries to climate financing.

Kenya has dismissed calls for the cancellation of a multi-million dollar power purchase agreement with Ethiopia inprotest of a massive hydropower project that water scientists say will alter the lives of residents of Turkana region in Kenya.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga said despite ongoing efforts to expand electricity generation through investments in green energy initiatives, the demand for electric power in the East African nation would continue to grow, which justifies the need to import power from neighboring Ethiopia to meet the shortfalls.”We will lower the cost of energy through the importation of power from Ethiopia,” Odinga said late on Wednesday.

Environmentalists say the 1.7 billion U.S. dollar hydropower project would alter the lives of half a million residents of Lake Turkana and other regions neighboring Sothern Ethiopia. There are fears that the Omo River, which supplies water to the Gibe III Dam under construction, would affect water levels on Lake Victoria if its course is altered as proposed in the design of the power plant.

Kenyan parliamentarian, Ekwe Ethuro, who represents Turkana, said his constituents were deeply concerned that the environmental impact of the project could far outweigh the benefits. “Any project that alters the flow and course of the Omo River will have effects,” Ethuro said.Odinga said Nairobi was aware of the environmental impacts the Dam project would have on the residents of Turkana, but insisted the analysis by Kenyan scientists working on the project showed it would be temporary. “Omo River is the biggest river flowing into Turkana.

Read More on this: https://allafrica.com/stories/201208180344.html

New biofuels offer hope to hungry world

By James Melik Reporter, Business Daily, BBC World Service

The poorest people in the world face additional hunger as the price of staple foods soar. The growth of crops in 2012 has been badly affected by drought in the US and Russia and prices have risen 50% since June. According to a report about the hike in food prices, from the international agency Oxfam, 40% of US corn stocks are currently being used to produce fuel.

To Read More on this:

BBC News – New biofuels offer hope to hungry world

The mammoth negotiations in  June 2012 at the  United Nations Conference on Sustainable development resulted in a mixed outcome which in turn elicited a cauldron of responses and more so from the civil society and major groups.  In its working paper put forward for discussion at the conference, the  women’s’ major group dedicated a sub-section where it clearly elucidated its position regarding access and use of safe energy sources by women. In this subsection (3.1.6), the group recognizes that close to 2.4 billion people in developing countries still depend entirely on traditional biomass fuels which are detrimental for the environment and health and more dire still, over 2 million people, mostly women and children suffer from respiratory diseases caused by biomass burning as they spend most of their time indoors. Further, the paper recognizes that it is often women who are tasked with collecting and managing biomass fuel supplies such as firewood, dung and agricultural residues, and therefore leaving less time for productive activities.

The paper further goes on to recommend, Policies and actions to enlist women as active agents in development based on cleaner and more efficient energy systems and technologies, Investments in women as energy managers and entrepreneurs to simultaneously address the multiple challenges of poverty eradication, gender equality, environmental conservation and finally, Removal of constraints limiting the ability of women to take advantage of business opportunities offered by new energy options, including legal barriers that limit their property rights, land tenure, and access to credit.

Measuring the success of these propositions against the final draft resolution of the Rio +20 negotiations agreed upon by member states, the actual gains were marginal. In their final statement on Rio +20, the women’s major group expressed disappointment. The document failed to capture the aspirations of  the group.

The resolution (127) in general reaffirmed support for the implementation of national and subnational policies and strategies, based on individual national circumstances and development aspirations, using an appropriate energy mix to meet developmental needs, including through increased use of renewable energy sources and other low-emission technologies, the more efficient use of energy, greater reliance on advanced energy technologies, including cleaner fossil fuel technologies, and the sustainable use of traditional energy resources. Member states committed to promoting sustainable modern energy services for all through national and subnational efforts, inter alia, on electrification and dissemination of sustainable cooking and heating solutions, including through collaborative actions to share best practices and adopt policies, as appropriate. They also urged governments to create enabling environments that facilitate public and private sector investment in relevant and needed cleaner energy technologies.

However, it did not implicitly safeguard womens’ access to renewable energy sources and also failed to promote cleaner and healthier energy options targeting women and children.

Further resources:

UN.org

womenrio20.org