The 2023 Emissions Gap Report, released on Monday by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), carried a clear message – unless countries step up climate action and deliver more than promised in their 2030 pledges, the world is heading for a 2.5-2.9°C temperature rise above pre-industrial levels.
A broken record
Presenting the report from Nairobi, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said that no person or economy is being left untouched by climate change, underscoring the urgent need to “stop setting unwanted records on greenhouse gas emissions, global temperature highs and extreme weather.”
“We must instead lift the needle out of the same old groove of insufficient ambition and not enough action, and start setting other records: on cutting emissions, on green and just transitions and on climate finance,” she emphasized.
To get back on track for the 2°C temperature rise above pre-industrial levels, emissions must be cut by at least 28 per cent compared to current scenarios. Bringing it to within the 1.5°C limit will require a 42 per cent cut.
If nothing changes, in 2030, emissions will be 22 Gigatonnes higher than the 1.5°C limit will allow – approximately the total current annual emissions of the United States, China and the European Union (EU) combined.
Bridging continents
Ms. Andersen’s message, from Africa, received unequivocal support on the other side of the world, in New York, where Secretary-General António Guterres issued a powerful appeal to world leaders.
“The emissions gap is more like an emissions canyon – a canyon littered with broken promises, broken lives, and broken records,” he said, stressing that change must begin at the top.
“All of this is a failure of leadership, a betrayal of the vulnerable, and a massive missed opportunity.”
Reiterating that renewables have never been cheaper or more accessible, he urged leaders “to tear out the poisoned root of the climate crisis: fossil fuels.”
He called on countries to commit to phasing out fossil fuels with a clear time frame aligned to the 1.5°C limit, as well as for those that gave yet to do so, to announce their contributions to the Green Climate Fund and the new Loss and Damage fund to “get it off to a roaring start.”
Sand flows from a child’s hand like through an hourglass. In southwestern Ethiopia, drought worsened by climate change is threatening crops and livestock, pushing the population to the brink.
Stocktake at COP28
The appeal comes with just ten days to go before the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai gets underway, where the first Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement implementation is to conclude and inform the next round of National Determined Contributions (NDCs) that countries should submit in 2025, with targets for 2035.
Global ambition in the next round of NDCs must bring greenhouse gas emissions in 2035 to levels consistent with 2°C and 1.5°C pathways.
In the most optimistic scenario, where all conditional NDCs and net-zero pledges are met, limiting temperature rise to 2.0°C could be achieved.
However, net-zero pledges are not currently considered credible: none of the G20 countries are reducing emissions at a pace consistent with their net-zero targets. Even in the most optimistic scenario, the likelihood of limiting warming to 1.5°C is only 14 per cent.
LONDON, Nov 17 (IPS) – The need to act on the climate crisis has never been clearer. In 2023, heat records have been shattered around the world. Seemingly every day brings news of extreme weather, imperilling lives. In July, UN Secretary-General António Guterres grimly announced that ‘the era of global boiling has arrived’.
In short, there’s a lot at stake as the world heads into its next climate summit.
But there’s a big problem: COP28, the latest in the annual series of conferences of parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is a country with closed civic space, where dissent is criminalised and activists are routinely detained. It’s also a fossil fuel power bent on continuing extraction.
At multilateral summits where climate change decisions are made, it’s vital that civil society is able to mobilise to demand greater ambition, hold states and fossil fuel companies and financiers to account and ensure the views of people most affected by climate change are heard. But that can’t happen in conditions of closed civic space.
Concerning signs
In September, the UAE was added to the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist, which highlights countries experiencing significant declines in respect for civic freedoms. Civic space in the UAE has long been closed: no dissent against the government or advocacy for human rights is allowed, and those who try to speak out risk criminalisation. In 2022, a Cybercrime Law introduced even stronger restrictions on online expression.
There’s widespread torture in jails and detention centres and at least 58 prisoners of conscience have been held in prison despite having completed their sentences. Many of them were part of a group known as the UAE 94, jailed for the crime of calling for democracy. Among the ranks of those incarcerated is Ahmed Mansoor, sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2018 for his work documenting the human rights situation, and held in solitary confinement for over five years and counting.
Ahead of COP28, civil society has worked to highlight the absurdity of holding such a vital summit in closed civic space conditions. Domestic civil society is unable to influence COP28 and its preparatory process, and it’s hard to see how civil society, both domestic and international, will be able to express itself freely during the summit.
Civil society is demanding that the UAE government demonstrate that it’s prepared to respect human rights, including by releasing political prisoners – something it’s so far failed to budge on.
An ominous sign came when the UAE hosted a climate and health summit in April. Participants were reportedly instructed not to criticise the government, corporations, individuals or Islam, and not to protest while in the UAE.
Civic space restrictions aren’t the only indication the UAE isn’t taking COP28 seriously. The president of the summit, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, also happens to be head of the state’s fossil fuel corporation ADNOC, the world’s 11th-biggest oil and gas producer. It’s like putting an arms manufacturer in charge of peace talks. Multiple other ADNOC staff members have roles in the summit. ADNOC is currently talking up its investments in renewable energies, all while planning one of the biggest expansions of oil and gas extraction of any fossil fuel corporation.
Instead of real action, all the signs are that the regime is instrumentalising its hosting of COP28 to try to launder its reputation, as indicated by its hiring of expensive international lobbying firms. An array of fake social media accounts were created to praise the UAE as host and defend it from criticism. A leaked list of key COP28 talking points prepared by the host made no mention of fossil fuels.
A summit that should be about tackling the climate crisis – and quickly – is instead being used to greenwash the image of the host government – something easiest achieved if civil society is kept at arm’s length.
Fossil fuel lobby to the fore
With civil society excluded, the voices of those actively standing in the way of climate action will continue to dominate negotiations. That’s what happened at COP27, also held in the closed civic space of Egypt, where 636 fossil fuel lobbyists took part – and left happy. Like every summit before it, its final statement made no commitment to reduce oil and gas use.
The only way to change this is to open the doors to civil society. Civil society has consistently sounded the alarm and raised public awareness of the need for climate action. It’s the source of practical solutions to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts. It urges more ambitious commitments and more funding, including for the loss and damage caused by climate change. It defends communities against environmentally destructive impacts, resists extraction and promotes sustainability. It pressures states and the private sector to stop approving and financing further extraction and to transition more urgently to more renewable energies and more sustainable practices. These are the voices that must be heard if the cycle of runaway climate change is to be stopped.
COPs should be held in countries that offer an enabling civic space that allows strong domestic mobilisation, and summit hosts should be expected to abide by high standards when it comes to domestic and international access and participation. That should be part of the deal hosts make in return for the global prestige that comes with hosting high-level events. Civil society’s exclusion mustn’t be allowed to happen again.
WFP food aid in the country, which was suspended in June, will aim to reach 3.2 million people after the relaunch.
‘Working around the clock’
WFP chief Cindy McCain said that the agency’s teams and partners “have been working around the clock to get to this point.”
The UN agency’s new approach will rely on reinforced tracking to follow food movements from warehouses to beneficiaries and a system of community feedback to help report misuse.
WFP said that it had successfully tested the new systems in Ethiopia’s Tigray province and will now roll them out in Afar, Amhara and Somali regions.
Last month, WFP resumed food assistance to nearly 900,000 refugees in camps across Ethiopia, including some 35,000 who have fled the brutal military power struggle in Sudan in recent months.
UN Syria Commission welcomes ‘landmark’ ICJ order
The UN Syria Commission of Inquiry has welcomed a landmark order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which binds Syria to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
It also demands that Syrian officials – as well as “any organizations or persons under its control, direction or influence” – not to commit any such acts.
“This is a landmark order by the world’s top court to stop torture, enforced disappearances and deaths in Syria’s detention facilities,” said Commission Chair Paulo Pinheiro. “Such violations have been a hallmark of the Syrian conflict for 12 years – and were among its chief root causes.”
Some 6.8 million people are internally displaced in Syria.
“While we have seen dozens of criminal trials of individual Syrians for war crimes and crimes against humanity, this is the first time that the Syrian State itself is part of a judicial process – required to defend its abysmal record of violations of the Convention against Torture before international justices at the highest level,” Mr. Pinheiro added.
Preserve evidence
In its decision, the Court also ordered Syria to take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of any evidence related to the allegations of acts falling within the Convention against Torture – such as medical records.
“For the tens of thousands who have been arbitrarily detained, tortured, ill-treated, disappeared and killed in Syria’s detention facilities, this process has reignited hopes for justice,” said Commissioner Hanny Megally.
“Our Commission has investigated such violations since 2011. We have seen first-hand the long-term, immense suffering they cause not only the detainees, but also their families”, she added.
WHO launches ‘Stop the Lies’ campaign to protect youth from tobacco
The UN health agency (WHO) on Thursday launched a new campaign to protect young people from continuing misinformation on the part of the tobacco industry.
The Stop the Lies initiative calls for an end to tobacco industry interference in health policy, supported by new evidence published by non-profit watchdogs STOP and the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control.
This shows that efforts to protect health policies around the world from tobacco companies “have deteriorated”, said WHO.
The campaign will amplify youth voices, expose industry tactics and increase public awareness of the need to defend health policies to curb the use of tobacco products “and protect the health of future generations.”
Demanding protection
“WHO stands with young people globally who have demanded governments protect them against a deadly industry that targets them with new harmful products while outright lying about the health impacts”, said Dr. Ruediger Krech, WHO’s Director of Health Promotion.
“We call on all countries to safeguard health policies from this deadly industry by not letting them have a seat at the policy-making table”.
The industry tries to interfere with the right to protect health, by taking governments to court or offering financial in-kind incentives to be able to influence tobacco control policies, said WHO.
The agency stressed that it supports countries in defending evidence-based control measures, in the face of such interference.
Climate action holds key to peace: Young Sudanese activist
Young people in the Arab world should keep up the fight for climate action – especially in the face of wars and violence raging in the region.
That’s the message from Nisreen Elsaim, a climate activist from Sudan who took the floor at the UN in Geneva on Thursday, having seen first-hand how climate change drives hunger, displacement and conflict.
She told UN News about her advocacy for increased investment in renewable energy as a strategy for sustainability and peace, at a time of increased competition for natural resources.
She also highlighted the key role of youth in climate adaptation and preparedness and stressed that more scientific education is needed to help young people understand the issues and get involved.
Despite only being in her twenties, Nisreen has already gained experience in international advocacy as the Chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.
She shared the stage at the UN in Geneva on Thursday as part of the “Young Activists Summit” with four other outstanding campaigners, from Burkina Faso, Colombia, India and Myanmar, working to build peace in the Sahel, protect the environment, end child marriage and realize the rights of the Rohingya people.
Stephany Musombi and engineers preparing the banana stems for processing at KIRDI. Credit: Wilson Odhiambo/IPS
by Wilson Odhiambo (nairobi)
Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, Nov 16 (IPS) – ’Going Green’ seems to Dr Jacquline Kisato’s favorite catchphrase as she passionately explains her eco-friendly sanitary towel, a product she expects will help empower women and young girls while also putting money into farmers’ pockets.
Kisato is a lecturer at the Kenyatta University (KU), Fashion Design and Marketing, currently working on a project to develop affordable and eco-friendly sanitary towels while also finding a solution for sustainable packaging materials.
Kisato’s venture started out to help communities get a source of employment through the commercialization of banana stems – products that were considered useless by farmers and would usually be left to rot away on farms.
After the Kenyan government enforced a ban on the use of plastic bags in 2018, there was a need to find immediate alternatives.
Plastic bags were a necessity for grocers and fast-food vendors, an item that made it easy for customers to carry their goods home. Despite their advantage, however, their negative impact on the environment could no longer be overlooked.
‘’I started looking at this project from an entrepreneurship point of view on how I could commercialize banana stem fibers. The government had just banned single-use plastic bags, and market vendors needed alternatives to serve their customers,’’ Kisato told IPS.
‘’Poorly disposed sanitary towels also formed part of the pollution problem since they were composed of plastic,’’ she added.
According to Kisato, however, her need to empower women and young girls through affordable sanitary towels was something that she always had in mind after noticing the struggles that school-going girls went through.
‘’While walking along the hallways one day, a student on campus stopped me and asked if I could help her with a packet of sanitary pads. This incident shocked me as for a long time, I had assumed ‘period poverty’ was only experienced amongst high school children,’’ Kisato said.
Kisato and her research team interviewed 400 high school girls from Gatundi, Kibera, and Kawangware, where they found out that more than 50 percent of the girls in these low-income areas could hardly afford sanitary pads even when at home.
This did not sit well with the don as she felt something needed to be done about it.
It was while researching alternatives to plastic bags that she realized that she could solve two problems at the same time.
Kisato, therefore, applied for the National Research Fund (NRF) in 2018 with the aim of developing eco-friendly plastic bags and sanitary towels. Her wish came through when NRF granted Kenyatta University Ksh.9 million (about US $ 61,623) in 2020, with her taking the lead as the principal investigator in the project.
Her team is made up of scholars from different departments and institutions and also includes Ph.D. and master’s students, with each one of them playing a major role in seeing the project through.
‘’I lead a team of engineers from the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), whose task is to reverse engineer machines that can extract fiber from banana stems and use them to create eco-friendly packaging and sanitary towels,’’ she explained. “I also have researchers from Moi University whose work was to turn the extracted fiber into soft materials for use.”
Kisato’s aim was to produce quality sanitary towels that could compete with what was already in the market while still being eco-friendly, a fact that led her to seek the expertise of Edwin Madivoli, a chemistry lecturer at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
According to Kisato, the towels on the market have a component in them called hydrogel, which enables them to retain fluids for longer, and were also lined with plastic sheets to prevent any leakage. Our intention is to replicate the same but use bioplastic materials, which can degrade as opposed to the normal plastic that is being used.
From her research, Kisato also discovered that Africans, on average, wore sanitary towels for longer as compared to women and girls from developed countries and were thus at risk of getting bacterial infections. This was due to limited access and affordability in Africa.
‘’The recommended period for one to have on a sanitary pad is about three hours, which means that it should be changed at least three times a day to avoid any risk of infections. This is, however, not the case for many girls in Africa due to poverty,’’ Kisato explained to IPS.
‘’We thought adding anti-microbial properties to our product would therefore make it as good or even better than what was in the market,’’ said Kisato.
The research team also found out that there were a lot of myths surrounding menstrual flow among young girls, a fact that led to a lot of stigmatization, which made it difficult for them to understand how to use sanitary towels properly.
Some of the notable ideas that girls told each other concerning menstrual flow included:
It is a curse from God
Girls who had periods were considered dirty and impure
Their faces would become pale from losing blood
‘’These are beliefs that need to be done away with by encouraging parents and the government to speak about monthly periods with young girls openly,’’ Kisato said.
For the second phase of the project, Madivoli’s chemistry expertise came in handy, and the Research Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF) was happy to add an additional Ksh.9 million (about USD 59,000) for Kisato to continue what she had started.
‘’My role is to ensure our sanitary pads are of the same quality as what is in the market while at the same time maintaining an eco-friendly nature, which is the main agenda of this whole project,’’ Madivoli told IPS.
‘’I am tasked with the development of hydrogels, production of bioplastics, and finding a way to incorporate anti-microbial properties into our products to protect the users from possible infections,’’ he said.
JKUAT received funding of Ksh.800,000 (about US $ 5477) from the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KENIA) to further help Madivoli with this research.
“As they are left to dry up on the farms, banana stems are known to produce large amounts of methane, which is a harmful greenhouse gas that contributes to the climate change problems that we are trying to tackle, added Madivoli. ‘”Having an alternative use for the stems therefore limits the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere.’’
Madivoli said that most banana farmers usually do not know what to do with the stems once they have done their harvest, and this project gives them a way to earn some extra income as they expect to buy the stems from them at Ksh.35 per stem.
“This project will not only be environmentally friendly but will also create jobs for the people who go to cut the stems from the farms while also finding use for the biomass that the farmers thought was useless,’’ he concluded.
Once it is up and running, they expect to source banana stems from counties such as Kisii, Muranga, Embu, Meru, and parts of western Kenya.
Stephany Musombi is one of Kisato’s students specializing in textiles whose task in the project is to come up with quality packaging materials.
‘’Apart from the banana fiber, I am also experimenting with other biomass such as pineapple and seaweed,’’ Musombi told IPS. If I can find a way to make this work, the project will open up a market for seaweed and pineapple biomass.
Kisato’s project could not have picked a better time there is an international joint push for green solutions to help mitigate climate change. On September 4, 2023, Kenya also played host to the climate summit that attracted leaders from across Africa.
Kenya’s president, William Ruto, drove himself in a tiny electric car to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), where he challenged the African leaders and innovators to find sustainable solutions to their daily activities that can help them reduce the carbon print in the continent and globally.
‘’Africa can power all energy needs with renewable resources. The continent has enough potential to be entirely self-sufficient using wind, solar, geothermal, sustainable biomass, and hydropower energy. Africa can be a green industrial hub that helps other regions achieve their net zero strategies by 2050,’’ Ruto said at the summit.
Kisato expects her product to hit the market later this year, where she plans to make it more affordable for all. Her intention is to team up with startups or established companies that deal with toiletries.
‘’The cheapest sanitary packet in the market costs Ksh.140. We expect ours to go as low as Ksh.100, Kisato,’’ concluded.
Kenyatta University’s Vice Chancellor, Paul Wainaina, lauded the project, stating that it will enable the country to meet its industrial needs while conserving the environment.
The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin comes ahead of the UN climate change conference COP28 which opens in Dubai in two weeks.
Fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – account for most greenhouse gas emissions, which trap the sun’s heat, leading to global warming and climate change.
Last year, global averaged concentrations of the most important greenhouse gas – carbon dioxide (CO2) – were a full 50 per cent above the pre-industrial era, marking a first, and continued to grow in 2023.
Going the wrong way
Methane concentrations also grew and levels of nitrous oxide, the third main gas, saw the highest year-on-year increase on record from 2021 to 2022.
“Despite decades of warnings from the scientific community, thousands of pages of reports and dozens of climate conferences, we are still heading in the wrong direction,” said Petteri Taalas, the WMO Secretary-General.
The current trajectory “puts us on the pathway of an increase in temperatures well above the Paris Agreement targets by the end of this century,” he added, referring to global efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
‘A matter of urgency’
As a result, countries will experience more extreme weather, including intense heat and rainfall, ice melt, sea-level rise and ocean heat and acidification.
“The socioeconomic and environmental costs will soar,” he warned. “We must reduce the consumption of fossil fuels as a matter of urgency.”
WMO explained that just under half of CO2 emissions remain in the atmosphere, while over a quarter are absorbed by the ocean and just under 30 per cent by “land ecosystems” such as forests.
‘No magic wand’
As long as emissions continue, CO2 will continue accumulating in the atmosphere leading to global temperature rise. Furthermore, given its long life, the temperature level already observed will persist for several decades even if emissions are rapidly reduced to net zero.
The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was 3 to 5 million years ago, when the temperature was 2 to 3°Celsius warmer and sea level was 10 to 20 metres higher.
“There is no magic wand to remove the excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” said Mr. Taalas.
A WMO initiative announced this year aims to ensure sustained, routine global monitoring of greenhouse gas concentrations and fluxes to improve understanding around climate change and support action on mitigation.
Mr. Taalas said the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch “will greatly improve sustained observations and monitoring to support more ambitious climate goals.”
David Obwona at his seed rice farm in Katukatib village, Amoro district, northern Uganda. The farmer is part of a group that is now engaged in seed rice farming to climate-proof agriculture courtesy of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building Agriculture. Credit: Maina Waruru/IPS
by Maina Waruru (nairobi)
Inter Press Service
NAIROBI, Nov 14 (IPS) – Smallholder farmers from the Global South benefit from a grossly disproportionate 0.3% of international climate finance despite producing a third of the world’s food and despite holding the key to climate-proofing food systems.
The family farmers and rural communities received around USD 2 billion from both public and private international climate funds out of the USD 8.4 billion that went to the agriculture sector in 2021, even as over 2.5 billion people globally depended on the farms for their livelihoods.
The USD 8.4 billion was almost half of the USD 16 billion that was availed for the energy sector and is only a fraction of the estimated USD 300-350 billion needed annually to “create more sustainable and resilient food systems,” a new report has found.
The amount was also quite different from the USD 170 billion that smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa alone would require per year, the study on global public finance for climate mitigation and adaptation conducted by Dutch climate advisory company Climate Focus has found.
The low level of climate finance for agriculture, forestry, and fishing is of concern, given the impact of climate change on food production and the extent to which food and agriculture are fueling the climate and biodiversity crisis.
Agricultural productivity has declined by 21 percent due to climate change, while the food and agriculture sector as a whole is responsible for 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent of global deforestation, the study explains.
The farmers have been sidelined by global climate funders and locked out of decision-making processes on food and climate despite being the engines of rural economic growth. This is especially so in Sub-Saharan Africa, where up to 80 percent of agriculture is by smallholder farmers and where 23 percent of regional GDP is attributable to the sector.
It reveals that 80 percent of international public climate finance spent on the agri-food sector is channeled through governments and donor country NGOs, making it hard for smallholder farmers’ organizations to access it. This is because of complex eligibility rules and application processes and a lack of information on how and where to apply.
Many family farmers also lack the infrastructure, technology, and resources to adapt to climate impacts, with serious implications for global food security and rural economies as well, it notes.
The study ‘Untapped Potential: An analysis of international public climate finance flows to sustainable agriculture and family farmers,’ published on 14 November, laments that only a fifth of international public climate finance for food and agriculture supports sustainable practice. The money mainly goes to the Global North, even as agriculture becomes the third biggest source of global emissions. and the main driver of biodiversity loss.
“Climate change is hitting harvests and driving up food prices across the globe. It has helped push 122 million people into hunger since 2019. We need to create more sustainable and resilient food systems that can feed people in a changing climate, but we can’t do this without family farmers,” the report compiled on behalf of ten farmer organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific says.
“Family farmers are also key to climate adaptation. They are at the forefront of the shift to more diverse, nature-friendly food systems, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says is needed to safeguard food security in a changing climate,” it further notes.
The groups are led by the World Rural Forum and include African groups—the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, Eastern and Southern Africa small-scale Farmers Forum, the Regional Platform of Farmers’ Organisations in Central Africa, and the Network of West African Farmers’ and Producers’ Organisations. Also part of the group is Northern Africa’s Maghreb and North African Farmers Union.
The Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development, the Pacific Island Farmers Organization Network, the Confederation of Family Producers’ Organizations of Greater Mercosur, and the Regional Rural Dialogue Programme are also represented in the study.
Many of the farmers are already practicing climate-resilient agriculture, including approaches such as agroecology, which implies a wider variety of crops, including traditional ones, mixing crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries, while reducing agrochemical use, and building strong connections to local markets.
The study by the new alliance of farmer networks representing over 35 million smallholder producers ahead of COP28, which is set to agree on a Global Goal for Adaptation, is concerned that since 2012, overall, only 11% of international public climate finance has been targeted at agriculture, forestry, and fishing, which amounts to an average of USD 7 billion a year.
In 2021, the World Bank, Germany, the Green Climate Fund, and European Union institutions contributed around half—54 percent, amounting to USD 4 billion collectively, while Nigeria, India, and Ethiopia were the top recipients, receiving a combined USD 1.8 billion. Notably, some of the world’s most food insecure countries, including Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Zambia, each received less than USD 20 million, it discloses.
“As the climate crisis pushes the global food system ever closer to collapse, it is vital that governments recognize family farmers as powerful partners in the fight against climate change,” it warns.
Hakim Baliriane, Chair of the Eastern and Southern Africa small-scale Farmers Forum, observed: “Climate change has helped push 122 million people into hunger since 2019. Reversing this trend will not be possible if governments continue to tie the hands of millions of family farmers.”
The study defines small-scale family farms as those of less than two hectares, mainly in developing countries.
On the other hand, international climate finance broadly refers to finance channeled to “activities that have a stated objective to mitigate climate change or support adaptation. These include multilateral flows in and outside the (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, as well as bilateral flows at national and regional levels, including the Global Environment Facility, Adaptation Fund, and Green Climate Fund, and are usually disbursed as grants and concessional loans
The study finds that family farms are also the backbone of rural economies, supporting over 2.5 billion people globally who depend on family farms for their livelihoods. It says that in Sub-Saharan Africa, where up to 80 percent of farming is done by smallholder farmers, agriculture contributes 23 percent to regional Gross Domestic Product.
Family farmers are also key to climate adaptation in that they are at the forefront of the shift to more “diverse, nature-friendly food systems,” which, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are critical in safeguarding food security in a changing climate.
It finds that millions of smallholder farmers are already practicing climate-resilient agriculture, including approaches such as agroecology—growing a wider variety of crops, including traditional crops, mixing crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries, reducing agrochemicals use while building “strong connections to local markets.”
It concludes that governments must ensure that available climate finance for sustainable climate-resilient practices is increased, including that of agroecological approaches.
It explains: “This means funds to support diverse, nature-friendly approaches and to create community-based solutions that build on traditional expertise and experience.
It recommends that small-scale family farmers ought to have direct access to more climate finance and that financing mechanisms and funds should be developed with the participation of farmers’ organizations to meet their needs.
In addition, efforts should be made to ensure longer-term, flexible funding so that communities can determine their own priorities.
The role of the farmers as powerful catalysts for climate action, food system transformation, and the protection of biodiversity should be acknowledged and given a “real say” in decision-making on food and climate at the local, national, regional, and international levels. This should include decisions on land reform and agricultural subsidies.
The COP28 in Dubai later this month has food systems as a big part of the agenda.
An August report by the UK’s ActionAid has found that climate adaptation and green transition initiatives in the Global South received 20 times less financing when compared to main global emitters, fossil fuels, and intensive agriculture sectors in the last seven years.
It found that leading banking multinationals funded the emitters’ activities in the southern hemisphere to the tune of USD 3.2 trillion since 2015 when the Paris Agreement on Climate was adopted. German agrochemical giant Bayer was the biggest recipient of the financing, receiving an estimated USD 20.6 billion since 2016.
Gernot Laganda, Director / Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction at United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
by Stella Paul (hyderabad, india)
Inter Press Service
HYDERABAD, INDIA, Nov 14 (IPS) – ‘If you ask what climate justice is, then the litmus test for climate justice is at the local level. So, climate justice needs to be judged by how many people are protected from climate-vulnerable conditions that they have no hand in creating.’ – Gernot Laganda, Director of Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
It is crucial to narrow the gaps and ensure that climate finance goes to where people are most vulnerable, says Gernot Laganda, Director of Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)—especially as the most fragile states only receive USD 2.1 per capita while non-fragile states receive USD 161.
Laganda leads WFP country offices to support governments dealing with the effects of climate change on food systems, prioritize concrete actions to avoid, reduce, or transfer growing climate risks in-country programs, and work with new and emerging climate finance mechanisms to implement adaptation solutions for the most vulnerable and food-insecure communities.
In this exclusive interview with IPS, Laganda speaks about a wide range of issues, including the climate disasters that WFP has responded to this year—and the impact of the humanitarian aid the programme has provided across the world, among the most vulnerable people who climate-induced disasters have directly impacted. As the world zooms towards 1.5 degrees of global warming, the number of climate disasters is rapidly increasing, and so is the requirement for more humanitarian aid. However, the current aid financing methods are not able to meet this unprecedented need, and there is always a gap between the requirement and the actual funding received.
As the 28th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) draws near, Laganda speaks of the funding challenges humanitarian aid agencies are facing—an issue that requires urgent attention from the governments and investors gathering at the COP. He also speaks of his expectations from the negotiations, the actions, and the decisions that will determine the success of the conference.
Gernot Laganda, Director / Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction at United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
Here are excerpts from the interview:
IPS: Which climate disasters did WFP respond to this year, and what kind of assistance did you provide?
Laganda: This year, of course, is a very peculiar year because it is really on track to become the warmest year on record. We have an El Niño phenomenon that overlays with global warming. Last month, on the 2nd of October, we had 86 days above the 1.5-degree threshold, so this year was out of the ordinary. This year, in March, we had tropical cyclone Freddie, which hit Madagascar, Mozambique, and Malawi. This was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record for Africa. It killed 860 people with floods and landslides. But it had a peculiar behavior. Typically, cyclones are fed by heated energy from the oceans, so they lose intensity when they touch land. But Freddie developed in February on the west coast of Australia, across the Indian Ocean, made landfall in Madagascar, then to Mozambique before returning to the ocean. But then it gained more energy and hit land again in Malawi. So, it’s a very uncommon behavior.
The response related to humanitarian assistance, of course, is related to supporting the governments with relief operations. For example, in Malawi, which was badly hit by cyclone Freddie, we helped distribute two months of food basket items targeting the most affected districts. We used schools as entry points to provide emergency rations. And, in the case of farmers from whom we buy food for local school meal programs, we substituted these with a feeding (scheme) to allow farmers to recover from the loss. So, there’s the typical humanitarian response machine that kicks into gear. These climate extremes are now happening more frequently; they hit more strongly, and this humanitarian response needs more finances, which is currently not there in the system.
To give you some numbers, in the Horn of Africa, we had an unprecedented sequence of drought in three countries – Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya; 47,000 people died in Somalia during the drought in 2022 (and) WFP distributed food assistance to a record 4.7 million people.
IPS: What kind of loss and damage did these disasters cause?
Laganda: First, there’s a national picture, and then after the disaster, you have the loss and damage figures, and the context is very different in different parts of a country, especially in countries like Somalia, where there is also an overlay of climate effects on conflict, on inflation and economic shock. However, the biggest impact is on housing and natural capital.
IPS: Can you elaborate further?
Laganda: Okay. For example, when you are a farmer in a developing country, you have several assets or capitals, including natural capital. This natural capital includes your natural resources like forest and fiber products, cattle, land, and soil. Then, there are disaster preparedness elements like insurance coverage, access to savings, and access to insurance protection. If these capitals are strong and intact, you can recover from disaster shocks and overcome the disaster impact shocks. You can also recover if you have soil restoration, insurance coverage, and access to savings.
But when many of these natural capital areas are degraded or hit (as happened in these above-mentioned disasters), you have no protective shields.
IPS: Three years ago, at COP25, you had said that only 60 percent of the climate finance that’s needed in the aftermath of a disaster is funded, while 40 percent is not funded. Has this ratio changed since then? How?
Laganda: Unfortunately, humanitarian aid after disasters remains chronically underfunded. Also, over the period of five years, UN humanitarian appeals after climate disasters were only funded 54 percent on average. At the same time, we see that these disasters increase, and our requirements are now eight times higher than they were 20 years ago. So, we are really in a time when humanitarian needs are increasing very sharply, especially when it comes to people suffering from acute hunger, but there is not enough financing to meet all these needs after climate disasters.
It’s the same with climate finance. As the recently published Adaptation Gap Report shows, there is a massive gap in investment in adaptation. Also, from 2014 to 2021, the climate finance available per capita in non-fragile states was USD 161, while it was only USD 2.1 in extremely fragile states. So, there is a huge disparity between where that money goes and where people are most vulnerable. This means two things: we need to make sure there is more funding in the system for the humanitarian needs after climate disasters, but it also means we need to invest much more strategically and faster because we are already in the state where we are reaching the 1.5-degree threshold as mentioned in the Paris Agreement. So, we need more targeted efforts in climate projection and protection in the most vulnerable context.
IPS: What is the main reason behind this continued funding gap? Is there some sort of fatigue among funders, or is this just a case of reduced priority?
Laganda: Many disasters are now compound and protracted. That means there are many countries and sectors where humanitarian aid needs to stay for decades. So, it’s not like there is one disaster, then there is humanitarian relief, and then it’s over. You have decades of humanitarian needs that never stop, right? So, it’s really hard to sustain that financing commitment in an ever-growing number of countries where people have this acute humanitarian need. For example, the number of people facing acute hunger has doubled only in a span of three years. We have been seeing a situation where people are caught between these different risk drivers: conflict, economic shocks, and climate change. And so, the old models of humanitarian aid that we have just don’t work anymore.
IPS: Currently, all eyes are on the Loss and Damage Fund. Civil society is already alleging that the fund is compromised and that it lacks the commitment to human rights. What are your thoughts?
Laganda: The Loss and Damage Fund was a very difficult negotiation, and I think it’s understandable that the fund should be guided by human rights. If you ask what climate justice is, then the litmus test for climate justice is at the local level. So, climate justice needs to be judged by how many people are protected from climate-vulnerable conditions that they have no hand in creating. That’s ultimately what we all want to do. But the mechanism that we have available for loss and damage—this has been a very polarized conversation. I understand that there was some disappointment with the way the reference to human rights was being discussed, but I am sure that when this conversation happens again at COP28 in Dubai, there will be a great push to put this language back into the agreement.
At this point, there is a provisional way forward, and I do not think this will be a smooth process, but I do hope that at the end of COP28, there will be a functioning operational modality for a loss and damage facility because this is really a very important aspect to the entire climate change policy landscape.
A decade ago, we were excited about climate change mitigation and adaptation. But now we are failing at mitigation, and adaptation is too little too late. We need an expansion of this conversation from climate mitigation and adaptation to loss and damage, and I think at COP28, this will take center stage. I think it’s important to have that agreement because nobody wants to have a COP28 that is not successful, and that would be an important part of the success.
IPS: And what are your expectations from the COP28? What actions should be prioritized to combat climate-induced hunger?
Laganda: It’s a good question. When we stay on these three headlines – climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, loss, and damage, it’s clear that on the mitigation side, we would like to see greater ambition, and where governments are making investments, the actions are compatible with the rhetoric because at the moment there is a gap between the rhetoric and the reality.
The Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) need to be more ambitious. We need to bend the temperature curve – there is no question about it. We cannot adapt our way out of the problem. The Adaptation Gap report says there is only USD 21 billion in public financing per year. We need at least USD 40 billion, which is also the goal that the UN secretary-general has. Also, adaptation investment needs to happen much faster and in a less bureaucratic manner, so more funding and more efficient deployment of that financing. And, in loss and damage, we would like to see a successful conclusion to the negotiations so that a Loss and Damage Fund is established with operational criteria that live up to the needs. We have to protect vulnerable people on the frontline of the climate crisis. So, this loss and damage fund makes sure that vulnerable people are protected immediately and not five years from now because 2024 and 2025 are critical years as we are already crossing the 1.5-degree threshold of the Paris Agreement.
These are the expectations I have for COP28, and this is how we will judge its success by the end of the day.
IPS: Finally, do you think the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the conflict-effected humanitarian aid needs will overshadow the discussions of climate-induced humanitarian aid requirements in Dubai?
Laganda: COP28 is the first COP that dedicates an entire day to peace and fragility. There is, for the first time, a recognition that there is a link between climate and fragility and that there needs to be more investment in climate action in a fragile context and in a conflict-inflicted context. There really is a bridge between the climate theme and conflict theme, which will make us think about how we can place investments in places like Yemen, Syria, and Somalia. So, I don’t think this (political conflict) will overshadow it, but how climate risks and conflict risks intersect will be prominent.
Mr. Guterres was commenting on the latest report by UN climate change body UNFCCC, which shows, he said, that global climate ambition stagnated over the past year and national climate plans are “strikingly misaligned” with the science.
“As the reality of climate chaos pounds communities around the world – with ever fiercer floods, fires and droughts – the chasm between need and action is more menacing than ever,” the UN chief said.
The UN’s climate change body says that global greenhouse gas emissions need to fall by 45 per cent by the end of this decade compared to 2010 levels, to meet the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Well off course
However according to its latest report, emissions are set to rise by nine per cent instead.
Mr. Guterres called for an acceleration of net zero timelines “so that developed countries get there as close as possible to 2040 and emerging economies as close as possible to 2050”. He also urged increased investment in renewable energy, to go hand in hand with fossil fuels phase out.
The UN chief stressed that developed countries must rebuild trust “by delivering on their finance commitments”.
Mr. Guterres added that “inch by inch progress will not do. It is time for a climate ambition supernova in every country, city, and sector.”
The UN chief argued that governments must come together to line up the necessary finance, support and partnerships, while developed countries must rebuild trust by delivering on their finance commitments.
‘Baby steps’ not enough
“Today’s report shows that governments combined are taking baby steps to avert the climate crisis. And it shows why governments must make bold strides forward at COP28 in Dubai, to get on track,” said the UNFCCC Executive-Secretary, Simon Stiell.
“This means COP28 must be a clear turning point. Governments must not only agree what stronger climate actions will be taken but also start showing exactly how to deliver them.”
He stressed that the conclusion of the first global stocktake at COP28 is where nations can regain momentum to boost action all areas and get on track with meeting the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The stocktake is intended to inform the next round of climate action plans – the nationally determined contributions, or NDCs – to be put forward by 2025, paving the way for accelerated action.
Show the benefits of climate action
“The Global Stocktake report released by UN Climate Change this year clearly shows where progress is too slow.
“But it also lays out the vast array of tools and solutions put forward by countries. Billions of people expect to see their governments pick up this toolbox and put it to work”, he added.
“Every fraction of a degree matters, but we are severely off track. COP28 is our time to change that,” Mr. Stiell said. “It’s time to show the massive benefits now of bolder climate action: more jobs, higher wages, economic growth, opportunity and stability, less pollution and better health.”
The double burden of dwindling availability – and inadequate water for drinking and sanitation services – is compounding the challenge, putting children at even greater risk.
The Climate Changed Child – released ahead of the COP28 UN climate change summit later this month in Dubai – throws a spotlight on the threat facing vulnerable children.
It provides an analysis of the impacts of three tiers of water security – water scarcity, water vulnerability, and what’s termed “water stress” (where demand outstrips surface and groundwater supply)
It also outlines the myriad ways in which children bear the brunt of the impacts of the climate crisis, including disease, air pollution, and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts.
From the moment of conception, child development is impacted by environmental stress factors, the agency said.
‘Uniquely vulnerable’
For example, children are more likely to suffer from air pollution than adults.
“The consequences of climate change are devastating for children,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Their bodies and minds are uniquely vulnerable to polluted air, poor nutrition and extreme heat.
“Not only is their world changing – with water sources drying up and terrifying weather events becoming stronger and more frequent – so too is their well-being as climate change affects their mental and physical health. Children are demanding change, but their needs are far too often relegated to the sidelines.”
According to the report, the largest number of youngsters are exposed in the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia regions – meaning they live in places with limited water resources and high levels of seasonal and interannual variability, ground water decline or drought risk.
East Africa: grim outlook for millions going hungry, warns WFP
In East Africa, conflict, high food prices and climate shocks continue to leave millions of people not knowing where their next meal will come from, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Monday.
The agency said that as of the end of September 62.6 million in the region were food insecure, with Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan among the “most severe” global food crises.
All four countries have been experiencing either open conflict or heightened violence, pushing people to flee their homes. Over 18 million people in the region are displaced – including12 million within their countries and five million who have crossed international borders.
Inflation over 13%
High costs of food and of living persist in East Africa with inflation averaging 13.2 per cent.
WFP said that while official inflation rates for war-torn Sudan have not been issued since February, “they are expected to exceed 300 per cent by the end of the year”.
The UN agency stressed that the dire situation is likely to continue through early 2024.
The El Niño climate pattern is expected to bring above-normal rainfall through January, which can be a boon for farming; however, WFP warned that severe flooding in low-lying areas of Somalia, Ethiopia and Uganda may threaten crops and livestock, drive further displacement and fuel infectious disease outbreaks.
Iraq: UN migration agency welcomes new Yazidi Genocide Memorial
In Iraq, the UN migration agency IOM has hailed a new memorial in Sinjar province at a site where scores of Yazidi women were killed by terror group ISIL in 2014 as a “first step towards recovery”.
UN Photo/Mark Garten
File photo from 2019 of Nadia Murad, Nobel Laureate and Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Built at the request of survivors by Nadia’s Initiative – an organization spearheaded by survivor and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad, together with IOM – the memorial pays homage to the resilience and courage of the Yazidis.
Over 3,000 were executed and buried in mass graves by ISIL, also known as Daesh, in what the UN has declared a genocide.
Ms. Murad, whose own mother was killed at the site, had donated part of her prize to purchase the land that the memorial stands on.
‘Survivors law’
IOM’s chief of mission in Iraq, Giorgi Gigauri, said that a crucial part of the recovery process was timely individual reparations and other transitional justice measures as outlined in the “Yazidi Survivors Law” adopted by the Iraqi parliament in 2021.
The UN agency worked closely with the Iraqi authorities to develop the law and has been supporting the application process for reparations. Over 1,140 applications have already been processed and nearly 900 verified survivors have begun receiving monthly salaries under the legislation.
The urgency of this effort is underscored by the ongoing global plastic pollution crisis, where approximately 430 million tonnes of plastic are produced annually.
Around two-thirds of it is just thrown away, harming both the environment and the food chain.
Convening for its third session, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-3) will focus on the so-called zero draft of the international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, released earlier this year, with the goal of concluding negotiations by the end of 2024.
Organizers are demanding a transition from the “throwaway economy” to a “reuse economy”.
The INC-3 will feature 12 side events addressing various aspects of plastic pollution, including sustainable production and consumption, the shift to a ‘circular plastic’ approach, and more.
Officials are underscoring the need to reduce plastic production, eliminate single-use and short-lived plastic products, and switch to non-plastic substitutes.
Text on the table
At a press-conference ahead of this week’s intensive talks leading to what delegates hope will be a global binding agreement, the INC’s PresidentGustavo Meza-Cuadra Velasquez said: “We are entering a very important phase of our negotiations…For the first time we are entering a discussion with a text.”
The session will feed into another round of draft discussions scheduled for April 2024 in Canada.
As the international community grapples with the plastic pollution crisis, the outcome of INC-3 could be a significant step forward.
The Zero Draft text of the international legally binding instrument, prepared by the Chair of the INC, with the support of the INC Secretariat, is now available in all six UN official languages.
To learn more about plastic pollution and its harm to the planet CLICK HERE
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