Some terrible effect on our mother Earth by Climate Change

UN Climate Change Summit In Paris 2015: World Leaders Must Stop Paying Lip Service To Sustainable Development Matters

By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

Do you remember this philosophical Ghanaian adage that says: “If you cut your own tongue and chew it with rapacious appetite, you have chewed no meat at all?”

 As world leaders, especially those from industrialised nations embark on their ‘talk shop’ journey to Paris, France in a few weeks or so for 2015 UN Climate Change Summit, they must bear in mind that the rest of the world is watching them with eagle eyes. They must know that we are in the 21^st century and hardly can they play tricks with the destiny of humanity as far as environmental sustainability and climate change matters go!

On Tuesday, November 17, 2015, Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies (IESS), University of Ghana, in collaboration with France Embassy, ABANTU for Development and other stakeholders, organised a training workshop for the media on Conference of the Parties (COP21) Negotiation Language and Process.” 

Two major thought-provoking presentations that were made by experts included “Process of Climate Change Negotiation & Critical Issues for Media and Civil Society Organisations (CSO) in COP21”. This was presented by Philip Acquah, Member, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC Roaster Expert).

Ms. Patience Damptey, Convener, Gender Action on Climate Change for Equity and Sustainability (GACCES), made a presentation on “Promoting Inclusiveness in the Outcome of COP21 (balance of power between Annex I & II countries and gender responsiveness”). The two resource persons did justice to their respective topics.

Africa going to Paris as a Team

As far as this writer is concerned, the training session was an eye opener. It came to light that at least the 46 African countries including Ghana have agreed, “Effective mitigation will not be achieved if individual agents advance their own interests independently”

 Theoretically, Africa knows that to meet the objectives of UN Sustainable energy for all by 2030, GHG emissions by worse offending nations ought to be reduced to levels acceptable to Africa and not the other way round.

Africa must insist on provision of energy services that will improve quality of life for the people of Africa in the area of health, life expectancy and comfort and productivity. Africa must stick to its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC). African experts must put this adopted position into practical application strongly at the negotiation table in Paris.  Otherwise, it would have been better they were not there at all.

Trends of Greenhouse Gases

What prompted this author to title this article as above is the fact that, if the trends of Greenhouse Gas emissions as disclosed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2014 Report is anything to go by then one will not be too harsh to describe industrialised countries as paying lip service to global climate change matters.

According to IPCC 2014 Report, total anthropogenic or man-made GHG emissions have continued to increase over 1970 to 2010 with larger absolute decadal increases toward the end of this period. Some of the main sources of greenhouse emissions or the rise in temperature that affect the climatic conditions of our mother Earth or “our Common Home” as Pope Francis would put it, include burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. These activities lead to higher carbon dioxide concentrations in the air.

It has been proved scientifically that land use or misuse of land as applies in this part of the world especially deforestation in the tropics account for up to one third of total “anthropogenic C02”.  In Ghana for instance, apart from deforestation through bush fires and charcoal burning, illegal gold mining known as “galamsey” is not only destroying our forests but also contaminates rivers and pollutes water bodies.

IPCC 2014 Report revealed that “Despite a growing number of climate change mitigation policies, annual GHG emissions grew on average by 1.0 gigatonne carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2eq) (2.2 %) per year from 2000 to 2010 compared to 0.4 GtCO2eq (1.3 %) per year from 1970 to 2000 (Figure Total anthropogenic GHG emissions were the highest in human history from 2000 to 2010 and reached 49 (±4.5) GtCO2eq/yr in 2010. The global economic crisis 2007/2008 only temporarily reduced emissions.”

Further, “CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes contributed about 78 % of the total GHG emission increase from 1970 to 2010, with a similar percentage contribution for the period 2000–2010. Fossil fuel-related CO2 emissions reached 32 (±2.7) GtCO2/yr, in 2010, and grew further by about
3 % between 2010 and 2011 and by about 1–2 % between 2011 and 2012.

“Of the 49 (±4.5) GtCO2eq/yr in total anthropogenic GHG emissions in 2010, CO2 remains the major anthropogenic GHG accounting for 76 % (38±3.8 GtCO2eq/yr) of total anthropogenic GHG emissions in 2010. 16 % (7.8±1.6 GtCO2eq/yr) come from methane (CH4), 6.2 % (3.1±1.9 GtCO2eq/yr) from nitrous oxide (N2O), and 2.0 % (1.0±0.2 GtCO2eq/yr) from fluorinated gases.”

IPCC 2014 Report concluded that, since 1970, about 25 % of anthropogenic GHG emissions have been in the form of non-CO2 gases annually. This is more reason why world leaders at the Paris Conference must not pay lip service to environmental sustainability. I suggest that Pope Francis’s PAPAL ENCYCLICAL LAUDATO SI must be discussed at COP21.

The author works with Information Services Department (ISD), Accra  abissath@gmail.com

Success of UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030: the world must listen to Africa

By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

UN SDGs AGENDA 2030

 Traditional wisdom counsels: “If you set up a trap to catch a prey, you don’t stand by and drive away all approaching games at the same time.”

The just-ended UN summit on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in New York where 193 world leaders engaged in jaw-jaw gymnastics with ‘BIG, BIG English” (as we say in Ghana), was very refreshing indeed! This author finds the summit to be memorable in several ways. It was memorable because it coincided with the 70^th natal day of the UN itself. It was memorable because it served as a platform for reflection on 15 years of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and adoption of another 15 years of SDGs. It was memorable because it was under a theme: “Transforming our world, realising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” (SDGs).

What is Sustainable Development?

(…) “In 1983, the UN General Assembly created the World Commission on Environment and Development, (WCED) an independent committee of twenty-two members, headed by Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Prime Minister of Norway. Designed to examine global environment and development to the year 2000 and beyond, the commission seeks to reassess critical problems, to formulate realistic proposals for solving them, and to raise the level of understanding and commitment to the issues of environment and development.

“ Rather than presenting a gloom and doom report about the destruction of natural resources, our ‘Common Future’ offers an agenda advocating the growth of economies based on policies that do not harm, and can even enhance, the environment. The commission recognises that the time has come for a marriage of economy and ecology, in order to ensure the growth of human progress through development without bankrupting the resources of future generations.”

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brundtland_Commission

I have quoted the above paragraphs from WCED document with emphasis on the last sentence, “The commission recognises that the time has come for a marriage of economy and ecology…” It was out of that Brundtland report that the term Sustainable Development was born. Since then Sustainable Development has been defined affectionately as “development that meets the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Traditionally, sustainable development can be illustrated by a fable thus: “Your great grandparents drank water from an ancient well and left it for your grandparents. Your grandparents also drank water from the same well and preserved it for your own parents. Your parents finally drank water from that well and handed it over to you. When you too, drink water from the same well, it is your turn to leave it intact for your children before you kick the bucket”.  This scenario is known in African folklore as “tradition goes on.”  However, the way “galamsey” operators or illegal gold miners are polluting rivers and contaminating water bodies in Ghana today, can our generation guarantee sustainable development of the future generations of our nation?   

Why the world must listen to Africa

On Tuesday, September 29, 2015, the Daily Graphic page 32 published a story headlined: “Review Africa’s role in global production.”  The story, which was written by the paper’s correspondent, Doreen Andoh, covering the UN summit in New York, reported on the addressed delivered by Ghana’s President on Saturday, September 26 at the event.  Her opening paragraph reads:  “President John Dramani Mahama has pointed out the need for Africa’s role to be reviewed in the effort to realise global sustainable development.”  She reported that President Mahama who spoke for Africa “stressed that if the world wanted young Africans seeking work in Europe to stay at home, it would have to relocate more industries and production to Africa.”

It is this clarion call on the world especially Europe to relocate factories in Africa that inspires me to write this article. In the 21^st century of globalisation, it is imperative for Europeans to change their   attitude towards Africa if they are sincere about the success of the UN SDGs 2030.  It is not necessary to remind the world about the way they treated Africa through slave trade. From the 15^th to 18^th centuries Europeans brought ships to Africa and forcibly uprooted millions of able-bodied men and women who could have develop Africa to cultivate their plantations for them in some parts of the world. Paradoxically, today, it Africans themselves who are jumping into wretched boats to Europe but are being blocked. Why? Are their services no longer needed?    

In his book, “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” (2009), Walter Rodney, lamented about how some European insurance companies and other capitalist firms exploited indigenous hard working people of the Continent in the interest of Europe. “...The policy of colonial reserves in metropolitan currencies can also be cited as ‘service’ inimical to Africans.”   Page 253.

 If Europeans no longer need the services of Africans in their countries, they must listen to Africa, through Ghana’s President. For UN SDGs to succeed, President Mahama is advising industrialised nations to relocate some of their industries in Africa. This, he reasoned, would create jobs for unemployed battalions to stay and work on their mother Continent rather than embark on reckless journeys to Europe and perish in boiling waters of the Atlantic Ocean!

The author works with Information Services Department (ISD) Accra <abissath@gmail.com>

Biosafety and Biotechnology in Ghana: Journalists and Scientists must work as partners in development

By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

 

Some selected Ghanaian Editors and Scientists who participated in a forum

The wisdom of our ancestors is reflected in this simple proverb that says:  “One tree does not make a forest!”

Do know why the Master Jesus Christ constituted a group of people known as his disciples before embarking on his earthly mission about 2000 years ago? And out of the twelve apostles four of them could be characterized in modern parlance as journalists or reporters. They were John, Luke, Mark and Matthew. Thus the gospel in the Bible can be said to be the reportage of these disciples.

Value of reporters

Since that time, and all over the world, without reporters hardly could some official activities of Kings, Governors, Presidents, or Heads of State, or Prime Ministers, or Chief Executive Officers etc. have been known to the general public, let alone the future generations. That is why journalism is referred to as the first draft of history. In fact, some historians just collate and collect what journalists had published in the past and modify them to be called history. That explains why journalists or reporters must not be taken for granted in the scheme of things. And any world leader who neglects reporters does so at his or her own doom.

On Saturday, September 5, 2015, Ghana’s Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation made history that must be put on record for posterity. On that day, that Ministry managed to uproot over 20 editors from various media houses where they were glued to their editorial thrones in newsrooms in Accra. At least for 24 hours the editors were transplanted at the Multi-functional Conference Centre at the Aqua Safari Resort at Ada in the Great Accra Region.

What was fascinating about that feat was the fact that the Ministry brought these veteran editors face to face with some Ghanaian and Burkinabe scientists who were also dragged out from their laboratories where their eyes were riveted to their microscopes. These two diametrically opposed professionals and other stakeholders drawn from the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) and Food and Drug Authority (FDA) were brought together under the banner of Editors Forum to brainstorm on issues of Biosafety of modern Biotechnology.

Biodiversity and Biosafety

For purposes of this article, biodiversity simply signifies the variety of life on earth in all its forms. Biotechnology is not only applicable in the field of medicine but also in the field of agriculture or food processing. Biosafety is the application of knowledge, technique and equipment to prevent personal, laboratory and environmental exposure to infectious agents. For now I do not want to use any complicated scientific terminologies to confuse myself and my readers. So let me pause for some breath!

The principal objective of that special editors forum among other things was to provide the editors with some practical, evidence-based information on biosafety; expose them to some authoritative sources of information about biosafety with particular reference to Genetically Modified (GM) crops with all the misconceptions and misrepresentations associated biotechnology. Trust the journalists! And at this forum, it was not novice reporters but editors who in their respective news rooms have the power to decide whether stories  written by their reports about GM crops be it maize, fruits or beans should be published in the first place.

Naturally, when the scientists finished with their presentations, they should expect these veteran editors not to swallow hook, line and sinker everything they had presented. In fact, the experts were virtually ambushed and were subjected to bombardment of questions from all angles. One editor confessed that as for him whenever his reporters submit some stories about genetically modified foods and he did not understand, he did not hesitate to throw such stories in the dust bins. One scientist also confessed that he did not trust some media personnel who were wont to misrepresent scientific findings. Consequently, he always closed his doors to reporters who nose around to know what he was doing in his laboratory.

Gap between Scientists and Journalists

The forum became a genuine confessional corner as if  it was  in the Catholic Cathedral where everybody opened up to speak their minds and expressed their sentiments about one another. So, while it appears some scientists have the tendency to look down on journalists, some journalists also have no regard for some scientists whom they consider as arrogant. This state of affair has created a gap between scientists and journalists. But the forum became an eye opener for all.  

No doubt one of the topics discussed was:  “The Science – Media disconnect; Bridging the gap: “Scientists say the media are sensational; the media say scientists talk gibberish; how can we bridge the gap for impactful reportage on scientific issues?”  This particular topic was moderated by a lady journalist who did not mince words at all about how some scientists treat journalists as non-entities. This session became so exciting that almost every editor present was given the opportunity to express his or her view about this gap between scientists and journalists and the way forward. 

ECOWAS Experience

This author also gave his views and reminded the forum that the gap between scientists and journalists is not only restricted to Ghana. He recalled that in 2011, ECOWAS organized a training workshop for Science journalists in Abuja, Nigeria where he served as a resource person. At that workshop, it came to light that there existed poor relationship between scientists, research institutions and journalists.

It was noted that that poor relationship tended to affect effective communication between scientists and journalists.  It was therefore, resolved that only effectively communicated knowledge could benefit individuals and equipped them with power and skills to put that knowledge into practical application for the development not only West Africa but the entire African Continent. Consequently an African Federation of Science Journalists, (AFSJ), was set up to collaborate with UNESCO, ECA, ECOWAS and AU for scientific and technological advancement of Africa using journalists as conveyor belts.

Partners in development

It is against this background that Ghana’s Ministry of Environment ought to be commended for initiating the editors forum to expose these media gurus to the work of National Biosafety Authority. Media practitioners do not necessarily need to be scientists to communicate science related issues of national importance for the advancement of the nation. While Scientists can do better scientific research works, Journalists too, can communicate better for the understanding of the masses because they are trained in mass communication. So, therefore, both Scientists and Journalists must work as partners in development for the prosperity of Ghana.

·         The author works with Information Services Department (ISD), Accra  abissath@gmail.com

 .