Funny tweets about 'Maya' and the' world coming to an end' by Don Abiodun Odedeyi

As we hurtle toward the end of
2012, the conversation about a certain date with roots in an ancient Maya calendar has reached a fever pitch.

Check out some hilarious tweets about Maya and the world coming to an end.

Video Game Facts™ @VideoGamesFacts
If the #Mayans were right, you only have about 12 hours to game. If you were ever going to over heat your console, now's the time!

Harry Potter™ @ThatBravePotter
Dear #Mayans, The world won't end tomorrow because Harry's kids go to Hogwarts on September
1st, 2017.

Rod Walker @rwalker1906
I'm sure going to be mad if I pay this cell phone bill today and the world ends tomorrow. # mayans

J o e e y @JOE_GALLAGHER1
NASA has confirmed that December 21, late afternoon, the sky will be very dark. It is an interesting phenomenon called "night."

Greek Gent @GreekGent
BREAKING NEWS: The world just ended in Australia! It's happening by timezone! Not really. Go worry about something that matters. # Mayans

Funny Tweets @FunnyOrTruth
According to #Mayans calendar the real date of an apocalypse is October 21 in 4772. That's more than 2500 years in the future.

Laura Freed @heyLauraFreed
Duh! The world as we know it ended on Nov 6th, 2012 when morons voted in Obama "I got a task force for that." # Mayans

Calestous Juma @Calestous
The #Mayans didn't lie. It was an experiment to test human credulity. Early results from #Kiribati confirm hypothesis.

Alex Papasozomenos @alexplovesldn
#Mayans is trending. THEY DON'T EVEN EXIST ANYMORE

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Monopoly moves to Africa with Lagos edition

Some 80 years after its first launch, the iconic board game of Monopoly has finally released it's first African city edition.

A Lagos-themed version of the popular real estate game was unveiled earlier this week, making Nigeria's bustling economic capital the first city in the continent to have a dedicated Monopoly edition.

"Lagos is special, it's a megacity, one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa," says Nimi Akinkugbe, head of Bestman Games which is distributing the Lagos edition.

"But apart from that, Lagos also holds a very special place for Nigerians all over the world. There are about 15 million Nigerians in the diaspora who are very nostalgic about Lagos; it's not just for Lagosians but for people all over the world," she adds.

The affluent Banana Island, a man-made waterfront community boasting multi-million dollar mansions and manicured lawns, was revealed as the game's most expensive property, joining Boardwalk in the standard U.S. edition and Mayfair in the London version.

Many of the squares for the game's upmarket locations feature sponsorship from banks, radio stations and shopping centers. In contrast, the square dedicated to the floating shantytown of Makoko, which is the cheapest piece of real estate in the Lagos edition of the game, was left unsponsored.

Local officials were heavily involved in bringing Monopoly to the sprawling metropolis of some 15 million people. Their goal was partly to promote the city's rich history and landmark sites but also to encourage responsible behavior and inform citizens about laws that are often overlooked.

"You've been caught driving against traffic. Report for psychiatric evaluation," is the message on one Chance card, which issues a fine -- in line with the laws introduced recently by the local government to deal with the city's major traffic problem.

Another card reads: "For using the overhead pedestrian bridge on Worodu (Ikorodu) Road, move forward three spaces." Akinkugbe explains that many lives have been lost as people tend to cross the express highway by running across the road. "By rewarding the person that uses the overhead bridge by moving forwards three spaces, slowly it begins to sink in," she says.

And there are also references to Nigeria's corruption problem: "For attempting to bribe a law enforcement agent, pay a fine," says another card "This gives us an opportunity to educate the public about those things," says Akinkugbe.

"[It's about] penalizing negative behavior and rewarding good behavior but in a fun and enjoyable way. We all know that learning through play is one of the most powerful forms of learning because it is not forced but is done in a relaxed, easy way."

Akinkugbe says that two other African countries -- South Africa and Morocco -- have a version of Monopoly, but Lagos is the only city in the continent to have its own edition. She says that the Lagos game was sold out within 24 hours of it's release, as about 4,000 people got their hands on it.
"Thousands of Nigerian families they are going to be playing Monopoly over Christmas, having a good laugh and learning at the same time, and just appreciating the city," she says.

Culled from CNN
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Coming soon: Islamic Microfinance

Three-day 'Global Islamic Microfinance Forum' held between 8th-10th December 2012, in Dubai World Trade Centre, UAE saw delegates from UAE, Pakistan, India, UK, Bangladesh, USA, UK Bahrain, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kirghizstan, Mauritius, Kenya, Canada, France, Egypt, Philippine, Uganda, Iraq, Nigeria, Sudan along with delegates from other countries brainstorming on the role of Islamic Microfinance in poverty alleviation, Shariah and related issues of Islamic Microfinance Institutions and their solutions.

Representatives from microfinance institutions from 27 countries expressed their intent to unify their efforts for poverty alleviation and social development through Islamic Microfinance.

Speaking on the successful completion of the forum, Zubair Mughal - Chief Executive Officer AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics highlighted that the assemblage of a large number of institutions on the forum of Islamic Microfinance is a clear indication that it is the only viable solution of poverty alleviation around the globe.

He urged the World Bank, IDB, USAID, IFC and other international institutions to include Islamic Microfinance in their priority list for social development and poverty eradication; otherwise the achievement of Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations will not be possible.

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Fight against deforestation in Nigeria: Ogun State Confiscates Timber Worth millions of Naira

The Ogun State Government, South West Nigeria, has confiscated woods and timbers worth millions of naira felled illegally by timber merchants at Ajibandele Village in Area J6, Forest Reserve of the State.

Commissioner for Forestry, Engr. Ayo Olubori who made this known in Abeokuta while conducting newsmen round the confiscated woods, described the act as the peak of confrontation with government, especially at a time the State Government had suspended activities in all it's forestry reserves.

"I think this is outrageous and infact, the peak of confrontation that government had ever received from the daring illegal wood traders and smugglers." He said.

Engr. Olubori said the combing and 24hrs surveillance of the nine forest reserves by the government at the moment resulted in the feat.

"We got a tip off from the people and reacted spontaneously and when we got to the spot where the illegality took place, the hooligans took to their heels having sighted us, though we demobilized about nine lorries and tractors, we ensured that we evacuated every plank we met in the bush that night though it was late, around 3.am. We were there till daybreak until we evacuated every plank there down to Abeokuta," he explained.

Commending those who gave the tip off for their patriotism, Olubori declared remained unperturbed about the antics of the unscrupulous elements involved in the act and assured that Government was equal to the task of stopping the illegal merchants that were hell bent on stealing the common wealth of the people.

He also emphasized that activities all the forest reserves in the State remained suspended and would resume as soon as due consultations by government with relevant stakeholders are concluded.



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JUSTICE IS ON SLOW-MOTION by Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.

In the Nigerian Law School, it is mandatory that each student participates in a court attachment
exercise, a period whereby students are attached to courts in other for them to experience first hand the rules and procedures of the court
system.

I remember walking into the halls of the Federal High Court, Abuja during my attachment dressed in my white shirt, dark suit and black tie as is the usual custom, filled with a great sense
of purpose after winking at the blindfolded babe outside who held the sword and the balancing scales, lady justice was to be my bride after my call - to - bar ceremony, it was essential we had a relationship.

Anyway, while sitting in the court room, taking notes, watching lawyers try to outsmart one another and observing the grim looks on the faces of witnesses and accused persons alike, I noticed one thing, "adjournments". Oh my goodness, every matter got adjourned, sometimes for months at a time and i always wondered why.

Even as a practicing lawyer, i still wonder why. I have come across cases that have been in court for almost 12 years, what am I saying, i know one that has been in court since 1986, i am sure lawyers and others who have been to the courts know what i am talking about.

How can it still be regarded as justice if it takes me 5 years or more for the High Court to deliver judgment, keeping in mind that if the courts' decision goes on appeal, we could still be litigating for another 5 or 7 years.
Imagine how i felt when trying to explain to a client in court that our matter had been adjourned for the 5th time,1 year after filing court papers, we were still yet to see the judge eye to eye.

I am not blaming the judges, even they will tell you that sometimes the lawyers bring up all sort of applications in a bid to stall the proceedings. I am however blaming the "law". I mean the rules of court.

This issue has been judicially noticed and some credible steps have been taken to speed up the court process, for instance: the Electoral Act now provides that election tribunals are given accelerated hearings and same also apply to issues bothering on fundamental human rights but that is not enough.

All matters before the court, either: Civil or Criminal, should be given accelerated hearing, I propose that all matters in court must not exceed a maximum of 180 days from the date of filing whether in the Magistrate court, High Court, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court.

With the rampant allegations of corruption within the Nigerian Judicial System, the common man has lost faith in the courts, he believes justice is for the rich or well connected.

The Court which should serve as a champion for the average Nigerian who has no blood or political ties to people in power is alleged to now be the piper who plays the tune of the wealthy few who pay bribes. We need reforms,the judiciary needs reforms and we need it like yesterday.
Adedunmade Onibokun Esq.
@adedunmade
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Microfinance, Empowerment and Poverty eradication in Africa by Don Abiodun Odedeyi

Mrs Doyin Folorunsho Adebari sells toys in Makoko, a suburb of Lagos, South West Nigeria. She arranges her wooden stall early before school children even thought of waking up, cleans her environment and then display her wares.
Her first customer usually arrives at about 7:15am, that's one hour after she got to the same spot.
With a two-inch square umbrella, she painstakingly wait till 2:00pm when school children will be on their way home again and maybe sell some toys again.
Her total goods of 50,000 naira ($340), sent in fragments of profits that did little on her daily needs.
A visit by her long time friend changed everything.

"Mama Sarah introduced me to Susu Microfinance Bank, she took a loan from the bank months earlier and her business took a new turn."
Mrs. Toyin took out micro-loans to grow her business and hopes to provide improved living conditions for her children.
MICRO-LOAN
Micro-loan is a product of Microfinance. It is the supply of small loans to the poor.
It's daisy as many reject seeing themselves in the light of their present status: 'poor'
The word 'poor' mean "having little money", "lack or scarcity of quantity".
If you are down, don't play lip service about how mighty and high you are.
Self discovery is the first step out of a mess.
If you have little or no money, or means of creating wealth (big or small), you are poor.
It's easy to imagine that poor people don't need financial services. But poor people are of two types
1. Economic Active Poor
2. Non-Active Poor
ECONOMIC ACTIVE POOR
These are people who have skill(s) or trade that can yield income. They've practice or are practicing but their capacity to expand contribute to the national wealth is cut short due to financial constrain.
NON-ACTIVE POOR
Poor people who have no skill in a trade or engage in any act that yield income. If empowered, these category of people will cater for their utmost need first rather than invest in productive venture(s).
Microfinance institutions are established to cater for Economic active poor so as to empower them in their transition from dependent status to independent status as well as contribution to national GDP.
EMPOWERMENT
Empowerment, a near non-existing element in developing countries, still remains a major channel to financial freedom.
Empowerment increases the capacity of individuals or groups to make and transform choices into desired actions. These actions build both individual and collective assets, and improve their efficiencies.
If you have little or no money and you are skilled in a trade that yields income, your road to light is half-way done, empowerment through
ROAD TO RECOVERY
Mrs. Doyin walked into Susu Microfinance Bank located in Lagos, Nigeria 8 months ago, she saved $80 in 6 weeks. During this time, she attended a neigbhourhood meeting with other customers of the bank.
After six weeks of once in a week meeting and financial advice, she was given a loan of $400, no collateral!

Two weeks ago, Mrs. Doyin got another $800 loan. Only this time, she won't be showcasing her wares by the side of the road, taking shelter from the scorching sun. If you want to patronize her, you need to walk down Ajilete Street, number 4 Makoko: her new shop.
With no other shop like it, the neigbhourhood of Makoko now have a new super-mart.
Mrs. Doyin's next loan can be as high as $1300 (depending on her repayment record) and she is already thinking of what to do with the large sum.
"I want to open a new shop five streets from here, I want to diversify; sell food stuffs", a glitz smile filled her eyes.
She got the money to transform her business plus standby managers who advice on how best her investment can succeed.
Written by Don Abiodun Odedeyi
Twitter: @abiodunodedeyi
Facebook: Don Abiodun Odedeyi

Ban Ki-Moon's remarks to UNFCCC COP18 High-Level Segment 4 December 2012, Doha Qatar

Salaam aleikum.
I am honoured to be with you, and I thank the State of Qatar for its hospitality in organizing this very important conference.
This is the first time the UNFCCC has held it's Conference of Parties in this pivotal region.
It is an important signal that all regions have a role to play in solving the climate crisis, and all are resolved to do so.
Let us be under no illusion. This is a crisis, threat to us all, our economies, our security and the well-being of our children and those who will come after.

The danger signs are all around.
One-third of the world's population lives in countries with moderate to high water stress, land degradation affects 1.5 billion people, icecaps are showing unprecedented melting; permafrost is thawing; sea levels are rising.

The abnormal is now the new normal.

This year, we have seen Manhattan and Beijing under water, hundreds of thousands of people washed from their homes in Mozambique, Nigeria; Colombia; Peru, the Philippines; Australia. From the United States to India, from Ukraine to Brazil, drought decimated essential global crops.

Across the Sahel, from Mali to the Horn of Africa, tens of millions of people endured another year of vulnerability, at the mercy of the slightest climate shock.

No-one is immune to climate change -- rich or poor.

It is an existential challenge for the whole human race – our way of life, our plans for the future. We must take ownership; We, collectively, are the problem... Then we should have the solutions.

Greenhouse gas emissions are the highest they have ever been.
We are in a race against time to stay below the agreed threshold of 2 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels that will avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Every delay means greater future effort – or greater future harm.

Just this month, reports from UNEP, WMO and the World Bank again drew attention to the growing dangers.

But they also sound a hopeful note by
highlighting that we have the resources – financial and technological -- to rise to the challenge.

They also conclude that acting now makes better economic sense than allowing further delay.

That is why it is imperative that we act now, with urgency and with clear purpose – both in these negotiations and in our countries, our cities, our businesses, our homes.

Many of you have already started.
Policies and actions to take us into a sustainable, clean energy future are being pursued more broadly and with greater determination.

But the pace and scale of action are still not yet enough.

We have a responsibility here in Doha to sustain the momentum for change so painstakingly built in Bali, Poznan, Copenhagen, Cancun and Durban.
Addressing climate change is essential to sustainable development.
And your work is essential for addressing climate change.
I urge all Parties to work with a spirit of compromise – to take the long view and avoid getting bogged down in minutiae.

Let us ensure that we stay on track for an effective, fair, ambitious and universal climate agreement by 2015.

This week, I hope for five key deliverables by Governments here in Doha:

First, the adoption of a ratifiable second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol remains the closest we have to a global, binding climate agreement, It must continue.
It is a foundation to build on. It has important institutions, including accounting and legal systems, and the framework that markets sorely need.
Its continuation on 1 January 2013 would show that governments remain committed to a more robust climate regime.

Second, progress on long-term climate finance.
This is critical to a meaningful climate agreement. Fast-start finance expires soon, developed countries must give their clear indications that scaled-up climate financing will flow after 2012, and that it will be commensurate to the goal of mobilizing $100 billion dollars a year by 2020 from public and private funding.

Third, we must ensure that the institutions set up in Cancun and Durban to support mitigation and adaptation by developing countries -- including the Green Climate Fund and the Climate Technology Centre and Network -- are fully equipped and effective.

Fourth, I expect governments to demonstrate, with no ambiguity, that negotiations on a global and legally binding instrument remain on track.

And fifth, Governments need to show how they intend to act on the gap between mitigation pledges and what is required to achieve the 2 degrees target.
The gap can be bridged but time is not on our side.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let us speed up the transformation we know needs to happen, let us act even as negotiations continue toward a more robust climate regime, let us build creative partnerships that will drive courageous initiatives and innovation.

Let us abandon apathy and embrace ambition.

Let us take inspiration from the solutions we see around us and from the transformations that we know are possible.

Let us prove to future generations that we had the vision to see where we needed to go, and the wisdom to get there. And I count on your vision and your leadership.

Thank you, Shukran jazeelan.

Statements on 4 December 2012

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"Time is running out for Kiribati"

'Time running out' for Kiribati: president
The low-lying Pacific nation of Kiribati is running out of time on
climate change as seas rise, and is drafting plans including mass
relocation of its people while the world procrastinates on the issue,
the country's leader says.
President Anote Tong said areas of Kiribati --
consisting of more than 30 coral atolls, most
only a few metres (feet) above sea level -- had
already been swamped by the rising ocean.
"We've had communities that have had to relocate because their
previous village is submerged, it's no longer there," he told AFP in a
telephone interview from the capital
Tarawa.
"We had a very high tide at the beginning of
this month and communities were washed out. It's becoming more
frequent, time is running out."
Kiribati is among a number of island states --
including Tuvalu, Tokelau and the Maldives --
the UN Human Rights Commission is concerned could become "stateless"
due to climate change.
With erosion gnawing at the coast and crops
dying as sea water infiltrates fresh water
sources, Tong said plans to relocate people from Kiribati to Fiji and
East Timor had been put forward.
He was pessimistic UN climate talks underway
in Doha would offer a solution, saying they
assumed global warming would occur in the
future, allowing countries to stall over emissions targets.
"That's not relevant to us," he said. "The reality is that we're
already facing problems.
"Are the negotiations addressing this? I don't
believe so. They're regarded as a game by
many of the negotiators, they're not focusing
on what's already happening in the most
vulnerable countries.
"We (in Kiribati) are not talking about economic growth, we're not
talking about standards of living -- we're talking about our
very survival."
Rather than wait for global action, Tong said
Kiribati was examining options for the climate-
threatened nation, including relocating parts
of its 103,000-strong population.
The best scenario involves building sea walls and planting mangroves
to repel rising seas,
allowing life in Kirbati to continue much as it has for centuries.
Tong said that was unlikely, with data
released last week finding seas rising quicker
than previous estimates, pointing to a one-
metre (3.25 foot) rise by the end of the century.
Other options involve moving all or part of Kiribati's population elsewhere.
"We have to accept the possibility, the reality,
that some of our people will have to be relocated," Tong said.
"We don't want to allow the nation of Kiribati
to disappear and we have to work out what we do in order to ensure that."
He said the government was set to purchase
2,000 hectare (5,000 acre) of land in Fiji, to
provide food for Kiribati and possibly act as a
new island home.
"We're looking to buy that piece of land as an
investment for food security issues," he said.
"But if all the land we're staying in now (Kiribati) was totally
swamped, maybe it would provide an alternative in the future."
He said impoverished East Timor had also
offered land if needed.
Tong said man-made islands were an expensive option, but remained a
possibility if the global community helped foot the bill to prevent
Kiribati becoming "collateral damage"
to climate change.
"Man-made islands are expensive but climate
change itself is expensive, it could cost the future of this planet," he said.
Tong expects an options paper to be completed early next year, with
detailed costings and engineering reports that could be presented to
potential donors.
He said there was no "D-day" for a decision about relocation, instead
seeking to allow residents a choice about whether to stay or leave.
"To wait for the time when we have no other option but to jump (in the
sea) and swim or go somewhere is unrealistic," he said.
After arguing for urgent action on climate
change at numerous international forums
since winning power in 2003, Tong said he would not attend the Doha talks.
"The question is what to say next to galvanise
the international community into action?" he said. "Sometimes there's
a deep sense of frustration, sometimes a sense of futility.
"We've got to talk to people who will listen, not people who will just
give you an excuse."
However, he remained optimistic the world would help countries such as
Kiribati, which
did not cause climate change but bore the
brunt of its effects.
"I think the citizens of countries have a conscience but they're not
really the ones who make these decisions... It's the governments," he
said.
"We need to keep talking to the people and can't lose faith in
humanity. I refuse to give up on humanity."

Culled from france24.com

Scientists say 15% carbon emissions cut needed

The chances of hitting the UN's global warming target are diminishing, but the goal can still be met if greenhouse-gas emissions fall by 15 percent by 2020, scientists said on Friday.
In a study issued at the world climate talks in Doha, they cautioned against mounting pessimism that the UN's objective of curbing warming to a safer two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is now out of reach.
"Limiting global warming below 2C, or even to below 1.5C, remains technically and economically feasible, but only with political ambitions backed by rapid action starting now," the team said.
"If nothing more is done except the current pledges, costs would be much higher to reach deeper reductions necessary, and/or the damage from climate impacts would be far greater."
In the runup to the 12-day UN talks which opened in Qatar on Monday, the World Bank gave a 20-percent likelihood of a 4C (7.2 F) rise by 2100 and said a 3C (5.4 F) rise appeared likely. Separately, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) forecast a rise of 3-5C (5.4-9.0F) on the basis of current pledges.
"The window for reversing emission trends is rapidly narrowing," the "Climate Action Tracker" report issued on Friday said.
"Emissions must be reduced by roughly 15 percent from present levels by 2020 to be on a pathway holding warming below 2C" by 2100.
At present, emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, blamed for damaging the planet's fragile climate system, are scaling new peaks.
Levels of carbon dioxide -- the single most important man-made contributor to climate change -- rose to 390.9 parts per million in 2011, which is 2.0 ppm higher than in 2010, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Tuesday.
From 1990 to 2011, the warming effect of greenhouse gases has risen 30 percent, it said.
Scrutinising the actions of the four major emitters, the "Climate Action Tracker" said neither China, the United States, the European Union nor Russia were making adequate pledges to tackle their pollution.
But -- with the exception of the United States -- the pledges that they have made are likely to be met, it said.
China has surged in rankings to become the world's No.1 carbon polluter, voraciously burning coal to fuel its rise out of poverty. Right now, China is on track for emissions in 2020 of 14.4 gigatonnes, or billion tonnes, of CO2 or its equivalent, said the report.

Climate Change underway in Doha

About 17,000 delegates expected to attend the latest round of the
climate talks, with carbon permits high on the agenda.
The 18th United Nations climate change conference, known as COP18, has
opened in Doha, the Qatari capital.
Over the next two weeks, up to 17,000 people will attend the
conference. Delegates will be negotiating a new global deal on
climate, but there are ongoing tensions between rich and poor
countries.
The meeting elected the former Qatari energy
minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, as president of the Conference
of the Parties.
In his opening remarks he said the meeting was "critical" and a
"golden opportunity" to make progress on a new global climate deal.
"This is an historic conference," said Attiyah, "it is of vital
importance considering the items on its agenda.
It is a turning point in the negotiations on climate change."
Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South African foreign minister, officially
handed over the COP presidency to Attiyah, Qatar's deputy prime
minister at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha.
After brief speeches by both, Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC executive
secretary, pointed out the "unique" location of this year's COP.
"Each COP is unique - and this is no exception," she said.
"This is the first time the COP is being held in the Gulf region. On
this historic occasion, the region has an unequaled world stage to
showcase the contributions being made to reduce the Gulf's food and
water vulnerabilities, to put regional energy growth on a more
sustainable path and to build a safer, stronger and more resilient
energy future for all countries."
Carbon permits
A central issue at the summit is the problem of "hot air" carbon permits.
The term refers to attempts by some wealthy
countries to carry over unused carbon permits so they can be offset
against future cuts.
Developing nations say this is unfair and reduces the value of any
commitment to reduce carbon dioxide.
In one of the summit's first announcements,
Australia said it will aim to cut its emissions by 0.5 per cent from
1990 levels by 2020 in a second commitment period of the Kyoto
Protocol.
A Nauru delegate, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island
States - a group representing 44 mostly low-lying countries
particularly vulnerable to climate change - called for greater
ambition for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which
binds many developed countries to make emissions cuts.
"This conference is about nothing less than
preserving the fundamental integrity of the climate change regime,"
she said, "and that must begin with a strong second commitment period
under the Kyoto Protocol.
"If developed countries cannot live up to their current obligations,
how can we have any confidence in a future agreement?"
Nauru also called for stronger commitments from developed countries to
help developing countries finance ways to reduce their greenhouse gas
emissions.
Currently, developed countries have pledged to provide $100bn a year
for adaptation and mitigation measures for developing countries by
2020.
As Qatar welcomes world leaders to the conference, its own
environmental record has come under criticism as a major contributor
to greenhouse gases.
Spotlight on polluters
The climate talks have placed a spotlight on Qatar, which produces
nearly 50 tonnes a year of carbon dioxide for each of its 1.6 million
residents.
Jamie Henn, co-founder of the environment group 350.org, pointed out
that Qatar had set some goals, including the plan to use 20 per cent
renewable energy by 2024. Still, he said, the host country could do
more.
"We are fully aware of the perils the world is facing as a result of
climate change," Attiyah, who is also a former Qatari petroleum
minister, said.
"We hope the conference will produce tangible
results and reinforce international cooperation."
Qatar "is also one of the 10 developing countries predicted to be most
affected by rising sea levels", Attiyah said.
"Environmental sustainability is a key pillar of our national vision," he said.
In terms of volume, China remains the top emitter with more than eight
billion tonnes of greenhouse gases every year - an increase of 171 per
cent since 2000.
China is followed by the US, which produces over five billion tonnes
annually, although its emissions have fallen since 2007.
In third place is India. Its economic boom has made it the third worst
polluter, pumping out nearly two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a
year.
And then there is Russia, producing around 1.6bn tonnes of emissions every year.

Massive deforestation risks turning Somalia into desert

Massive deforestation risks
turning Somalia into desert

Hassan Hussein
cuts down 40 trees
every month to fuel
his charcoal
business, fully aware of the
impact his action has on the
environment.
But for the livestock keeper, the
forests are the last remaining
resource. And he is not alone.
Hundreds of thousands of
Somalia's traditional pastoralist
herders do the same, putting
their impoverished country on a
path of heavy deforestation that
risks turning large swathes of
their country into a desert.
"I used to keep animals, but I lost my herd to famine and
disease and am the eldest in the
family," says Hussein, 27,
adding that he has 10 mouths to
feed back home -- two children,
seven brothers and his mother.
Four years ago, Hussein had 25
camels and 300 goats. Now, only
three camels and 15 goats from
his once respectable sized herd
are left.
Thus every morning, with an axe
slumped over his shoulder, he
sets off in search of wood for
charcoal.
Once he locates and cuts down a
tree, it takes two days of
burning, and two more days of
cooling the smouldering heaps
before he can sell the charcoal,
at six dollars (five euros) for a 20
kilogramme sack.
The village of Jaleo, in the
northern self-declared state of
Somaliland, once prided itself on
being at the heart of the
savannah.
British explorer Harald Swayne
recounted, in his 19th century
memoirs, the adventures he had
while tracking and hunting "a
large herd of elephants."
But the last elephant was killed
in 1958, and were Swayne to
retake his journey today, he
would only find the smallest of
game in a rocky landscape
dotted with shrubs and charred
tree stumps.
"Twenty percent of the forest
has disappeared in the last ten
years -- definitely this country is
turning into a desert," Ahmed
Derie Elmi, director of forests in
Somaliland's environment
ministry, recently tells AFP.
"If the deforestation continues at
this pace, this country will be a
desert in two or three decades,"
echoes Ahmed Ibrahim Awale of
the Candlelight organisation,
which tackles environmental
and health issues in Somaliland.
Charcoal burning has not always
been preferred in Jalelo.
Three years ago an outbreak of
Rift Valley Fever in the Horn of
Africa forced Gulf states to
suspend importation of animals
or animal products from the
region, forcing the herders to
look for alternative sources of
income.
But it is urbanisation and a
population explosion that are
the biggest threats to the
country's environmental well-
being.
Somaliland's capital Hargeisa
has a population of 850,000
people, six times its population
in the 1970s, which consumes
approximately 250 tonnes of
charcoal daily.
Elmi says that charcoal is the
main source of energy, as
electricity is rare and expensive
for many.
The rampant deforestation is not
unique to Somaliland. In
southern Somalia, Al Qaeda-
linked Shebab insurgents turned
charcoal burning and
exportation into one of their
major sources of income.
In a report, the UN monitoring
group on Somalia and Eritrea
says the Islamist group made up
to 25 million dollars every year
from charcoal trade.
Several regions of southern
Somalia were declared famine
zones by the United Nations last
year, with the deforestation
contributing to an extreme
drought.
In a bid to put an end to
rampant deforestation,
Somalia's newly elected
President Hassan Sheikh
Mohamud in one of his first
official duties banned all
exportation of charcoal, in line
with a UN embargo in February.
However, much more than a UN
declaration and a presidential
decree are needed to bring the
deforestation to an end.
"The underlying causes of
poverty and the general decline
of the size of livestock herds
have to be addressed," says
Awale.
Alternative sources of energy
must be harnessed to cater for
the population, massive
reforestation campaigns need to
be initiated and some of the
pastoralists need to switch to
agriculture.

"All the mature trees have
disappeared.... In the past one
could get six or seven 25
kilogramme sacks of charcoal
from a tree. Today, maybe one
or two," Awale says.
As a consequence, charcoal
prices in Somaliland have
doubled in the past four years,
to 10 dollars a sack.

"Each time I cut down a tree, I am left with a bitter taste in my
mouth," Hussein says. "The
future is bleak.... All the trees
will have disappeared."


Culled from france24.com

On 10/31/12, Abiodun Odedeyi <abiodunodedeyi@gmail.com> wrote:
> From the ditch of poverty, credit/loans services are spreading
> financial freedom throughout the realm of economically active poor,
> low-income persons and micro-enterprises especially in developing
> countries. To this end, governments and financial institutions
> continually look for ways of improving the sector; how to create
> conducive lending platforms for medium and low income
> business/individuals.
>
> At the end of World War two, almost all of developed Europe benefited
> from one loan scheme or the other. Some of the biggest benefactors
> till date are Poland, Switzerland, and Germany (who, apart from low
> interest loans also got many of it debts written off).
> In Nigeria, the same idea of economic empowerment played out in the
> creation of community-based lending institutions. During it first
> thirty years of existence, micro-lending sector in the West African
> state have seen different transformations, policies, over-hauling etc.
> Popular among them was the Community Banks which ran between 1990 to
> 2007, the People's Bank of Nigeria, between 1989 to 2002, Family
> Economic Advancement programme (FEAP) among others.
>
> In 2007, the biggest and widely spread of these community-based banks,
> Community Bank, was reorganized into Micro-finance Bank Banks (mfb)
> with the aim of re-branding, block loopholes and giving more strength
> to it.
>
> Virus dwindling micro banks
> Within two years of a robust restart, a major crack opened the newly
> reorganized micro-banks. Quick intervention by the apex bank however
> saved a waif-like; scores of the institutions that started strongly
> became a hard lesson for others that survived the scare.
> October 2012, one of the micro-finance institutions, by share of luck,
> discovered an impending bombshell!
>
> While going through her Black Book (an inventory of bad debtors and
> other customers the bank won't like to transact business with), it was
> discovered that some names on the 'Black Book' are re-accessing loans
> with the bank. These individuals have been chased, searched for months
> without success only for them to come back a year or two later.
>
> Cross Carpet Debtor
> September 17, 2012 was a cool bright day. A team of 11 officials of a
> mfb (name withheld) moved on some unsuspecting loan defaulters within
> it Lagos business district. After visiting three debtors, it was
> established they allowed a certain Iya Oyinbo use them in securing
> loan; they used their names to seek for loan then handed it over to
> the woman. When the heat from the bank became unbearable, one of the
> 'victims' moved in with police on Iya Oyinbo. Reports filtered in that
> she was under detection at Elere Police Station, Mushin, Lagos but on
> getting to the station, two other financial institution officials were
> waiting at the station deck, sweating, the person in custody wasn't
> Iya Oyinbo but her younger sister.
> Iya Oyinbo's debt tops several millions of naira and she is nowhere to be
> found.
>
> As at the time of this writing, a month after, Iya Oyinbo is yet to
> surface, several other cross carpet debtors have also been discovered.
> The cancer is spreading, many 'customers' are gaining on this pretence
> then fade away, move to another financial institution then disappear
> again; pandemic looms over a key sector saddled with providing
> financial service to about 65% of the country's population.
>
> Is there a way out?
> The absent of credit rating, which would have enlightened financial
> sectors on customers' credit profile, was however waived aside by a
> Lagos based financial expert (name withheld because he is not
> permitted to speak to media). He bemoaned the state of national data
> collection as a critical blow to any quest for credit rating agency.
>
> "Loan disbursing officers should get to know their customers more,
> this, not credit rating, will reduce the spate of cross carpet
> debtors."
>
> Chi-Tola Roberts, the managing director of InFocus PR lampooned the
> non-utilization of several national data collections which has taken
> place over the years.
>
> "With the national identity card, voting registration, Sim card
> registration, our journey to such national comprehensive database is
> like sixty percent completed; the pocket few can be worked on with
> time".
>
> Data from the Central Bank shows that 8.5 billion of the 28.8 billion
> (about 29.8%) earmarked for Small and Medium Enterprises Equity
> Investment Scheme (SMEEIS) fund so far have been utilized, and about
> ten percent of the fund meant for micro credit not yet touched. The
> pressure of meeting up with Vision202020 could have set in motion,
> rapid disbursement of these trapped funds yet dwindling confidence in
> market structure may affect the ball being kicked to motion.
>
> www.donabiodun.blogspot.com
>

Spain's bad loans hit 10.7 percent

Spain's bad loan ratio hits record 10.7%

Spanish banks' bad loans surged to a new record level in September
with more than one in ten classed as high risk, the central bank said
Monday.

The level of loans considered at high risk of not being repaid --
mostly real estate credits -- reached 10.7 percent of total loans, the
highest level since the records began in 1962, the bank said in a
report.

The total value of these loans was 182.2 billion euros ($233 billion)
in September, the bank said.

Spanish banks have been
weighed down with rising bad loans and repossessed real estate since
the collapse of a property bubble in 2008, which has caused defaults
by builders and mortgage holders to soar.

The level of Spanish banks' bad loans, a major concern for financial
markets as an indicator of the country's financial health, has risen
steadily over recent months.

In August the ratio had reached 10.52 percent, according to revised
figures in Monday's report.

A surge in unemployment in Spain, where one in four workers is now
jobless, has driven a wave of evictions of defaulting
mortgage-holders.

The conservative government last week announced a two-year halt to
evictions of the most desperate homeowners following an outcry over
suicides linked to evictions.

Eurozone authorities agreed in June to extend a rescue loan of up to
100 billion euros to aid ailing Spanish banks.
An audit by US consultancy Oliver Wyman concluded that Spanish banks
overall needed to raise up to 59.3 billion euros of extra capital, or
53.7 billion euros after adjusting for the effect of certain mergers
and fiscal procedures.

But the government has said it believes it will need to ask for a
lower amount, about 40 billion euros, from the bailout fund, since
some of the banks could raise capital themselves.

In August Spain approved the creation of a so-called "bad bank" to buy
troubled property assets and bad loans from lenders in a bid to clean
up the financial sector and restore investor confidence in the
economy.

Culled from france24.com

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, MICROFINANCE AND ACHIEVING DEVELOPMENT GOALS by Don Abiodun Odedeyi

From the ditch of poverty, credit/loans services are spreading
financial freedom throughout the realm of economically active poor,
low-income persons and micro-enterprises especially in developing
countries. To this end, governments and financial institutions
continually look for ways of improving the sector; how to create
conducive lending platforms for medium and low income
business/individuals.

At the end of World War two, almost all of developed Europe benefited
from one loan scheme or the other. Some of the biggest benefactors
till date are Poland, Switzerland, and Germany (who, apart from low
interest loans also got many of it debts written off).
In Nigeria, the same idea of economic empowerment played out in the
creation of community-based lending institutions. During it first
thirty years of existence, micro-lending sector in the West African
state have seen different transformations, policies, over-hauling etc.
Popular among them was the Community Banks which ran between 1990 to
2007, the People's Bank of Nigeria, between 1989 to 2002, Family
Economic Advancement programme (FEAP) among others.

In 2007, the biggest and widely spread of these community-based banks,
Community Bank, was reorganized into Micro-finance Bank Banks (mfb)
with the aim of re-branding, block loopholes and giving more strength
to it.

Virus dwindling micro banks
Within two years of a robust restart, a major crack opened the newly
reorganized micro-banks. Quick intervention by the apex bank however
saved a waif-like; scores of the institutions that started strongly
became a hard lesson for others that survived the scare.
October 2012, one of the micro-finance institutions, by share of luck,
discovered an impending bombshell!

While going through her Black Book (an inventory of bad debtors and
other customers the bank won't like to transact business with), it was
discovered that some names on the 'Black Book' are re-accessing loans
with the bank. These individuals have been chased, searched for months
without success only for them to come back a year or two later.

Cross Carpet Debtor
September 17, 2012 was a cool bright day. A team of 11 officials of a
mfb (name withheld) moved on some unsuspecting loan defaulters within
it Lagos business district. After visiting three debtors, it was
established they allowed a certain Iya Oyinbo use them in securing
loan; they used their names to seek for loan then handed it over to
the woman. When the heat from the bank became unbearable, one of the
'victims' moved in with police on Iya Oyinbo. Reports filtered in that
she was under detection at Elere Police Station, Mushin, Lagos but on
getting to the station, two other financial institution officials were
waiting at the station deck, sweating, the person in custody wasn't
Iya Oyinbo but her younger sister.
Iya Oyinbo's debt tops several millions of naira and she is nowhere to be found.

As at the time of this writing, a month after, Iya Oyinbo is yet to
surface, several other cross carpet debtors have also been discovered.
The cancer is spreading, many 'customers' are gaining on this pretence
then fade away, move to another financial institution then disappear
again; pandemic looms over a key sector saddled with providing
financial service to about 65% of the country's population.

Is there a way out?
The absent of credit rating, which would have enlightened financial
sectors on customers' credit profile, was however waived aside by a
Lagos based financial expert (name withheld because he is not
permitted to speak to media). He bemoaned the state of national data
collection as a critical blow to any quest for credit rating agency.

"Loan disbursing officers should get to know their customers more,
this, not credit rating, will reduce the spate of cross carpet
debtors."

Chi-Tola Roberts, the managing director of InFocus PR lampooned the
non-utilization of several national data collections which has taken
place over the years.

"With the national identity card, voting registration, Sim card
registration, our journey to such national comprehensive database is
like sixty percent completed; the pocket few can be worked on with
time".

Data from the Central Bank shows that 8.5 billion of the 28.8 billion
(about 29.8%) earmarked for Small and Medium Enterprises Equity
Investment Scheme (SMEEIS) fund so far have been utilized, and about
ten percent of the fund meant for micro credit not yet touched. The
pressure of meeting up with Vision202020 could have set in motion,
rapid disbursement of these trapped funds yet dwindling confidence in
market structure may affect the ball being kicked to motion.

www.donabiodun.blogspot.com

Cooking away Climate Change

The Problem
Apart from contributing to deforestation, it is estimated that inefficient stoves are responsible for close to 25% of emissions of black carbon.

Research shows that black carbon could be a significant factor in the climate change currently being experienced. While efforts at reducing climate change is happening acrossboard, natural forest is taking a big hit especially from local population who rely main on it for their daily cooking, threatening ecosystems and biodiversity, and increasing communities' vulnerability to flooding and landslide caused by soil erosion.

The Solution
Promoting a switch to more efficient stoves is an important part of efforts to address the environmental and climate impacts of severe deforestation. By reducing the amount of charcoal households and businesses need, pressure is taken off forest resources.

This is particularly important in developing countries where minimal access to financial aids, empowerments and basic household utilities forces local populations, despite the danger foretold, to clear forest for cooking.

To change this Thrend, UNEP is working with national organisations to ensure that there are adequate, long term investment in natural resource management and clean energy.

In Africa, Nigerian Developmental Association for Renewable Energies is also helping people in the Guinea Savannah Zone of Nigeria to save money by reducing the amount of wood needed for cooking by replacing their traditional fireplaces with efficient stoves.

Recent data shows that demand for forest resources has fallen, conserving valuable biodiversity and ecosystem services, reducing CO2 emissions from wood burning, and leaving trees standing to act as carbon sinks.

What UNEP Did
With support from the governments of Ireland and Norway, UNEP is working with the Haitian Government to identify opportunities for investment in clean energy. This includes more efficient biomass fuelled cooking stoves, which are of interest to many sectors because they provide multiple social, health and environmental benefits. A national strategy for improved stoves is under development, as is a Haiti Improved Stoves Working Group – a low cost forum for coordinating and promoting improved stove initiatives, involving a range of technologies. In Nigeria, in partnership with the Nigerian Developmental Association for Renewable Energies, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is helping inhabitants of the Guinea Savannah Zone replace their traditional fireplaces with efficient stoves. This project is registered under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), under which projects can earn certified emission reduction credits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Big Picture
In association with UNEP, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is also pushing to have 100 million households switch to clean cooking stoves by 2020. The alliance aims to improve livelihoods and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient stoves. The Nigerian cookstoves project alone is expected to save more than 300,000 tonnes of carbon over its 10-year lifetime, and is likely to earn $3.13 million in saleable certified emissions.

There is huge potential for introducing affordable and efficient stoves in developing countries, matched by the availability of funding for this type of project under the CDM. Efficient wood fuel stoves, built locally, have also created employment and freed up people's time (especially for women), which can now be devoted instead to income-generating activities.

Finally
Climate change is our own WW3, recent natural disasters are preamble to what may come in few years' time, let us get involve in every way we can.

Don Abiodun
(This article is from UNEP.org under the Heading COOKING AWAY CLIMATE CHANGE, rewritten by Don Abiodun Odedeyi)

Russia hints plans to quit Kyoto Protocol

Russia on Thursday hinted that it may refuse to sign up to a new round
of targeted carbon cuts that could see the Kyoto environmental
protection treaty extended beyond its end of 2012 expiry date.

"One has to admit that we never got any real commercial gain from the
Kyoto Protocol," news agencies quoted Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
as telling a government meeting.

"That does not mean that we have to try and drag it (the treaty) out
any further," Medvedev added.

European diplomats at the May G8 summit in France said that Russia
along with Japan and Canada had confirmed plans not to join the second
round of carbon cuts.

Russia ratified the treaty in 2004. It has since argued that its terms
harm developing nations.

Medvedev noted that he had said on repeated occasions in the past that
"if the world community fails to agree on Kyoto, we would wave it
goodbye."

He said he was thinking of extending the treaty's terms with EU nations alone.
"But considering our uneasy relations with the European Union, I am
not sure how likely this scenario will be," he said.

A range of EU nations are probing Russian energy natural gas giant
Gazprom for price-fixing and other unfair practices under its new
Energy Charter Treaty.
Medvedev did not explain his reasoning beyond the mention of Russia's
failure to tap into the profits it could have earned had it sold other
nations unused carbon emission credits from its domestic producers.

What the hotel industry can learn from solar to finance CHP by Larry Thrall

The hospitality industry is poised for a boom in the use of combined heat and power systems (CHP) due to the low cost of natural gas and the ever-increasing cost of electricity. Hotels are a natural match for CHP due to their high baseload demand for energy and the ability to efficiently use the heat generated from these systems by offsetting hot water, heating and air-conditioning loads.
In addition, CHP technology has become more reliable, remains comparably inexpensive and creates efficiency. The spark spread is the difference between the cost of burning natural gas for electricity and buying that electricity directly from the grid. In the United States, this difference has never been larger -- and hotels can take advantage of this.
There is one problem, though, that stands in the way of CHP's widespread adoption.

The problem
The principal barrier to the sale of CHP is finance.
The majority of potential sales are constrained by their available investment capital. We estimate that nine of 10 potential clients will be limited by their capital budget to buy a CHP system. So far, the CHP industry has been actively pursuing this well-funded 10 percent of the market. Other major target market sectors -- such as municipalities, hotels and hospitals -- are not as flush with cash. These markets continue to limp along with the economy.
Further, most companies have other priorities for the limited use of their capital. In addition, CHP is a technology that is not familiar to most of the potential clients. As a result they are most likely not aware of their financial options when purchasing such a system. Last, these systems come with other risks such as gas price risk, operations and maintenance costs and equipment failure risk.

Next Learning from solar as a
solution
What can we learn from the solar industry? The solar business developed very quickly over the last three years into a thriving industry. This happened in part due to market conditions, tax incentives, rebates, and lower costs.
The primary mover was the ability for the financial sector to quickly develop products that could wrap all of these benefits up into a tight little package called a power purchase agreement (PPA). This is how traditional utility energy projects have been financed for years.

The power purchase agreement opened the door to finance these capital-intensive projects over a larger portion of their useful life. Innovators in the solar industry realized that they could structure smaller commercial and residential installations in the same way.
The birth of the solar PPA has been one of the primary reasons for the immense growth in the solar industry. It offers the end user the ability to buy solar power with little technology or finance risk. Finance companies can monetize the tax incentives and rebates while passing along some of these benefits to the customer in the form of a lower cost of energy.
Solar projects with paybacks of seven to 10 years and useful lives of more than 25 years are financed over 15 to 20 years. The investors are given an above market return and the customers
are given a lower cost of electricity. Everybody wins. The majority of solar customers would not have bought solar without this structure.

PPA contracts and operating leases for CHP
The CHP industry needs to offer PPA or off-balance sheet finance to its customers in order to compete. The customer needs to be convinced that they are not buying hardware, but instead buying a lower cost of energy. Inherently, CHP has different risks associated with it. These risks need to be addressed and assembled into a nice little package for the customer.

Technology risk
Whether it is a fuel cell, internal combustion engine or turbine, each technology has a risk.
Performance guarantees are usually offered by the manufacturers on their products that help ensure the production on heat and electricity on projects. For smaller and/or newer technology providers, additional insurance may be available to cover default on any performance guarantees that may be offered.

Mitigating natural gas price risks
The risk of natural gas prices during the life of the contract needs to be mitigated. Long-term natural gas contracts can be secured to match the term of the finance offered. Below are a few of the options offered by suppliers on how we structure natural gas contracts:
Flat rate contract -- Pay the same price for the life of the contract. This locks in a set price for the life of the contract, passing on more benefit towards the end when prices are more likely to have risen much more than the end years' contracted price.
Escalating price contract -- Start with a base rate, and increase it over the life of the contract.

This allows the customer to know what they will be paying and take more of these benefits up front while increasing the cost at a pace that the client is comfortable with. Usually the escalator is set at or below the projected escalated price of competing electricity prices.
Floating rate with collar -- The price will fluctuate with the market, but the client will have a ceiling set for the price during the life of the contract.
This allows the client to benefit from the potential lower market prices while paying a premium to hedge their ultimate risk of paying a price above that ceiling, which may be set at their estimated competing electricity prices.

O&M contracts
Operations and maintenance (O&M) of the CHP equipment is an important area in which the client does not want to undertake any risk. The customer wants to pay for electricity and heat, not equipment that may or may not work. This risk can be reduced with a comprehensive operations and maintenance agreement. O&M contracts should be full service, helping eliminate down time. The O&M contracts should match theterm of the finance offered.

Finance
Once we have developed the bundle of offerings above, we can then offer capital leases, operating leases or PPAs that match the same term as their service bundle. The longer the tenure, the higher the returns -- which increases the probability of closing a deal.

The current market supports up to a 10-year tenure on operating leases and PPAs. For projects over 10 MW, structured finance is available matching equity or tax equity investors as well as lenders for the debt component. Credit is still not easy to obtain, but more lenders are now interested in lending into this industry. Ideally, the client needs to have shown profit for two of the last three years, in addition to having a strong balance sheet. Debt service coverage ratio is expected to be at or above 1.25.

Rates for operating leases can be as low as two percent on a 10-year operating lease. This includes the 10 percent U.S. investment tax credit (ITC) that is given to the bank. Certain lenders are more comfortable with certain industries, so finding the right person at the right bank is important to finding the best deal.
There are a few brokers that specialize in energy-related finance that can help to secure the best possible finance for a certain type of client. For instance, a client may want to use their existing banking relationship and be declined or offered a shorter tenure or higher rate than what they may obtain from the same bank through a broker that is specific to this type of finance.

In summary
The key to implementing CHP for hotels is to reduce risk by properly addressing the associated risks: technology guarantees, solid operating and maintenance agreements, long-term natural gas contracts and insurance along with creative financing structured to the individual needs of the hotel.

This article originally appeared on Green Lodging

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

First loans worth more than USD $3million approved under CDM Loan Scheme

A newly launched loan scheme aimed at increasing the number of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in developing countries has authorized the funding of more than USD $3 million towards 23 CDM projects. Xiaodi Cai : A way to a better life (CDM project 3965) Bonn, 12 September 2012 - A newly launched loan scheme aimed at increasing the number of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in developing countries has authorized the funding of more than USD $3 million towards 23 CDM projects.

The loan scheme is run jointly by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Risoe Centre on behalf of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It provides interest-free loans for CDM projects in least developed nations with fewer than ten registered CDM projects.

"We are pleased to see the momentum the CDM Loan Scheme is creating. Often these are small scale and innovative project ideas that benefit traditional communities," said Jan Mattsson, UNOPS Executive Director. "The next step for UNOPS is to distribute the loans to the selected entities and to monitor their progress towards clean energy solutions - making a real difference."

The selected projects are very diverse - ranging from household-level energy efficiency (such as energy-efficient cook stoves) to methane avoidance to transportation.

"The strong interest in the loan scheme and wide range of project types and locations are further indications of the continuing strong interest in, and relevance of, the CDM in the fight against climate change," said John Kilani, Director of the Sustainable Development Mechanisms programme at the UNFCCC secretariat.

The bulk of the selected projects come from Africa, with 17 of the 23 projects located on the continent.

"It is indeed very positive to see that the majority of the selected projects come from Africa," said John Christensen, Director of UNEP Risoe Centre.

"This indicates that the offset project
infrastructure is transforming market access."

There are also three projects in Asia, two in the Middle East and one in Latin America. The majority of the approved loans are programmes of activities (PoA), of which there are 13. Seven are small-scale projects and three are large-scale projects. The loans, subject to a formalized agreement, will cover the development of project design documents, validation by designated operational entities and the first verification of emissions.

Applications are currently being accepted for the second round of the CDM Loan Scheme. The deadline for applications is 30 September 2012.

For more information see: www.cdmloanscheme.org.

Culled from UNEP.ORG
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

"You can take 2liters of acid and shut up" - Hon. Dino Melaye (former House member)

Former Nigeria House of Representative member, Dino Melaye, seems to know how to attracts attention to himself for whatever reason.

He was caught recently telling someone on twitter to "take 2litres of acid and shut up".

The incident occurred when a twitter handler @topeatiba initiated an online forum on the topic 'Who Is Dino Melaye' using the hashtag #WhoIsDinoMelaye?

After some tweets from other twitter users that questioned the former honourable's motive behind series of protests he led against the government he once benefited from, Dino Melaye seems to lost his cool as he fired back.

"@topeatiba you can take 2liters of acid and shut up"

In another response by Melaye, he said "@topeatiba I have always done (serve). (It) is either you were in comma or in jail when I was serving"

The motive behind the forum, according to the initiator, was to create a platform where the former representative member's recent activities and motive can be discuss and his idea better understood.

It will be recalled that fmr rep member, Dino Melaye was suspended from the House after he led a group that caused uproar on the House floor. He regained his seat but was defeated in the next general election that ought to return him back to the legislative arm of the government. He was also at the front of the OccupyNigeria protest in Lokoja, Kogi state in January 2012 when the federal government of Nigeria removed fuel subsidy.

Dino Melaye who has 13309 followers as at the time of this report is yet to remove the tweets from his account.

Report by Odedeyi Abiodun
Twitter: @abiodunodedeyi
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

African farmers must do more to beat climate change: study By Alister Doyle (Reuters)

African farmers are finding new ways to cope with droughts, erosion and other ravages of climate change but need to develop even more techniques to thrive in an increasingly uncertain environment, scientists said on Friday.

Small holders have started to plant more drought - resistant and faster-growing crops to keep the harvests coming in, according to a survey of 700 households in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania.

"The good news is that a lot of farmers are making changes," said Patti Kristjanson, who heads a programme on climate change, agriculture and food security at the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi and led the study.
"So it's not all doom and gloom ... but much more needs to be done," she told Reuters.

Farmers, backed by researchers and international donors, needed to find better ways to store rain water, increase the use of manure and bring in hardier crops like sweet potatoes, she said. In the past decade, 55 percent of households surveyed said they had taken up faster-growing crop varieties, mainly of maize, and 56 percent had adopted at least one drought-tolerant variety, according to the findings in the journal Food Security.

FIGHTING EROSION
Fifty percent of the households were planting trees on their farms - helping to combat erosion, increase water and soil quality and bring in new crops like nuts.
Half of the farmers had introduced inter-cropping - planting alternate rows of, for instance of beans and maize, in the same field and then swapping the rows next season. Beans fix nitrogen in the soil, helping reduce the need for fertilisers.

But Friday's study found just a quarter of farmers were using manure or compost - avoiding the use of more expensive fertilisers. And only 10 percent were storing water, it added.
The study said that global warming, leading to erosion, less reliable rainfall and changes in the length of growing seasons, was adding to other stresses for farmers worldwide such as price spikes and a rising population.

Kristjanson said the study showed encouraging signs of many farmers' willingness to adapt.
But faster change may be needed because Africa is especially vulnerable to climate change, according to the U.N. panel of climate scientists which blames heat-trapping emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.

In Africa, up to 220 million people could be exposed to greater stress on water supplies by 2020 and yields from rain-fed agriculture in some countries could be cut by up to 50 percent by 2020, according to a 2007 U.N. report.

Culled from reuters.com

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Thawing permafrost frees millions of tons of carbon: study

A vast outcrop of the Arctic Siberian coast that had been frozen for tens of
thousands of years is releasing huge carbon deposits as rising temperatures thaw parts of it's coastline, a study warned Wednesday.

The carbon, a potential source of Earth-warming CO2, has lain frozen along the 7,000-kilometre (4,400-mile) northeast Siberian coastline since the last Ice Age.

But atmospheric warming and coastal erosion are gnawing at the icy seal, releasing about 40 million tonnes of carbon a year -- 10 times more than previously thought, said a study in
the journal Nature.

About two-thirds of the carbon escapes into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2) and the rest becomes trapped in higher layers of
ocean sediment.

About half the carbon pool in soil globally is held in permafrost in the Arctic, a region that is experiencing twice the global average of climate warming, said the study led by
researchers at Stockholm University.
Earlier this week, US scientists said the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean had melted to it's smallest point ever.

The region covered by the Nature study, called Yedoma, is twice the size of Sweden but has been poorly researched because it is so remote.
The finding touches on a vicious circle, or positive feedback in climate parlance.

Under this, man-made warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels releases naturally-occurring stocks of CO2 that have been stored in permafrost since the last Ice Age, called the Pleistocene.

The released gases in turn add to global warming, which frees even more locked-up carbon, and so on.
"Thermal collapse and erosion of these carbon-rich Pleistocene coastline and seafloor deposits may accelerate the Arctic amplification of climate warming," the paper warned.

The atmospheric leakage from Yedoma is equivalent to the annual emissions of around five million passenger cars, on the basis of average carbon output (five tonnes per year) of vehicles in the United States.

In a separate study also in Nature,
researchers in Britain, the Netherlands and the United States used computer models to estimate there could be as much as four billion tonnes of methane under Antarctica's icesheet.
Methane is 25 times more efficient at
trapping solar heat than carbon dioxide.

Before it froze over, the region teemed with life whose organic remains became trapped in sediment later covered by ice sheets.
"Our modelling shows that over millions of years, microbes may have turned this old organic carbon into methane," which could boost climate warming if released by ice sheet collapse, the researchers said in a statement.

The collapse of the Antarctic ice sheet is considered an extremely remote scenario by most climatologists, and some studies have suggested that parts of it could be thickening, due to localised increases in snowfall.

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Culled from france24.com

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FAILING EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS by Odedeyi Abiodun

For its numerous contribution, especially to national development, educations has been receiving special attention from the federal, state and local governments. It is the leading requirement to get virtually any position or move out and make a living as such, it has become a matter of getting the right grades or nothing.

This has also lead to call for improvement in education standards so as to have quality human capital turnouts. So, a sizable part of the country's budgets disappear into project at enhancing basic training and better manpower building for the future generations.

These dreams are however not shared by the very people whose case the state is fighting- Pupils.

About a week ago, some students of a public secondary school in Lagos were seen altering their examination report cards, with no regards to who or what anyone think of their action, they changed their low grades in full glare of the public.

On investigation, it was revealed that the students were among those who were asked to repeat their present class due to poor examination results.

Appalled, myself and a group of facebook friends otherwise known Space for Change approached the vice principal of the school (name withheld) who confirmed the revelations, "We know them", she said, "We deal with them everyday, even some teachers are involved.

"Once the initial marking is complete, we make sure that the master-report is submitted to the principal, this minimizes to the barest minimum any chances of manipulation from their efforts."

"There has been a surge in this issue since the directive from the state government that students must score 50% and above in six subjects including English and Mathematics."

Seated in her book-laden office, however, the vice principal seems more concerned about inflicting eternal punishment rather than repatriating the students.

"We have other important things to do than dealing with those fraudulent students," she said, slamming her hand on her dusty woody table when it seems our little party won't take 'no' for an answer.

From her conversation she revealed other pranks of the students including buying new examination result sheets among others. At the state education board, a staff disclosed that principals have been adviced to make use of duplicating paper so as to foil any mischief.

With much persuasion, she promised in a not-too-strong-tone to look into the matter and 'do' something about it.
We left and was I was dropped close to Radio Nigeria, Shogunle, where I was to drop a story but uptill now, questions about the incident fails to get convincing answers from me.

Are we leaving the coming generation to their fate?
Why are those picked to instill training aiding their pupils to cheat the system?
Is this what poverty has turned many to? Selling off the future of a whole generation because of today?

While no one has been brought to book by the school authority and no plan to do so, and with a combine effort of pupils and some teachers within the system compromising effective training of these wards, efforts at resuscitating this latent sector may well be a long shot.

- email: abiodunodedeyi@gmail.com
- facebook: Don Abiodun Odedeyi
- twitter: @abiodunodedeyi

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Towards making energy available and affordable to all and sundry by Tina Armstrong Ogbonna

A recent study by the International Centre for Energy and Environmental Development ICEED has called on the Federal Government to put a policy in place establish a national cooking energy programme and new national rural electrification programme under the power sector reform. Funding for rural electrification and cooking energy for poor people has declined over the years, and called on the Federal Government to Shown that without a new national programme on rural electrification and clean energy stoves the number of poor people in Nigeria will grow exponentially.
The Executive Director of ICEED Mr. Ewah Eleri made this known recently during a programme, on Financing Pro-Poor Energy Access in Nigeria. Mr. Eleri said lack of clean energy for cooking in rural communities has continued to increase the level of deforestation in the country as rural dwellers depend largely on firewood for cooking.
He noted that "ICEED and its partners are on a campaign that focuses on the silent energy crisis and the silent energy crisis is that of household not having access to save and affordable cooking energy.
We have a situation where government has no plans and
programmes or policies on cooking
energy". This is not acceptable, he
added.
The over dependence of rural dwellers on firewood for cooking energy has continued to increase the level of deforestation in Northern Nigeria. According to a World Bank report, Nigeria has the largest number of death due to indoor air pollution from cooking with firewood.
Mr. Eleri explained that the pro-poor energy financing campaign is calling on the Federal Government to provide adequate budget lines to expand rural electrification, significant resources to different agencies of government in the 2013 budget. Furthermore, he pointed out that Nigeria export more gas than is being used in the country. Nigeria is one of Africa's largest exporters of cooking gas but the usage is poor at home due to poor distribution channel, lack of awareness about proper use of gas cylinders that have created fear and apathy and also high upfront cost of cylinders. The Federal Government should enlighten the people about safe usage of gas cylinders; it should also put in place standard safety measures and regulations and also subsidize the price of cylinders. According to him, Lagos state government has started that and the Federal Government can follow suit. The use of cooking gas should be encouraged by making available smaller mass of cylinders because not everyone can afford the 5kg gas cylinders. In line with what has been done with recharge cards, where you can purchase as low as #100 to #1,500. Cooking gas is environment friendly.
The Federal Government should stop the flaring of gas in the country and utilize it for household energy use for cooking. Mr. Eleri believes that the Vision 20:20, Millennium Development Goal (MDG's) and the transformation agenda of the present administration would be far from been achieved if the energy poverty in the country is not aggressively tackled with the right programmes and policies in place.
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Drought fears loom in India as monsoon stalls

Meteorological department predicts at least 10 per cent less rain this year affecting millions of farmers across nation.

As millions of farmers in India continue to wait for the season's monsoon rains, vital for the country's agriculture and power sector, the Indian Meteorological department says that it expects at least 10 per cent less rain this year.

In a statement released late on Thursday, the department said that the rains between June and August 1 have been 19 per cent below normal levels, and that the remaining month of the monsoon will also be drier, owing to the impact of El Nino.

El Nino is the phenomenon of the warming of the Pacific Ocean.
The shortfall is expected to swell electricity demand in an power-starved country, as farmers turn to irrigation pumps to keep fields waters.
Earlier this week, three of India's regional electricity grids failed for hours in a blackout that affected more than 600 million people.

"If the government doesn't help us we will die of hunger. There's no water to drink and no food to eat."

- Bharat, a farmer from Gujarat state
Several states have already declared near-drought conditions, and are demanding extra federal funds or announcing large subsidies to help farmers to purchase diesel fuel for electricity generators.
Officials in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh - India's most populous - fear that a drought is around the corner.
Farmers in the state say that if rain does not come in the next few days, they will be forced to forego this year's rice crop.

In the eastern state of Bihar, at least eight of 38 districts have received rains that are 70 per cent below normal, said Anil Kumar Jha, the deputy director of the state's
agriculture department. Jha said the state is spending 6.19 billion rupees($112m) on subsidising diesel so that farmers could generate electricity to draw up ground water.

Cascading effect on economy.
Several other states - Haryana and Punjab in the north, Maharashtra in the west and the southern state of Karnataka - have all recorded poor rainfall.
These states grow a large amount of the country's rice, wheat, oilseeds and cereals.

A poor monsoon has a cascading effect on the Indian economy, because about 60 per cent of the population works in agriculture and more than half of the country's farmlands are rain-fed.

The sector contributes up to 20 per cent to India's gross domestic product.
A lack of adequate rainfall in this period can also worsen inflation of food prices.

While the government is yet to declare a drought, it has already offered 19 billion rupees ($340m) in cash and subsidies to tens of millions of farmers.

It has also rolled out contingency plans to ensure seeds are available to farmers and adequate fodder is supplied for livestock, as well as prioritizing drinking water from low-level reservoirs.

Overall this year, there has been a reduction of around eight million hectares (19.7 million acres) in the crop area sown compared to last year, when the rains were normal.
"If the government doesn't help us we will die of hunger. There's no water to drink and no food to eat," said Bharat, a farmer from Gujarat, in western India.
"We are tired of looking at the sky, but the rain just doesn't fall," he said.

Culled from aljazeera.com

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Win With Voices4Climate

Are you between 18 and 35? Want to wow the world with your creativity? Join the Voices4Climate 2012 global photo, video and music competition and win cool prizes.

Let the world know how climate change is affecting your country, your community, your friends or your family.

http://unfccc.int/cc_inet/cc_inet/information_pool/simple_search/items/3522.php?displayPool=1491
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European Offshore Wind Energy Continues to Grow by Leaps and Bounds - unfccc

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) assessed the offshore wind capacity in Europe over the last six months. They found that at the end of the first half of 2012, the continent's offshore wind capacity grew by at an astonishing rate from a year ago. A new report by the EWEA shows that there are 132 new offshore wind turbines, providing an additional 523 megawatts of power, and that these new turbines were fully connected to the power grid during the first half of 2012. Last year, Europe added only 348.1 megawatts from offshore wind during the same time period, making it an increase of about 50 percent.
These findings were printed in the EWEA's "Key Trends and Statistics" report. Of the 132 new turbines, 103 were erected in five large wind farms since January. They also found that the average size of the wind turbines grew up to 4 megawatts, up 14 percent from last year.
The chief executive of the EWEA, Christian Kjaer, championed the news, stating that it is a triumph in the face of harsh economic times.
"Offshore wind power is increasingly attracting investors, including pension funds and other institutional and corporate investors," Kjaer said in a statement. "But it would be good to see more activity in southern Europe where jobs, investments and growth are desperately needed."
The country leading the way in the current offshore wind boom is the United Kingdom. From January to July, Britain added eight new wind farms. Both Germany and Denmark installed two new wind farms. Belgium also brought one wind farm online.
Total amount of offshore wind energy in Europe now stands at 4,336 megawatts as of June 30, 2012. That figure in June of 2011 was only 3,294 megawatts, which provided electricity to the equivalent of 4 million households.
There are an additional 13 wind farms under construction during the first half of 2012. When completed, these will add an extra 3,762 megawatts of capacity.
At a time when the United States is struggling to build just one offshore wind farm, Europe is plowing ahead at an accelerating rate. Amazingly, this has been occurring at a time of financial crisis in the Eurozone. It demonstrates the strong European commitment to phasing out fossil fuels and expanding renewable energy.

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Residents of Makoko besiege Lagos Governor by Don Abiodun Odedeyi

Residents of Makoko whose community is under bulldozer as a result of shanties clearing exercise by the Lagos state government took their plight to the office of the Lagos State governor today.

The peaceful protest took off at the Alausa Shoprite mall with about 2000 residents. At the governor's office, Yussuf Jejelaiye, Baale (Head) of Makoko highlighted how the community has been marginalised by different administrations.
"We have no government school, no hospital yet we perform our civil right each time there is election."

He reiterated that the community has being existing since the time of his fore-fathers and an evacuation action now is like a death sentence.

Responding to the address of Mr. Yussuf Jejelaiye, Governor Raji Fashola explained that the exercise is not meant to dislodge the community rather, it is to check mate the continuous encroachment of the sea by the activities of the community.
"Where we have sawdust today is not the same place ten years ago. The community, through their activities, is encroaching on drainage channels, the lagoon and the nearby economic interest of the state. You all are witness to the continuous flood that the state has been subjected to."

He noted that some members of the Makoko communities have fallen victim of fraudstars who took their money with the promise that their area will not be touch."

In his address, Prince Adesegun Oniru said the exercise was embarked on with the best interest of the Makoko community at heart.
"There is a power-line directly above the community, in case of any accident, the whole community will go up in flame so, this exercise is a check on a disaster that may happen anytime."

When the meeting was over, protesters who came to the governor's office with venom seems to have lost their voices. One begins to wonder where they kept their voices even when the governor made it clear that demolition will continue.

ℓ̊ spoke with some protesters, one of them, Rev. Samuel Adewale, a resident said, "we are disappointed even though we've envisaged this yet we are disappointed."

Don: so, what is the next line of action?

Rev. Adewale: Court of course, we are heading to court for an injunction on this criminal act.

In a swift reaction to the governor's response, the executive director of SERAC, expressed his disappointment and the resolution of the governor to continue the demolition despite letters for dialogue and amicable solution to the matter.

"Aside from a 72-hour notice given to the community, police and other security agents, without justification shot and killed a citizen, Timothy Azinkpono.
"In the notice to quit, Lagos State government accused the residents of developing shanties on the waterfront and impending economic and gainful utilization of the waterfront.
"This community is well documented and globally recognized as an ancestral fishing settlement that has flourished since 1860s, where else will they lay claim to if the government evacuate them?"

Mr. Felix accused the government of dancing to the tune of World bank with a warning, "Makoko and Iwaya are two of nine communities targeted for upgrading under the $200million World Bank funded Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project (LMDGP).
"Notwithstanding it's contractual commitments under the LMDGP and it's legal obligations to respect the rights of all the citizen under the constitution and international law, the state government has continues to treat residents of impoverished communities as expandable people."

Mr. Felix who is also a member of LMDGP expressed his disappointment by the betrayal of the lofty goals for which the project was designed. He, at the press briefing, said he will not continue with the committee.

As at today, Monday, the total number of death recorded due to the exercise stood at six. The latest being three children who were drown in the early hours of monday when the boat in which they slept capsized, three other people were fell by security bullets during scuffle with residents of the community.

From the Governor's Office, Alausa-Ikeja, Lagos, Don Abiodun reporting
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