Provisional Statement on Status of Climate in 2013: Continuing high temperatures globally and many climate extremes worldwide

November 13, 2013

From VIOLET MENGO in Warsaw, Poland

THE World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says the year 2013 will be among the top ten warmest years since 1850.

The WMO's provisional annual statement on the Status of the Global Climate 2013 provides a snapshot of regional and national temperatures.

It also includes details on precipitation, floods, droughts, tropical cyclones, ice cover and sea-level.

The statement was released yesterday (Wednesday 13^th) to inform negotiators at the United Nations climate change conference here.

The first nine months, January to September, tied with 2003 as the seventh warmest such period on record, with a global land and ocean surface temperature of about 0.48°C (0.86°F) above the 1961-1990 average.

WMO Secretary General Michel Jarraud said temperatures so far this year are about the same as the average during 2001 to 2010, which was the warmest decade on record.

Mr Jarraud said all of the warmest years have been since 1998 and this year once again continues the underlying, long-term trend.

He said the coldest years now are warmer than the hottest years before 1998.

“Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases reached new highs in 2012, and we expect them to reach unprecedented levels yet again in 2013,”Mr Jarraud said.

This means that we are committed to a warmer future; Surface temperatures are only part of the wider picture of our changing climate.

The secretary general said the impact on water cycle is already becoming apparent – as manifested by droughts, floods and extreme precipitation.

The provisional WMO statement confirms that global sea level reached a new record high.

Sea level has been rising at an average rate of about 3.2 milimetres per year, with inter-annual variability, since altimeter satellite measurements began in 1993.

This is close to the observed rate of about 3 mm/yr of the most recent decade of 2001-2010 and double the observed 20th century trend of 1.6 mm/yr.

“Sea levels will continue to rise because of melting ice caps and glaciers. More than 90 percent of the extra heat we are generating from greenhouse gas is absorbed by the oceans, which will consequently continue to warm and expand for hundreds of years,” said Mr Jarraud.

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Government​s called to harness strong groundswel​l of action on climate change

November 11, 2013

By VIOLET MENGO

The UN Climate Change Conference in Warsaw began today with calls for governments to harness the strong groundswell of action on climate change across all levels of government, business and society and make real progress here towards a successful, global climate change agreement in 2015.

The newly elected President of the Conference of the Parties (COP 19/CMP 9 Marcin Korolec, Poland's Environment Minister, said in his opening address that climate change is a global problem that must be turned further into a global opportunity.

 "It's a problem if we can't coordinate our actions. It becomes opportunity where we can act together. One country or even a group cannot make a difference. But acting together, united as we are here, we can do it," he said.

In her opening speech at the Warsaw National Stadium, the venue of COP 19,  Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on  Climate Change, called on delegates to "win the Warsaw opportunity" to safeguard present and future generations.

"We must stay focused, exert maximum effort for the full time and produce a positive result, because what happens in this stadium is not a game. There are not two sides, but the whole of humanity. There are no winners and losers, we all either win or lose in the future we make for ourselves."

 Ms. Figueres pointed to the sobering realities of climate change and the rise in extreme events that climate science has long predicted, including the devastating Typhoon Haiyan that just hit the Philippines, one of the most powerful typhoons ever to make landfall.

Ms. Figueres highlighted the key areas in which COP 19 can make progress:

 "We must clarify finance that enables the entire world to move towards low-carbon development. We must launch the construction of a mechanism that helps vulnerable populations to respond to the unanticipated effects of climate change. We must deliver an effective path to pre-2020 ambition, and develop further clarity for elements of the new agreement that will shape the post-2020 global climate, economic and development agendas".

In addition, the meeting in Warsaw will focus on decisions that will make fully operational the new institutional support under the UNFCCC for developing nations in finance, adaptation and technology. These are the Green Climate Fund, the Technology Mechanism and the Adaptation Committee, all agreed in Cancun in 2010.

Ms. Figueres stressed the fact that the meeting in Warsaw is taking place against the background of growing awareness that climate change is real and accelerating, and the growing willingness of people, businesses and governments to take climate action, at all levels of society and policy.

 "There is a groundswell of climate action. Not only for environmental reasons, but also for security, energy, economic and governance reasons. Political will and public support favour action now. A new universal climate agreement is within our reach. Agencies, development banks, investors and subnational governments are on board. The science from the IPCC is clear. Parties can lead the momentum for change and move together towards success in 2015."

In order to showcase the growing climate leadership and contributions to the climate challenge from all sides, a Business Forum organized by the UN and the Polish host government will take place next week alongside the meeting. Cities and regions will gather for the first ever "Cities Day” that highlights their actions. And a Gender Day will showcase women's role in meeting the climate challenge.

 Also next week, the UNFCCC secretariat will showcase Momentum for Change lighthouse activities, climate action that demonstrates positive results for innovative finance, women and the urban poor.

In addition, the initiative will launch a new area that focuses on contributions by the information and technology sector to curb emissions and increase adaptive capacity to respond.

 The UN Climate Change Conference in Warsaw (11 to 22 November) is currently being attended by government delegates, representatives from business and industry, environmental organisations, research institutions and the media.

 More than 100 Heads of State and Government and Ministers are scheduled to attend the high-level segment of the meeting, which begins on 19 November and ends with a decision-making plenary on 22 November.

Developed countries must help climate captives at climate summit

November 11^th 2013

By VIOLET MENGO

CHRISTIAN Aid has called on representatives at the UN climate summit here to put the issue of equity at the heart of discussion on creating a global deal to tackle climate change.

In a report launched today, ahead of the official opening, Christian Aid reminds delegates to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that industrialised nations have been responsible for the 72 percent of the total greenhouse gas emission since the start of the industrial revolution in 1850.

Despite pledges to cut emissions, the industrialised countries have shown a marked reluctance to face up to their historical responsibility for causing the problem in the first place.

The report, Fair shares in a constrained world, points out that developing countries, with 82.7 per cent of the world's population, have emitted just 28.5 per cent of the world's total emissions.

Report author, Mohamed Adow, Senior Climate Change Adviser at Christian Aid, said those already suffering the most from climate change are the world's poor that have done the least to create the problem.

“Like stopping the trans-Atlantic slave trade, this will take moral clarity from those in the developed world. This problem calls for action from the rich, who built their wealth through uncapped pollution. They must cut their emissions and lead the world towards a low-carbon, resilient future or they will force extreme weather, devastating droughts and rising sea levels onto the backs of the world's poor,” said Mr Adow.

He said the level of finance, technology and other associated support required by developing countries must be established, and the obligation to provide those resources dealt with equitably.

Mr Adow said developed countries have most of the world's wealth, which is considered a measure of capacity to tackle climate change.

“The 54 African countries with 16.6 per cent of the global population, and the least developed countries, with 12.7 per cent of the global population, have just 1.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent of the global income respectively. The figures speak for themselves,” said Mr Adow.

The report calls for all parties to the conference to agree to scientifically defined limits on greenhouse gas emissions, which will set the total global effort needed.

It reveals that countries must then decide on a clear equity process, one that sets the world on a path towards a climate deal in 2015 that is both just and ambitious.   

“A vision needs to be forged in Warsaw which captures the UNFCCC principles of 'common but differentiated responsibilities', a plan based on each country's historic responsibility and capacity to respond, this report lays out all of the data governments need to forge that plan,” said Mr Adow.

'This vision must bridge the current gap between the different government views and increase their understanding of the need for equitable effort sharing required for the 2015 deal,' said Mr Adow.

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Zambian Member of Parliament says political involvement key in climate change

 NOVEMBER 12, 2013

From VIOLET MENGO in Warsaw, Poland

KABWE Member of Parliament James Kapyanga says the involvement of political leaders is cardinal in the formulation of policies that can accelerate climate change.

Speaking in an interview here, Mr Kapyanga said politicians are policy makers and in better standing to take the leading role in addressing climate change.

“If there is anything to do with legal formulation of policies, the politicians are the ones to advance the process because they are the drivers in this area and hence their involvement is important,” Mr Kapyanga said.

He also noted that the other important aspect for political leaders is the full understanding of climate change.

“My presence here at the conference is very important and goes a long way to try and help out my colleagues who are at home in fully understanding climate change and activities that can address this challenge,” he said.

The member of Parliament is of the view that without a good understanding of climate change issues, politicians may fail to come up with workable policies that are aimed at addressing climate change.

Mr Kapyanga said climate change is all about taking care of the atmosphere, environment and natural resources in a way that future generation will not be affected.

And on the Conference of Parties (COP19) meeting, the parliamentarian said the conference is very important because it is looking at issues that affect the climate and also bridging the gap between the developed and developing countries.

“From the developing world aspect, they are saying that they have not really affected the climate and blame the industrialisation of the developed nations, which emitted most of the pollution contributing to the changes in the atmosphere,” Mr Kapyanga said.

He said the need to address issues of finance, capacity building and technological transfer which seem to be a very difficult on the part of developed world, challenges of climate change will be answered.

“It is sad that to date the United States of America have chosen not to be part of the Kyoto Protocol which binds industrialised nation to reduce their emission, USA is a country that has massive technology and wealth and can capacitate the developing countries,” Mr Kapyanga said.

He appealed to industrialised nations that are still not part of the Kyoto protocol to start participating because climate change affects the world and accelerate the response to climate change.

The 19^th session of the UN climate change conference is taking place at the Warsaw National stadium and runs from 11 to 22 November.

Over 190 countries are represented. The high level meeting for policy makers starts on the 19^th November.

Ends….

By VIOLET MENGO

JOEL Zimba and Miriam Bwalya are scheduled to get married and they are aware of the importance of couples’ voluntary counselling and testing (CVCT).

They have plans of having children and a life- long partnership, hence an HIV test is key to their plans.
“If we go together for an HIV test, we get the results together and we will know the truth together right from the start,” says Mr Zimba, a 30-year-old man of Lusaka’s Kanyama Township.

Mr Zimba says testing as a couple is one way of showing love and commitment to each other.
He defines a couple as two people who are married, cohabiting, pre-marital partners contemplating marriage, sex partners or pre-sexual partners.

The couples say CVCT will help them discover their status and learn how best to respond to it.
Mr Zimba and Ms Bwalya say testing together helps couples to benefit from counselling sessions that aim to improve their communication.

Despite experts confirming that CVCT helps to reduce the risk of HIV transmission, less than one percent of African couples have been tested together.

This is a missed opportunity, since most pregnant women and people living with HIV are married or cohabiting.

It is against this background that the Rwanda -Zambia HIV Research Group (RZHRG) was established to provide CVCT in the two countries.

The research group started in 1986 in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, where it tested over 150, 000 couples. In Zambia, the project started in 1994 and currently has 71 CVCT government clinics.
In Rwanda, CVCT is now a standard of care and over 85 percent of pregnant women are tested with partners.

In Zambia, from 2007-2012, CVCT has been provided to over 10,000 couples per year in Lusaka and Southern Provinces while 48,000 couples were tested in 2010 alone.

Zambia Emory Research HIV Project national director William Kilembe explains that RZHRG provides CVCT follow-up services for discordant and concordant negative couples.

Discordant couples are those where one partner is HIV-positive and the other is not while concordant negative couples are couples that are HIV-negative.

“You can only know your partner when you know each other’s HIV status,” says Dr Kilembe.
Dr Kilembe says couples often will not test together because of conflicting work schedules or because they live great distances from each other due to work.

He says testing together as a couple eases the burden of disclosing results to partners.
“It is usually difficult to tell your partner your HIV status. But if they are counselled and tested together at the same time, and they are together when the results come, that added pressure is taken away,” Dr Kilembe says.

African couples represent the largest HIV risk group: more than two-thirds of new HIV infections are acquired from a spouse. HIV discordant couples represent the largest at risk group in Africa.

Studies of HIV-discordant heterosexual couples in Rwanda and Zambia show that when couples are counselled and tested together, the transmission of HIV from the positive to the negative partner is reduced from 20 to 25 percent.

The number of other sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies also decreases.
In 2009, RZHRG were designated Couples’ HIV Counselling and Testing Centres of Excellence by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in Zambia and Rwanda.

In this capacity, RZHRG provides training and technical assistance to help countries support and implement CVCT across a variety of settings, including increasing male involvement in PMTCT services.

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and CDC collaborated with RZHRG to develop the CVCT Intervention and Training Curriculum.

The curriculum has been used in CDC-led training in several African countries.
“We have trained over 1,785 people from 146 organisations in Botswana, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guyana and Haiti,” says director and founder of the RZH RG Dr Suzan Allen.

Other countries where training has been conducted are Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, the United States and Zambia.
RZHRG also assisted the World Health Organisation with its CVCT guidelines, which were published in April 2012.

These are called “Guidance on Couples’ HIV Testing and Counselling, including Antiretroviral Therapy for Treatment and Prevention in Serodiscordant Couples”.

The first CVCT Centre of Excellence workshops were convened in Kigali and Lusaka in 2009, and allowed participants to share best practices in improving uptake of CVCT.

The follow-up workshops took place from 29th November to 1st December in Lusaka and 5th to 7th December 2012 in Kigali, Rwanda, respectively.

The workshops allowed past recipients of Centre of Excellence technical assistance and training to share their experiences with countries who have not yet implemented CVCT.

It also provided a foundation to develop new training opportunities, a forum to discuss progress in centre of excellence countries, and an opportunity to identify challenges to CVCT roll-out and integration.

“Our research team has 15 years experience conducting heterosexual HIV prevention research in the capitals of two African countries,” says Dr Allen.

She says early studies in Rwanda showed that voluntary HIV counselling and testing results in pronounced risk reduction in married couples.

She says CVCT is the only prevention programme proven to reduce HIV incidence in the largest risk group the world over.

“Demand for couples’ VCT is low because of the belief that monogamy is ‘safe’, the fear of stigma, gender inequity between husband and wife, and lack of knowledge about where VCT can be obtained,” Dr Allen says.

Given the low demand, policy-makers and other influential groups need to take an active role in advocating CVCT.

Funding agencies also need to support VCT services so that supply and utilisation enhanced. It is critical that this continuing cycle of low demand low supply be interrupted.

Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health permanent secretary Elwyn Chomba says testing only one partner in a couple does not result in decreased HIV risk.

Prof. Chomba says while it is important to know one’s own status, it is equally important to know one’s partner’s status. If both partners know both results, they know what they need to do and they are motivated to do it.

“Joint testing and counselling decreases transmission of HIV by more than 60 percent within discordant couples and reduces sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies in all couples,” she says.

CVCT is identified in the Zambia National AIDS strategy 2011-2015 as key prevention tool and an effective entry point for prevention services.

Despite CVCT being identified in the strategy, Prof Chomba says less than 10 percent of Zambian couples have been tested together to date.

“In urban Zambia, an estimated 70 percent of new HIV infections are in cohabiting partners who do not realise that one partner is HIV- positive and the other is HIV -negative,” Prof Chomba says.
She says two thirds of these can be prevented by couples going for voluntary HIV counselling and testing.

Africans should use home grown initiative in STI

By Violet Mengo

SCIENCE experts and officials attending the first Africa Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation in Nairobi, Kenya are seeking African solutions to African problems.

The delegates are calling for African governments to fund and promote research and development on the continent.

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Technology Division Director Aida Opolu-Mensah said during the official opening that for a long time Africa’s science and technology program has been set by the continent’s development partners.

 “We need to be in the “driving seat” if Africa is the new pole of growth, the continent has to be in the driving seat,” Mr Mensah said.

 He said Africa has to invest its own resources in the science and technology that they want to use in order to achieve new growth.

Mr Mensah called upon African countries to fund science and technology programs from their national budgets, not to rely on “gifts” from international partners.

In 2006, the African Union set a target for all member countries to spend at least one percent of their gross domestic product on science research and development.

According to research from an A.U. development program, known as NEPAD, only Uganda, Malawi and South Africa have reached that target.

 African economies have grown rapidly during the past decade, and are predicted to continue expanding by most estimates. The International Monetary Fund expects African economies to grow by nearly six percent this in 2012.

 African Development Bank Vice President Kamal El Khesten pointed out that growth does not necessarily equate to development.

“This growth was not satisfactorily inclusive, in spite of double-digit growth rates in many countries; the occurrence of jobless growth has become the order of the day. The challenge is to address the disparity between skills development and the actual requirements of the labor market,” he said.

Mr El Khestan said the continent needs to invest in higher education to prepare for jobs in science and technology for young people who are at the centre at attention of the conference in terms of youth employment.

There is no shortage of advice and guidance on science and technology development in Africa. The African Union has made numerous declarations on the subject, starting with the 2005 consolidated plan of action. The United Nations has its own recommendations, as do most international development agencies working in the continent.

 Association for the Development of Eduction in Africa Chairman Dzingai Mutumbuka said many of these good ideas are never put into action. He hopes this forum will be different.

 “It is time that we as Africans move away from arrogant conference resolutions to implementation,” he said.

The three days forum started on Sunday and hopes to take some concrete actions in designing possible responses to water, energy and biodiversity needs in Africa.

Africa needs to invest in science, technology and innovation

By VIOLET MENGO

THE first African Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation taking place in Nairobi Kenya has highlighted the need to invest in this key sector to foster sustainable growth and development and provide job opportunities for youth and women.

And African countries have been called upon to embrace and utilise relevant science, technology and creatively innovate to ensure viable development.

Speaking at the official opening of the conference, Kenyan Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Margaret Kamar said African countries will only be able to effectively confront some of the pressing challenges of development when STI is effectively utilised.

“The problems of youth unemployment, inadequacies in human capital development and inclusive growth will be achieved when we (Africans) take seriously STIs,” Ms Kamar said.

The Forum is an African initiative and looks at achievements made in this domain across the continent, highlighting best practices and policies.

It also seeks to strengthen North-South and South-South cooperation, partnerships between the private and public sectors and cooperation between institutions of higher education.

The conference is sponsored by UNESCO with the African Union Commission (AU), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the Kenyan Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology.

Ms Karmar said the conference is going to provide an excellent opportunity to share experiences especially best practices from all over the world, on science, technology and innovation policies, strategies and mechanisms.

The STI is an African initiative aimed at raising importance of science and technologies among policy makers, private sector, schools and society in general.

The Kenyan minister said promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship; especially those which have greatest potential for effective creation of youth employment should be encouraged on the continent.

“We will hear of measures that have successfully harnessed science, technology and innovation to enhance the participation of women, youth and other marginalised groups in societies,” she said.

She said all these will create an informed and enabling environment for African countries to make urgent decisions on the importance of investment in STI.

Participants include experts, scientists, decision makers, youth, academics, representatives of the private sector and civil society.

Among some of the subjects tackled include the need for graduates to have the skills required by employers, how funding can be increased for African research and development, and innovative ways to improve youth employment.

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) director, ICT science and technology Division Aida Opoku Mensah said If Africa has to continue registering positive economic growth, there is a need to address Africa’s innovation system.

“A critical foundation of any innovation system is education and investing in its youth,” Mr Mensah said. This is because education system plays a vital role in human development and entrepreneurship

 Mr Mensah said competitions that cultivate in students enquiry and problem-solving skills and encourage them to address real life challenges should be encouraged.

According to UNESCO's Science Report 2010, research and development (R&D) in Africa attracts significantly less public funding than other sectors such as education or health. Only some 0.3% of GDP is dedicated to R&D on average across the continent. This is seven times less than the investment made in industrialised countries.

The Report shows that education is another obstacle. Access to higher education remains limited, and in 2008 enrolment was below 4 percent in one country out of four.

Additionally, the report observes that brain drain is severely affecting the continent: in 2009, the Network of African Science Academies estimated that at least one-third of Africa's scientists and technology graduates were living and working in developed countries.

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