TheCable

Despite directly impacting our communities, health and livelihood, climate-related reports usually take a back seat to dominant news beats like politics and business. Climate Watch aims to ensure you never miss important stories on climate change and actions being taken towards limiting its impact.

Here is a round-up of last week’s climate stories:

• In order to increase climate-related and environment investments, Sharon Ikeazor, minister of state for environment, said the federal government will collaborate with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to provide investors with climate data. This, according to her, will  provide investors with important new tools and enable capital reallocation. Speaking at the digital closing gong ceremony organised by the NGX last week, Ikeazor said Nigeria has shown its continual dedication towards achieving climate goals through several established parameters and policies. She said the ministry’s collaboration with NGX will provide a platform for investors to improve their understanding of climate change and play their part in transitioning the Nigerian economy towards a sustainable net-zero future.  Read more here. 

• Ogoni Development Drive (ODD),  a rights group in Ogoniland, has called on the federal government to change the head of corporate communications of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP). Solomon Lenu, the convener of the group, said the activities of the agency have been shrouded in secrecy owing to a lack of communication between the agency and the people of Ogoni. He added that if this is not checked it will “frustrate the good intentions of the federal government”. He said the present head of communication of HYPREP in the past five years has created a huge gap between the Ogoni and the activities of the interventionist agency. 

• In a bid to phase out single use plastic, Emmanuel Macron, French president, has banned the use of plastics to package most fruits and vegetables. The new rule states that fruits and vegetables such as carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, pears and about 30 other items can no longer be sold in plastic bags.  Instead, they should be wrapped in recyclable materials. However, plastic bags will still be allowed for more fragile fruits such as berries and peaches, but in the coming years, it will be gradually phased out. The country says the new regulation is expected to eliminate about 1 billion items of plastic waste annually. 

• As the world moves to huge sustainable energy investments in this decade, Germany aims to make renewables meet 80 percent of power demand by 2030 by expanding wind and solar power infrastructure. The country has recently pulled the plug on three of its last six nuclear power stations as it moves towards completing its withdrawal from nuclear power and turning its focus to renewables. Reuters reports that the reactors of Brokdorf, Grohnde and Gundremmingen C, run by utilities EON and RWE, energy companies, shut down late on Friday after three and half decades in operation. The last three nuclear power plants – Isar 2, Emsland and Neckarwestheim II – will be turned off by the end of 2022.

• As food insecurity worsens in Madagascar, over one million people are currently in need of emergency food assistance and nearly half of all children aged six months to five years are suffering from chronic malnutrition. In view of this, Switzerland has made an additional contribution of CHF 900,000 to help deal with the serious food crisis in the island country. The donation came after Madagascar government and the United Nations appealed for international aid to help the country which is currently experiencing the worst drought in 40 years. In 2021 alone, Switzerland had provided a total of CHF 100 million – a new record – to support the WFP’s activities, primarily in Africa.