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The three target countries – Cameroon, Nigeria, and Uganda – have put forth policy positions targeted at driving the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ideals, including through enhancing environmental action, food security, and socioeconomic transformation. Environmentally, all three countries have ratified their commitments to climate action, popularly called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and have also submitted updated NDC commitments. As an example, in Nigeria, its updated NDCs prioritise cutting methane by up to 61% by 2030 while cutting crop residues being burnt by up to 50%. Uganda on its part has committed to reverse deforestation, increase use of sustainable cooking energy by 25 - 40%, as well as clean cook stoves. Cameroon, on its part, has committed to substituting unclean biomass with biogas by increasing biodigester investments by 5 – 10%. Furthermore, 2 of these countries – Cameroon and Nigeria – have committed to the methane pledge to cut methane emissions. In addition, these countries have put in place, various national climate change legislations to operationalise these commitments. Uganda has the National Climate Change Act of 2021. Nigeria has the Climate Change Act, which also mandates the country to put in place national climate change action plans every 5 years and a carbon budget to operationalise its commitments. Cameroon, on its part, has key sectorial policies to operationalise the NDCs – including the forest code, as well as policies, including the National Adaptation Plan to Climate Change and the National Development Strategy 2020-2030 (NDS30) among key ones The countries also have elaborate agriculture and other socioeconomic policies that prioritise not only enhanced food security but also value addition, reversing postharvest losses (PHLs), and climate-proofing agriculture. Uganda has a National Agriculture policy in addition to national food standards issued through the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS). Nigeria has the National Policy for Agriculture, as well as a strong entrepreneurship culture in its academic institutions that train youth in accessible enterprise areas where agriculture fits, considering that it is the most inclusive sector in the country. Cameroon has the National Development Strategy (NDS30), which prioritises increasing agricultural productivity and creating income & opportunities.

These policies are in the context of enhancing socioeconomic growth as expressed in the country development blueprints, which also include environmental action and agriculture and food systems as an area of economic diversification and growth, with key interventions including the reversal of PHLs. This includes the National Development Plan (2021- 25) in Nigeria, vision 2035 and SND30 in Cameroon, and vision 2040 and 3rd National Development Plan in Uganda. Their realisation is also prioritised in the United Nations Sustainable Development Frameworks (UNSDCFs) of these countries through the UN country teams (UNCTs), wherein each of them, there are “enviro-centric” priority areas that aim to enhance environmental sustainability simultaneously with the actualisation of socioeconomic priorities.

Enhancing socioeconomic growth as expressed in the country development blueprints, which also include environmental action and agriculture and food systems ;

In Cameroon, these are “Strategic Priority 1: Inclusive and sustainable growth through a structural and green transformation of the economy that creates decent jobs” and “Strategic Priority 4: Environmental sustainability and efficient climate and disaster risk management”. In Nigeria, it is “Outcome 2.1: By 2027, Nigeria benefits from improved food security and nutrition, and sustainable food systems and natural resources management”, and “Outcome 2.2: By 2027, Nigeria is implementing improved management of climate change risk and building resilience to adapt to its long-term impact through the National Determined Contribution (NDC), sustainable energy production/ consumption and climate finance”. In Uganda, it is “Strategic Priority 2: Shared prosperity in a healthy environment”. The work done focused on the application of environmental solutions – nature, climate, pollution action – towards enhancing food and livelihood security and realisation of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), all which aligns to actualise different socioeconomic priorities of the development blueprints.

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Cameroon is among the leading countries that have submitted updated NDC commitments to address climate change, with an ambitious target to cut emissions by 35% by 2030. The country is also a signatory to the global methane emissions pledge, which aims to cut down methane emissions.  Methane is a short-lived climate pollutant, which does not last as long as carbon dioxide but whose intensity is 25 times more than carbon dioxide; hence, addressing it is a significant boost to combating climate change. One of the most affordable measures to combat methane is investing in biodigesters, for which Cameroon has committed to increase investment by 5 - 10% by 2030, targeting agriculture & agriculture waste, which is the highest source for the country. The country has also committed to increasing the use of solar power which links to its National Development Plan (SND30) objective to enhance and modernise the agricultural sector, including through clean energy value-added actions, as strategic to enhance resilient, inclusive growth.

UNEP through the African Office Climate Change sub-programme is supporting the country to meet these objectives in a manner that unlocks critical socioeconomic opportunities. The focus is on two interrelated areas - air quality & food security with accessible solutions. Specifically, supporting communities to retool their skills and develop and decentralize solar dryers to address postharvest losses in agriculture and unlock additional income opportunities. UNEP is also supporting the same communities to invest in biodigesters that recover agricultural waste and convert it into value - biogas for clean cooking & biofertilizer for agriculture. This is an opportunity for the country to combat indoor pollution from unclean cooking that kills between 7000- 11,400 people every year. It is an opportunity to close the fertilizer access gap while creating non-capital-intensive enterprise opportunities that can generate up to 500% profitability in biofertilizer making.  Moreover, the data generated from such interventions is analyzed to inform investment planning for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) & SND30 implementation towards bridging gaps & tapping opportunities to enable further expansion and realization of multiple SDGs.

Engagement was done with a local council on uptake of environmental solutions to enhance food systems

Engagement was done with a local council that was set to drive the uptake of climate solutions for food systems, leveraging youth and the informal sector. In Cameroon, skills retooling of local communities, including youth and the informal sector that engages up to 90% of the population, to enable them to develop and apply low emissions solutions of solar dryers has been generating data on impacts, including a reduction of postharvest losses from 95% to 5%, the increased shelf life of perishables by at least 50%, creation of alternative value-added products such as cassava garri that increase incomes opportunities by up to 150% resulting in increased savings & membership in local communal cooperatives among key impacts. This impact data was shared with the local council through the office of the mayor of Awae commune. During the meeting with the UNEP representative, the mayor said that as a result of impact data, the council is set to invest in a green village, starting off with 4 large solar dryers to enhance access by farmers & other enterprises engaged in the agro-value chain to value addition interventions to enable increased revenue generation. This increase translates to an expansion of the tax base for the municipality to ensure better service delivery. The council notes that climate action solutions are socioeconomic accelerators

Engagement of local communal cooperatives in Mve-II that are taking up climate solutions of solar dryers to enhance food systems ;

The UNEP representative also visited the site of a community green village that is applying solar dryers to cut PHLs and create additional incomes, whose impact data was used to inform the Awae municipality commitments. This community is in Mve-II, on the outskirts of Yaoundé, and they have expanded beyond solar dryers to engage in circularity to address waste and create further income opportunities. Specifically, they have diversified to agricultural waste circularity in converting banana leaves into carry/shopping bags to create more income opportunities for themselves. Through these actions in circularity, as well as the solar dryer value addition, they manage to meet their family needs, & fundamental needs. They expressed the need to expand their incomes, which required that they invest in innovative financing to unlock finance for expanding solutions. Accordingly, they are set to pool their resources into a revolving fund to be deployed in capital expenditures towards expanding their production & marketing impact. Specifically, they have set up a revolving fund of $400 towards capital investments to expand these environmental solutions – the solar dryers and waste circularity. Data from their work has informed the Awae municipality in a neighbouring commune to invest municipality revenues towards expanding access to solar dryers, incentivising more enterprise opportunities and thereby expanding the local government tax base.

Engagement of the Cameroon UNCT on work done on the National Environment Summary (NES)

The UNEP representative attended the Cameroon United Nations Country Teams (UNCT) – PMT meeting to share how National Environment Summaries (NES) inform pathways that leverage the environmental dimension to accelerate the realisation of the SDGs. In attendance were reps from UNESCO, UNWomen, UNOPS, UNICEF, and UN-FAO, as well as officials from the planning ministry. The UNEP representative informed the nited Nations Country Teams (UNCT) that at its core, the NES is a data & analysis driven information pack that provides baseline scenarios on 7 environmentally derived SDGs (3, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15) together with energy & food systems that underpin the “leave no one behind (LNOB)” principle, against targets of the SDG indicators. It then analyses gaps & opportunities to be tapped towards ensuring the country’s progress in implementing the environmentally derived SDGs, playing a catalytic role in driving the realisation of multiple other SDGs. The UNEP representative also shared on how the UN Cooperation framework for the country, specifically under results group 4 on environmental sustainability, provides a convening framework to harness the work of all UNCTs towards the shared end of the SDGs as above.

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The main thrust of the blended finance tool is simply to de-risk market-driven finance to close gaps for NDC implementation. It builds on actions already ongoing in the country by diverse stakeholders. Working with counterparts in the UNEP economy division and the UNEP-CCC has been backstopping the Uganda’s team of experts in developing this financing facility. In the country, the team is led by the Ministry of Water and Environment - Climate Change Department (MWE-CCD), with technical leads being the National Technical Institute (NTI), which is the Climate Change Adaptation Innovation (CHAI), and a National Project Coordinator (NPC) seated within the MWE. The overall objectives were two-fold 1) for key in-country actors to provide feedback on progress in delivering the blended finance facility, including implementing guidance provided to this end, and share any additional information on in-country plans related to a national Blended Finance Facility for NDC implementation in Uganda; 2) analyze progress made by the country in developing the blended finance facility, pending gaps that still need to be addressed, and modalities of addressing said gaps towards the formulation of a blended finance facility structure for NDC implementation in Uganda; 3) engaging national/international stakeholders for an inclusive, participatory process in closing the gaps and establishing the finance facility.

The UNEP representative participated in the internal harmonization meeting with participation drawn from the government – the MWE-CCD; the Ministry of Finance climate finance unit; the NTI, NPC, and the UNEP-CCC. Going into the discussions, the understanding was to build consensus around the blended finance facility being designed in the form of a credit guarantee scheme, domiciled within the central bank, capitalized partly by the exchequer and bilateral/multilateral sources, whose core function would be to de-risk lending to different actors, including the informal sector & youth, for actions done to implement select NDC priorities. The de-risking would be accomplished through a cash guarantee that covers against default risk by these actors to enable different financers to participate in financing NDC implementation at competitive interest rates

Deliberations brought up some key salient aspects, including the need to achieve ownership across the board and avoid having the finance facility viewed as being under a particular docket. There was also discussion on the need to avoid using the terms “finance facility” and “scheme” as other schemes were already underway in the country. The meeting also learnt that different stakeholders were undertaking various actions that resulted in de-risking effects, and all these needed to be taken onboard and built on instead of developing a facility from scratch and risking re-inventing the wheel.

These deliberations led to a consensus being reached as follows.

1. Uganda’s climate change law calls for NDC investments to be cross sectorial, meaning addressing the investment needs of different sectors. The discussion was therefore hailed as timely.
2. Building on the above, the cross-sectorial approach provides opportunities to lower the risk of NDCs investments by combining actions across diverse sectors to increase earnings and lower market risks. For example, in the case of current priorities of agroforestry, solar dryers, and solar irrigation, it was agreed that investing in solar irrigation & agroforestry in combination resulted in higher yields that investing in only one approach and combining these with solar dryers to lower postharvest losses meant increased earnings, which translated to lowered risk of financial distress and default. The need to combine NDC priorities for low-risk financing was therefore agreed upon.
3. It was noted that there is a need to build on the de-risking potential of diverse actors already engaged in the country and make the blended finance into a “public good” instead of a facility to be hosted or domiciled by government/central bank. It was therefore agreed that this be called a “blended financing tool” that will be a compendium of knowledge products/resources leveraging lessons and empirical experiences of a multiplicity of actors involved in one way or another in actions that de-risk financing

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The normative role of the UNEP in influencing proenvironment actions by state and non-state actors towards the realization of the SDGs was highlighted as a critical strength that the Botswana UN Country Teams (UNCT) will tap into and complement. Among key normative areas that UNCT will take up and expand further with UNEP is going beyond the traditional approach to finance, to also unlock human capital through inspiring and structurally guiding young people to engage in climate action enterprise by collaborating with Ba Isago University climate action entrepreneurship centre. Drive Stakeholder engagement in the launch of the Ba Isago University climate action entrepreneurship centre, technically backstopped by UNEP and leverage this to drive skills retooling of youth to tackle triple planetary crisis.

The normative role of the UNEP in influencing pro-environment actions by state and non-state actors towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was highlighted as a critical strength that the Botswana UN Country Teams (UNCT) will tap into and complement. Among key normative areas that UNCT will take up and expand further with UNEP is going beyond the traditional approach to finance, but also unlock human capital through inspiring and structurally guiding young people to engage in climate action enterprise by collaborating with Ba Isago University climate action entrepreneurship centre. This will also drive Stakeholder engagement in the launch of the Ba Isago University climate action entrepreneurship centre, technically backstopped by UNEP and leverage this to drive skills retooling of youth to drive the implementation of the triple planetary crisis. World Health Organization (WHO) was also involved and took note of the environmental dimension of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and welcomed UNEP participation in the quadripartite. Lessons from the environmental dimension of solutions will be deliberated at quadripartite to be taken up by WHO Botswana.

The aspect of exploring regional power pools as a conduit for attracting investment for Botswana’s solar industry, in line with its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) prioritization was also deliberated. It was observed that Botswana is a high solar potential country, with up to 5000times more solar potential than it needs to satisfy its population. It was agreed that an incentive to attract investment in solar would be to develop solar for trade in the regional power pools. This was agreed as an aspect around which more intelligence will be gathered with United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs). In bridging the Nationally Determined Contributions NDCs finance gap, it was agreed that UNEP share lessons from ongoing work in Ghana and Uganda that is supporting these countries to translate their NDCs into investment tools capable of attracting implementation capacity from both the formal and informal sector players.

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INTEGRATING CLIMATE ACTION SOLUTIONS INTO FOOD SYSTEMS IN NIGERIA TO INFORM COHERENT PR O-SDGs POLICY IMPLEMENTATION

As part of strengthening UN reforms and delivery as one, UNEP has been engaging with the United Nations Country Teams (UNCT) in implementing solutions on Sustainable and Inclusive Growth and Development, and outcomes on Environmental Sustainability & Food Security.

FIXING THE PLASTIC POLLUTION PROBELM AND THE RESULTS OF THE JUCT CONCLUDED UNEA 5.2  ASSEMBLY: IMPLICATIONS FOR AFRICA

In context, the globe is under the weight of diverse environmental    challenges    that    threaten    human and economic development towards realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recovery from the COVID-19 emergency. An estimated 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow into the ocean every year as I pen this article. By 2025, 100 million to 250 million metric tons of plastic waste could enter the sea each year. Between 2021 and 2040, the cumulative cost of managing plastic waste is estimated to be US$670 billion. If we fail to take action, this inaction will pose a financial risk to economies and businesses across the globe, estimated at $100billion every year by 2040. These costs manifest as damage to livelihoods and economic industries. The newsletter covers results of UNEA 5.2 on plastic ban and how to fix the menace.

In context, the globe is under the weight of diverse environmental challenges that threaten human and economic development towards realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recovery from the COVID-19 emergency. An estimated 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow into the ocean every year as I pen this article. By 2025, 100 million to 250 million metric tons of plastic waste could enter the sea each year. Between 2021 and 2040, the cumulative cost of managing plastic waste is estimated to be US$670 billion. If we fail to take action, this inaction will pose a financial risk to economies and businesses across the globe, estimated at $100billion every year by 2040.These costs manifest as damage to livelihoods and key economic industries such as fishing and tourism, clean-up costs and threats to the health of the populations. On March 2, 2022, representatives from 175 nations worldwide took a historic step toward ending pollution. The United Nations Environment Assembly voted to task a committee for forging a legally binding global treaty on plastic pollution by 2024.

Why is the Treaty important?

Just consider this – the chemicals in plastic have been associated with severe health problems like   hormone-related cancers, infertility, neurodevelopment disorders, among others. The plastic production process exposes communities to over 170 toxic chemicals – with children being most vulnerable. Combining the production and waste incineration of plastics is projected to emit the equivalent of 615 coal plants by 2050 to escalate climate change further.

All these risks notwithstanding, the global plastic market continues to grow. It was valued at $579.7billion in 2020 and projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 3.4% up to 2028. What the globe then needs to do is to prevent the release of all these plastics into the environment where they cause harm to human & environmental health and maintain them more in the production cycle – what we call a circular economy. Currently, less than 10% of all plastic waste globally is recycled. In Africa, the figure is much lower at about 4%. Recycling these plastics portends between $80 – 120billion in income, enterprise, and economic growth opportunities globally through the packaging industry alone.

The treaty in question comes to put in place a regulatory framework to actualize this much-needed circularity. It establishes an intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) with a mandate to negotiate a legally binding global agreement to address plastic pollution towards reducing the discharge of plastics into the environment by covering all stages of the plastic life cycle and adopting a circular economy approach to plastics. It provides a legal & policy framework within which investments in recycling and other techniques towards beating plastic pollution can be prioritized across the globe A key attribute is that the resolution is “international” or “transboundary”. This is very important to note because plastic waste is transboundary. Plastic litter knows no boundaries. When realized in the coastlines of one country, it ends up causing effects on the shores of neighbouring countries and globally. 

What does it mean for the plastic manufacturers and producers moving forward?

It means one thing – “alternative opportunities”. Recycling alone portends up to $120 billion in enterprise opportunities globally. Reusing & recycling also generates energy savings – estimated up to 87%. Those making plastics should now diversify towards recycling to tap these opportunities. In addition, as more countries put forward commitments to minimize emissions in line with the net-zero targets of 2050, carbon taxes are beginning to take effect, and plastics will be one of the areas most targeted, considering that they are projected to contribute up to 20% of emissions. Incorporating measures that reduce the sting of plastics – such as recycling & reuse – will go a long way in reducing their carbon tax liabilities. This is vital  for manufacturers of plastic items to be able to align themselves with the set standards and regulations.

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THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE JUST CONCLUDED COP 26 (GLASGOW) FOR AFRICA : WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR AFRICA

The pragmatic optimism that pulled the globe together in 2015 to adopt the Paris Agreement was a good beginning that laid the foundation to finally iron out pending issues that prevented full, ambitious implementation of the agreement – which is what the Glasgow Climate Pact has achieved six years later. COP26 registered some notable achievements. For example, while the planet was on course to a dangerous 2.70 warming going into Glasgow, new announcements made during the conference could see warming this century limited to 2.40 C, or as little as 1.80 C if other such “commitments” from the private sector are included. In addition, parties agreed to revisit their commitments, as necessary, by the end of 2022 to put the planet on track for the safe 1.5°C warmings. The newsletter will cover all these implications in an African setting.

COP26 registered some notable achievements. For example, while the planet was on course to a dangerous 2.70 warming going into Glasgow, new announcements made during the conference could see warming this century limited to 2.40 C, or as little as 1.8o C if other such “commitments” from the private sector are included. In addition, parties agreed to revisit their commitments, as necessary, by the end of 2022 to put the planet on track for the safe 1.5°C warmings. To put this in perspective, estimates before the Paris Agreement in 2014 took the world to 3.70 C of warming this century. So, in the very short period from 2014 to 2021, predicted warming this century has fallen from 3.70 to as low as 2.40 or even 1.80. That is a very significant change. For the first time, the conference also agreed to phase-down unabated coal and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, all practical steps towards achieving the safe warming thresholds. And all this actuated in a manner that justly transitions economies to low emissions pathways.

The conference also finalized the “Paris Rule Book, “which explains the “how” of implementing the Paris Agreement. This covered key issues of cross-border collaboration in implementation that are covered under Article 6 and transparency & reporting on progress by all parties that had previously been contentious. On the critical finance issues, wealthy countries committed to doubling the collective share of adaptation finance within the $100 billion annual targets for 2021-2025. And to reach the $100 billion goals as soon as possible. Parties also committed to a process to agree on long-term climate finance beyond 2025. Implications for Africa but which way Africa? One fundamental fact is that climate change stressors did not stop even as the negotiations ended in Glasgow.

Africa continues to hold the unenviable position of being disproportionately vulnerable. For a region that has contributed least to the changing climate, accounting for only 2–3%, Africa is already heating up twice as fast as the rest of the globe, and 20 countries are already warming more quickly than the globe. By proportionality, the implication is that as the world crosses the safe target of 1.50 Celsius Africa could be approaching catastrophic levels of up 30 Celsius and with this, the escalation of socioeconomic misery that is already at breaking point is guaranteed.

This portends more bad news. Be it the 257million people experiencing hunger. The over 12million young people who need jobs every year that remain disenfranchised in unemployment. The up to 60million children are malnourished and costing the continent between 1.9% and 16% of its GDP. To a surge in vector-borne diseases like malaria. To increasing flood risks, where flooding costs between $10billion. Despite all these, another variable, the COVID-19 global pandemic, has been added to this equation of stressors This then means that Africa’s pace to build resilience must exceed the global average. The continent must aim for resilience building at least at twice the global pace. And this should follow pathways that unlock tangible socioeconomic opportunities – including food security, creating inclusive enterprise opportunities and competitive macro-economic growth. By this ensure a just transition of Africa’s communities to the low emissions development pathway.

What steps for Africa?

Already, the continent has taken steps to demonstrate this urgency. For example, the region was among the leading leaders in ratifying its first Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitments. Up to 98% of countries have ratified their 1st round Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) that are now being built upon. This makes Africa the continent with the highest compliance rate. As countries submit second-round NDCs, already 37 countries have submitted revised NDCs, with 18 being highlighted for submitting stronger targets. Among these include Namibia, for example, which has set a target of emissions cut to the tune of 91% conditional & 14% unconditional. Ethiopia has set 68.8% conditional & 14% unconditional. Nigeria has set 47% conditional & 20% unconditional. Zimbabwe has set an emissions reduction target of 40%.

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Zimbabwe: EBAFOSA Zimbabwe identifying anchor initiatives to mobilize complementary actors around them and build them to EBA based, clean energy powered agro-industrial zones. Already, “the Phiri Award”, an NGO that supports local farmers engaged in water harvesting technologies and climate change adaptation and mitigation actions, has been mobilized to build on their site based initiatives towards aligning them with the trajectory of establishing EBA based, clean energy powered agro-industrial zones.