Kenyan Lilian Ikal Angelei Wins Environmental Goldman Prize 2012

Lilian Ikal Angelei is probably little known in her backyard Kenya however for the people of Turkana she is an acclaimed  recusant fighting for the rights and the voice of the voiceless community against formidable financial institutions and Governments that have little or no regard for the welfare of the people dependent on Lake Turkana for their livelihood So who is Lilian Ikal Angelei one of the the recipients of the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize : the worlds largest prize honoring grassroots environmental activist?
Who is She?
For one she is the founder and a Director of Friends of Lake Turkana  a non profit engaged in the conservation of the Lake Turkana especially against the recent proposed development and Construction by the Ethiopian  Government of the Gibe 3 Dam along the River Ormo, the source of 90 percent of Lake Turkana’s water. The Gibe 3 Dam, if completed, would be the largest hydroelectric plant in Africa, and the fourth largest in the world and it is expected to cause the lake’s water level to drop by as much as 23 to 33 feet within the first five years, depleting fish stocks and depriving communities of a critical source of potable water in this desert environment.

This development is likely to heighten resource conflicts and poverty between the communities largely dependent on the lake for their livelihood.






What She Has Accomplished So Far !

Apart from winning this prestigious award and recognition, Lilian Ikal Angelei has been true to her cause helping the marginalized communities living in the Turkana region to stem the ominous tide heading their way by successfully convincing major banks, including the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank, to withdraw their considerations for financing of the Gibe 3 Dam. The Dam is almost 40 percent complete at present and her gallant efforts have necessitated the Ethiopian government to seek additional funding elsewhere.

 So far only ICBC, a large commercial bank from China, has approved a $500 million loan for the dam’s equipment . Ikal has held the bank to account for its destructive project in the international media, and continues to do so. Even in China, ICBC’s decision is now being considered a case of lacking corporate social responsibility. A few weeks ago, the Chinese government directed its banks to align overseas projects with “international best practices” on social and environmental risks.

She is at present lobbying the Kenyan Government to pull out of the project as Kenya was slotted to purchase one-third of the electricity generated by the dam.For this she is to be lauded as a heroine with much foresight.Indeed while the desire to generate and increase the capacity of the Ethiopian Government to provide electricity is a beneficial venture, it must be done in an Eco friendly and sustainable manner taking into consideration the needs of the communities dependent on the Lake Turkana for their livelihood.

Congratulations Ikal Angelei continue voicing the voices of the voiceless  majority!

UN-led Meeting Agrees on Priority Actions for Managing E-Waste in Africa

Pan-African Forum on E-Waste Underlines Green Economy Opportunities in E-Waste Sector

Nairobi, 16 March 2012 – Priority actions for reducing the environmental and health impacts of growing levels of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste), alongside promoting the sector’s potential for green jobs and economic development, were today agreed by representatives from 18 African states, the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and academia.

The actions were agreed on the final day of the Pan-African Forum on E-Waste, which was held at the Nairobi headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Organized by the Secretariat of the Basel Convention and UNEP, with support from the Government of Kenya, and private sector companies including Dell, HP, Nokia and Philips, the forum was the first event of its kind on the continent. It focused on long-term solutions to the rising levels of obsolete mobile phones, refrigerators, televisions and other e-products in Africa.

Increasing domestic consumption of electronic products, coupled with the ongoing import of waste electronics into Africa from other regions, means that the continent is set to generate a higher volume of e-waste than Europe by 2017.

The Pan-African Forum on E-Waste in Nairobi adopted a ‘Call to Action’, which outlines 8 priority areas to improve the environmentally-sound management of e-waste in Africa.

These include:

• Implementation and enforcement by African states of the Basel Convention on  the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal  and the Bamako Convention, which bans the import of hazardous wastes into Africa
• Development of national systems to improve the collection, recycling, transport, storage and disposal of e-waste
• National institutions to co-operate with multiple stakeholders (UN, NGOs, private sector and others) in producing e-waste assessments
• Recognition that the safe and sustainable recycling of e-waste provides an opportunity for green jobs and poverty reduction
• Awareness raising activities on environmental and health hazards linked to the unsound management of e-waste

“Managing e-waste, and other kinds of waste, is essential for the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient Green Economy”, said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

“Sustainable management of e-waste can combat poverty and generate green jobs through recycling, collection and processing of e-waste - and safeguard the environment and human health from the hazards posed by rising levels of waste electronics. With just over three months until the Rio+20 conference in Brazil, this event has underlined how smart public policies, creative financial incentives and technology transfer can turn e-waste from a challenge into an important resource for sustainable development,” added Mr. Steiner.

He highlighted that global recycling rates of some e-waste metals—known as rare earth metals—can be as low as one per cent despite these metals being crucial for components in hybrid electric car batteries to the magnets in wind turbines.

“The future of the clean tech, high-tech products and the transition to a Green Economy may in part depend on boosting the recycling of e-waste in order to assure a steady and streamlined supply of these specialty metals for these 21^st century industries,” added Mr Steiner.

As well as serving as a valuable source of secondary raw materials, the recovery and recycling of e-waste can reduce pressure on scarce natural resources and contribute to emissions reductions.

“One tonne of obsolete mobile phones contains more gold than one tonne of ore and the picture is similar for other precious substances”, said Katharina Kummer-Peiry, Executive Secretary of the Basel Convention.

“If you consider the value of these materials, then this represents an important economic opportunity. There are recyclers and other industrial sectors who are interested in taking advantage of such opportunities, which can in turn create green jobs and support sustainable development.“

Delegates at the Pan-African E-waste Forum underlined the importance of improved access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Africa towards achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

But the disposal of obsolete electronic equipment can pose significant environmental and health risks. E-waste can contain hazardous substances, including heavy metals such as mercury and lead, and endocrine disrupting substances such as brominated flame retardants.

Much of the recycling of e-waste that takes place in Africa today occurs on an informal basis – often on uncontrolled dumpsites or landfills. Hazardous substances can be released during these dismantling and disposal operations. Open burning of cables, for example, is a major source of dioxin emissions; a persistent organic pollutant that travels over long-distances and can end up in food chain.

Participants at the Pan-African E-Waste Forum underlined the fact that recycling and recovery activities need to move from the unregulated, informal sector, where health and environmental risks are high, to a more regulated system using international recycling standards.

“Africa’s environmental challenges are growing by the day. This includes the exponential growth of electronic waste,” said Ali D. Mohamed, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources of Kenya.

“It is now the time for Africa to take action on addressing health and environmental problems as a result of current recycling practices, while creating jobs and business opportunities and alleviating poverty. We want to achieve this through an enforceable legislative framework,” added Mr. Mohamed.

According to Dr Ayub Macharia, Director General of NEMA Kenya, “Participants of the Pan-African Forum on E-waste envision an African continent free of poorly managed e-waste. NEMA will contribute to this vision through coordination, research, facilitation and enforcement, while encouraging responsible individual, corporate and collective participation towards sustainable development.”

As part of the ‘Call to Action’, manufacturers, importers, re-sellers and other handlers of electrical and electronic products should be required to organize the collection, recycling and recovery of e-waste. The forum agreed that Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) should be a key component of the environmentally sound management of e-waste.

Bharti Airtel makes progress towards building a ‘Green Network’ in Africa

Company underlines commitment to environment by reducing number of telecom sites  running 24x7 on diesel by over 50%; Plans to completely eradicate constant use of diesel across all its sites by 2013

• 60% of company’s telecom sites now use the innovative Hybrid Battery Bank model that reduces daily use of diesel by up to 14 hours
• Hybrid Battery Bank model to cover 70% of all telecom sites of Bharti Airtel in Africa by 2013
• Company also exploring use of renewable energy such as solar and wind power

Nairobi, March 13, 2012: Bharti Airtel today announced significant milestones in its endeavor to build a ‘green’ environment friendly mobile network and reduce its carbon footprint in Africa. As part of its commitment to the environment the company has undertaken a series of initiatives that are starting to deliver tangible results. The Company said that over last one year, it has reduced the number of telecom sites running solely on diesel by more than 50% by overcoming the challenge of lack of grid connectivity through use of innovative models such as Hybrid Battery Bank. By 2013, the Company aims to completely eradicate the constant use of diesel to power its network. This means no telecom site of the company will rely solely on diesel power 24 hours a day.

Hybrid Battery Banks collect the excess energy produced by the diesel powered generator in a battery that powers the site once the generator in switched off. This has helped reduce the use of diesel by up to 14 hours a day. Close to 60% of Bharti Airtel’s telecom sites in Africa are now powered using the Hybrid model resulting in major reduction in emissions and also operating costs for the company. The Company is targeting over 70% of all its sites to be powered by the Hybrid model by end of 2013. It added that is also working on the use of solar and wind power to power its telecom sites.    

Ecotourism in Kenya

Ecotourism refers to responsible tourism practices within the tourism industry; this entails adoption of best sustainable practices in the use of tourism resources by involving the local communities in the use of resources and management of tourism wastes.

According to Wikipedia Ecotourism is basically: 

"a form of tourism involving visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and for human rights"

Although ecotourism may be relatively new in Africa, its growth in Kenya is spectacular. In fact, Kenya was chosen by the United Nations as the venue of the first African  Ecotourism conference in 2002, this is because it is the original home of African Safari. 

It is not surprising that he world’s top-most promising tourism project have emerged from Kenya; with initiatives that have empowered local communities (as custodians of their natural resources)to make use of their natural resources and has encouraged recycling of tourism waste.

Kenya's ecotourism industry first drew international attention in 1997, when the now-famous community lodge at Il' Ngwesi was a runner-up in British Airways' prestigious Tourism for Tomorrow awards. In the four years since, two other properties - Tortilis Camp in Amboseli and Ol Donyo Wuas in the Chyulu Hills - have also been honoured in the awards. Il' Ngwesi (for more info please visit the website)has gone on to become a model for community tourism projects across Africa. 

 

These developments have led to the establishment of a Leadership Mentoring Programme which empowers its members by enlightening them on the fundamentals and best practices of ecotourism. This program blends the academic and professional aspects of ecotourism with the practical aspect which impresses on empowering local communities to own ecotourism projects hence making the project sustainable. 

 

Ecotourism Kenya has launched an Eco-Rating Scheme which certifies tourism accommodation facilities based on environmental and social criteria.

(Guest post by Pamela of Mapambo Decor Blog)