Garbage collection puts money in the pockets of the poor in Somalia
NAIROBI, 13 Oct 2006 (IRIN) - In an effort to create employment and alleviate poverty in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, the United Nations labour agency is running a project to clean up the streets and provide an income to hundreds of poor people in the war-scarred city. The project employs a total of 2,000 people earning US $2 a day, involves rubbish collection from the city. Each of Mogadishu's 16 districts and the Bermuda enclave of the city has 100 workers employed in the project, while an estimated 300 other people work either as crew of hired garbage collection lorries or provide other support activities. "We get involved in what we consider technically simple projects. We are digging out approximately 3,000 tonnes of garbage a day from Mogadishu," said Joseph Connolly, the chief technical adviser of the ILO's Employment for Peace Initiative in Mogadishu, south and central Somalia.
The project is funded by the European Commission and Norway's foreign ministry. A local NGO known as SAACID is involved in the project as a partner of the International Labour Organization (ILO). An estimated 70 percent of the workers are poor women and about 30 percent are internally displaced people who live in squalid makeshift shelters in the city. Employment gave a sense of dignity to the poor, previously unemployed people. A similar project has been started in the south-central city of Baidoa and there were plans to initiate such employment-intensive projects in surrounding areas.
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http://www.irinnews.org/UN steps in to nudge South Africa towards MDGs
JOHANNESBURG, 18 Oct 2006 (IRIN)
Bottlenecks in service delivery are hampering South Africa's efforts to meet its Millennium Development Goals of eradicating poverty and halving unemployment by 2015, said the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which has drawn up a four-year plan to help the country.
"Poor service delivery is a major constraint preventing South Africa from achieving sustainable growth," said Philip Browne, a UNDP programme advisor.
The 'UN Development Assistance Framework to South Africa 2007-2010' aims to guide the government and provide interventions where needed to help the country meet its targets.
The UN has already stepped in to resolve the crisis in Limpopo with the help of 16 international volunteer doctors, who work on renewable one-year contracts and are paid a monthly living allowance covering food and rent, funded jointly by the South African government and the UNDP.
Two weeks ago, under the UN's volunteer programme, engineers were deployed to Eastern Cape to help two municipalities eradicate the bucket system and assist with other infrastructural problems.
Under the framework, the UNDP is considering other initiatives to help the country, such as the Southern African Capacity Initiative (SACI), launched in 2004 to deal with the loss of administrative skills in the region caused HIV/AIDS and the brain drain. Besides using volunteers, SACI promotes best business practices used in the private sector to help identify bottlenecks in service delivery, and designs interventions to produce better time management and eliminate duplication.
To read this article in detail, log onto: http://www.irinnews.org£3.68 trillion: The price of failing to act on climate change
Landmark report reveals apocalyptic cost of global warming
Gaby Hinsliff, political editor
Sunday October 29, 2006
The Observer
This is an excerpt from the full article
Britons face the prospect of a welter of new green taxes to tackle climate change, as the most authoritative report on global warming warns it will cost the world up to £3.68 trillion unless it is tackled within a decade.
The review by Sir Nicholas Stern, commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and published tomorrow ( 30th Oct) , marks a crucial point in the debate by underlining how failure to act would trigger a catastrophic global recession. Unchecked climate change would turn 200 million people into refugees, the largest migration in modern history, as their homes succumbed to drought or flood.
Stern also warns that a successor to the Kyoto agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions should be signed next year, not by 2010/11 as planned. He forecasts that the world needs to spend 1 per cent of global GDP - equivalent to about £184bn - dealing with climate change now, or face a bill between five and 20 times higher for damage caused by letting it continue. Unchecked climate change could thus cost as much as £566 for every man, woman and child now on the planet - roughly 6.5 billion people.
The 700-page report argues that an international framework on climate change covering the globe will be necessary, and that different countries may opt to reduce emissions differently.
A copy of the presentation can be found on www.sternreview.org.ukUsed Cooking Oil Promises to Fuel China's Rapidly Expanding Car Fleet
Yingling Liu - October 12, 2006
Enter a typical Chinese restaurant, and it's not hard to notice the chef's generous use of cooking oil. Famous for their fried, stirred, and boiled offerings, China's kitchens also generate millions of tons of cooked oil residue each year. Historically, this waste has had two destinations: either it is discharged into local sewage systems, or it is covertly reused in substandard kitchens, contributing to frequent food-poisoning incidents. In recent years, however, the oil has found a third incarnation: as fuel for the nation's rapidly growing automobile fleet. Biodiesel fuel is proving beneficial to China's caterers, the auto industry, and the environment in general.
Biodiesel is a non-toxic, biodegradable fuel that can be made from a range of organic feedstock, including new or waste vegetable oils, animal fats, and oilseed plants like palm. Used in its pure form in diesel-engine vehicles, or blended with petroleum diesel to boost car performance, biodiesel has significantly lower emissions than petroleum-based diesel when burned.
The frenzy in biodiesel expansion has brought environmental concerns, however. Although the main feedstock used in China is still old cooking oil, grease, and animal fats, the industry is eyeing the establishment of vegetable oil and oil-tree plantations out of a fear of resource constraints. Palm plantations in particular can have serious ecological and social impacts. There are fears by social equity and environmental groups that a large increase in agricultural production to produce bioenergy may compromise food security and lead to even greater degradation of land and water as a result of increased industrial agricultural crop production.
To read this article in detail, log onto: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4656World Habitat Day 2006: Cities are Magnets of Hope
By Clive Felix, Executive Director, Urban Services Group
Source: Global Footprint Network
02 October 2006 marked World Habitat Day and it is appropriate to reflect on how we as a country, South Africa, have fared in the provision of housing for our citizens since the advent of our new democracy in 1994. It is also correct that we reflect particularly on the provision of housing for the poor and their place in society.
Instead of using the national housing programme to transform our cities and urban landscape, we find ourselves locked into apartheid style township development where the numbers of housing units delivered, is the sole determinant of delivery impact. No regard has been given to sustainable neighbourhood development, the provision of social infrastructure and how this fits into the growth strategy of our cities.
World Bank reports of 1990, on the status of our cities, indicated that these are dysfunctional in that the centres of our cities are sparsely populated and the outer rings and periphery more densely populated. These lead to huge inefficiencies and transport costs, as the majority of the population is some distance away from services and work places. In our instance the poor bears the brunt of this.
Housing development is an important element in the generation of economic growth and plays an important role in the socio-economic development of our society. It offers a secure base for the family unit, from which adults can gain entry into the economy and where children can develop in a healthy and secure environment. The home, as a base for family life, is a cornerstone for the socio-economic development and wellbeing of a society.
To read this article in detail, log onto http://www.footprintnetwork.orgLiving Planet Report 2006 outlines scenarios for humanity's future
Source: Global Footprint Network
A new report released today by WWF and Global Footprint Network shows that by 2050 humanity will demand twice as much as our planet can supply - but that we don't have to follow this path.
The report's "Living Planet Index" shows that vertebrate species populations have declined by about one-third from 1970 to 2003. At the same time, humanity's Ecological Footprint - the demand people place upon the natural world - has increased to the point where the Earth is unable to regenerate renewable resources at the rate we are using them.
Global Footprint Network, which co-authored the report, calculates that in 2003 humanity's Ecological Footprint was 25 per cent larger than the planet's capacity to produce these resources. This ecological 'overshoot' means that it now takes about one year and three months for the Earth to regenerate what we use in a single year.
Looking at individual nations, the report finds that almost no country today meets the sustainable development challenge--to have both a high quality of life, defined here by the United Nations Human Development Index, and an average Footprint that doesn't exceed the biological capacity available per person on the planet. But the report goes on to suggest that meeting this challenge may be possible, using scenarios to show two future paths that, in contrast to business-as-usual, could end overshoot and help restore depleted ecosystems and support a healthy biodiversity.
To read this article in detail, log onto http://www.planet2025news.netCreating Energy Efficiency Financial Models for the South African Urban Water Sector
The REEEP funded project "Creating Energy Efficiency Financial Models for the South African Urban Water Sector" has been successfully completed by the Alliance to Save Energy . The project was built on the ongoing USAID funded Watergy project in seven South African cities.
In addition to organizing 2 workshops, ASE has developed financial models to assist municipalities assess the cost feasibility of implementing water and energy management programs. The four energy efficiency financial models developed consist of Excel-based modelling programs that allow different municipal water efficiency measures to be analyzed in terms of their costs and benefits. The modelling is based on data from projects conducted with assistance from the Alliance's Watergy program in South Africa. The user sets variables to match local conditions and the models determine the financial viability of implementing a project and the resulting savings and reductions in CO2 emissions.
Log onto http://www.reeep-sa.org to
download the following files: The financial modelling tool and the manual , and The case studies for Mogale and Emfuleni
Rent-a-bike scheme in Barcelona improves travel in the city
October 18, 2006
Barcelona (Spain) recently established a rent-a-bike program, making 3,000 bicycles available throughout the city. Users will be able to pick up a bicycle from any of 250 self-service cycle points strategically placed next to public transport connections such as metro stations. If the station is temporarily out of bicycles, then a display will indicated the nearest location where bicycles are still available, at a maximum of 350 metres away.
Users will be required to purchase a membership card, available as a weekly, yearly or strictly business option. The rental fee for using the bicycles will be 1 Euro (US$ 1.25) an hour including insurance, with the first half-hour free of charge.
The rent-a-bike program is being financed by money raised from the new parking scheme - the Area Verde - which is aimed at freeing up parking spaces for local residents. Each bicycle will be outfitted with a GPS location system and anti-theft measures will be established.
In Barcelona, some 40,000 cyclists use their bikes daily to get around, and authorities are hopeful that this number will increase as a result of the new rental program.
For more information on how to reduce transportation emissions at the local level, please visit www.iclei.org/ccp.
Barcelona is one of 157 local governments in Europe who are Members of ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability. For more information on ICLEI Membership and activities in Europe, please visit www.iclei.org/europe.
Source: 'Rent-a-bike scheme to improve inner-city transport', Barcelona Bulletin, Summer 2006.
Iclei, with funding from the USAID, recently provided a grant to the Potchefstroom Municipality to implement a similar scheme. Bicycles can be hired either in the local informal settlement or in the City centre and depots are located in both places for safe storage of bicycles. The municipality has also created dedicated bicycle lanes on main roads to and from the city and centre. Source: Iclei final SA report 2006.
Safe drinking water from the Sun
Date: 2006-10-25
A simple, low cost technique to provide safe drinking water for people in developing countries is the subject of a new EU-funded project.
The SODISWATER project, which is funded with €1.9 million under the EU's Sixth Framework Programme, aims to demonstrate that the solar disinfection of drinking water is an effective method of preventing water-borne diseases.
The only equipment required for SODIS is a water bottle and a steady supply of sunlight. The technique is simple. First the user removes any solids from the water by settling or filtration. Then the water is placed in a clear bottle and shaken vigorously to aerate the water. Finally the bottle is exposed to full sunlight for around six hours, or longer if there is only partial sunlight.
Under the heat of the Sun, the water soon reaches temperatures in excess of 50-60°C. This, combined with ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, inactivates many viruses, bacteria and parasites in the water within the space of a few hours. In this way, the technique has the potential to reduce the incidence of a range of water-borne diseases, including cholera, dysentery and polio. SODIS has been approved by the WHO, and has also proved useful in emergency situations, such as the aftermath of the Asian tsunami of December 2004.
The SODISWATER partners hope to demonstrate that the solar disinfection of drinking water is an effective way of preventing water-borne diseases, particularly in developing countries where many people would not otherwise have access to safe drinking water.
For more information, please visit: http://www.rcsi.ie/sodis/EU wants to speed up zero-emission coal technology
Source: Euractive
New coal-fired power stations should anticipate the arrival of CO2 capture and storage even before the technology reaches commercial status, industry stakeholders and EU institutions agreed. Stakeholders in the coal industry and the EU Commission on 10 October agreed on the need to speed up the development and commercial exploitation of clean coal technology "as soon as possible".
The statement came at the conclusion of the second plenary meeting of the Fossil Fuels Forum organised in Berlin under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. "By 2015, joint efforts of the industry and European administrations need to result in a number of large-scale demonstration projects undertaken in Europe," state the forum's final conclusions. It adds: "Even before that (e.g. by 2010), … all newly-built coal-fired power plants should anticipate the arrival of new technologies and be built as 'capture-ready', allowing for retrofitting with CCS at later stages".
CCS has attracted a lot of criticism from environmental groups who are worried that long term storage may not be secure and that it also allows industrial carbon emissions to continue unabated. There is still no real alternative to reducing our need for fossil fuel energy sources.
To read this article in detail, log onto: http://www.insnet.org/'Cuba the only country with sustainable development'
by -Prensa Latina
Friday, October 27, 2006
WASHINGTON, OCT 26: A report published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) claims that the only country in the world with 'sustainable development' is Cuba.
The WWF includes in its report a graph which shows two features - the human development index (established by the United Nations) and the so-called 'ecological footprint' which shows the per person energy and resources consumed in each country.
Surprisingly, only Cuba has passed in both areas, which is enough to be designated a country that 'meets the minimum sensitivity criteria'.
The study's authors credit the high level of literacy, long life expectancy and low consumption of energy for this success. The authors also claim that Latin America is the region that leads in sustainable development. That generalisation is a little bit far-fetched, however, comments alternative US website vivirlatino.com. "For 20 years we've lived our lives in a way that far exceeds the carrying capacity of the earth," said Carter S Roberts, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund on presenting the report.
http://www.insnet.org/gnewssustainability.htmlTurning waste into power
Published 12/10/2006
Source: http://www.sagoodnews.co.za
The French Development Agency has loaned R60-70 million to the Municipality of eThekwini for a project that generates electricity from the methane present in household waste. The project will generate electricity through a fermentation process of waste collected from three neighbourhoods in the city of Durban.
During this fermentation process, methane is released, then converted into electric power by generators and fed directly into the city's power grid.
The project will be developed at three landfills in and around Durban (Marianhill, Bisasar Road and La Mercy) where gas recovery wells and generators are under construction.
The potential total electricity output generated by the project will be up to 10MW. It will reduce South Africa's production of greenhouse gases.
The project will enable South Africa to earn carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). These carbon credits will be sold through the Prototype Carbon Fund managed by the World Bank. The project is one of the first in South Africa to be eligible for carbon credit trading.
Presentation for Seminar
