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L - R Albert Williamsn Vanuatu, Hon Stehens Kalsakau, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Vanuatu Outside the Conference venue is the opportunity to experience Korean culture    Department of Agricultre in Fiji    Picture by Makhmudjon Eshonkulov, Uzbekistan       |
Friday, October 21, 2011
Scenes from UNCCD COP 10
21 October Changwon Korea - Photos by SPREP
Negotiating at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD
21 October 2011, Changwon Korea - One of the issues followed closely by the Pacific at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 10) has been that of the Global Mechanism.
Q. Tell us about the negotiations process on this particular issue, how has it been?
This is a specialised institution dedicated to mobilising resources to support developing countries to increase investments into Sustainable Land Management in order to help reverse, control and prevent land degradation and desertification.
Negotiations at the UNCCD COP 10 have revolved around the operation of the Global Mechanism as well as the location. The headquarters of the GM is currently hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, based in Rome. The Secretariat of the UNCCD is based in Bonn, Germany.
We interviewed Louisa Karika of the Cook Islands Delegation who has closely followed this thread of negotiations over the past few years.
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| L - R Louisa Karika Cook Islands, Maria Elder Fiji |
Q. Tell us about the negotiations process on this particular issue, how has it been?
“For me this whole process started at the last Conference of the Parties in Argentina in 2009, it was there that an agreement was not reached so I took this up again during these negotiations in Korea. Negotiations can last all day and night, and go on like this all week, and you often end up cold, hungry and frustrated by the lack of progress!
It has been nice to see a lot of familiar faces and renewing friendships with negotiators for other regions and groups, we spend so much time in one room together during negotiations that we end up friends, even if we are opposite sides of an issue, and we always find a way to have a laugh.”
Q. How have the negotiations been this time?
“This year we actually started on the second day of the conference and I think it was good as it allowed for discussions over what the issues and viewpoints were before we actually went into text negotiations. I think this helped as we were able to agree in principle on what kind of outcome we wanted to see from our negotiations earlier on. We then started negotiating text after that and since then we have been working pretty much day and night, that’s a lot of hours!”
Q. So for someone who doesn’t know about negotiations, what happens inside the negotiating room? What happened with this particular issue?
“We negotiate text and concentrate on the language of a decision to make sure it says what we mean. We will work this way until it is agreeable to everyone and we reach consensus on different parts of the text. You can come across what we call ‘sticky points’ which are those that we can’t agree on but you can’t move forward we have to overcome these sticky points. For example during the last two days we were really stuck on an issue and we basically spent one full day negotiating on one paragraph. In order to make progress through the text, especially since we had already spent so long trying to find a compromise, the Chair of our contact group called a smaller informal group made up of representatives from each party and we basically sat in a small group on chairs and talked about our issue. By doing this we were able to negotiate in one hour what we could have spent a whole day trying to achieve – and that was an agreed text.”
Q. So you finally reached a consensus on this issue?
“We agreed on a number of governance and institutional issues of the Global Mechanism which includes a revision of the Memorandum of Understanding between the host of the GM – the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD. We have agreed to a process for implementing these changes and tabled the decision on the location of the GM until the next Conference of the Parties.
We also agreed that during the intercessional period (the two years in between each COP) the Executive Secretary in consultation with the COP Bureau will review proposals for housing the GM based on costs, synergies, operational modalities, governance efficiency etc so that come the next COP we are recommending that a decision on this issue be made as all the information will be before us.”
The draft decision prepared was approved by the Committee of the Whole to go before the Conference of the Parties for a final outcome on Friday evening. It was expected that the final meeting of the 10th Conference of the for the UNCCD was to start on friday night. This interview story was completed early Friday evening.
For more on the final outcome of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD please visit: http://www.unccd.int/cop/cop10/menu.php
Pacific voice raised at UNCCD COP 10
21 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Several Pacific island nations were given a special mention during the last meeting of the Asia Pacific Group at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in Korea today.
The increasingly positive involvement of the Pacific Island delegates in negotiations was mentioned on several occasions. Compliments have been made on the growing numbers of Pacific island delegates attending the UNCCD negotiations as well as their active participation .
“In the past I have not seen such active participation from the Pacific islands but more recently I have noticed our friends from the Pacific are not only engaging themselves in the contact group but also negotiating the text with our European Union and African friends,” said Chencho Norbu the Director of the Department of Agriculture from Bhutan. He was also the Chair of the Committee of the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC).
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| L - R, Bruce Jefferies SPREP, Louisa Karika Cook Islands, Chencho Norbu CRIC Chair |
“I was very pleased to note this development and I am saying that I hope this will continue in the future. If we move forward collectively we can raise our Asian and Pacific voice and this is something, it’s a big step and I feel proud to be a part of the Asia Pacific region.”
Bhutan ratified this convention in 2003 and Norbu began following and attending the negotiations in 2004. At this Conference, Norbu’s term as the Chair of the CRIC comes to an end. The Chairs of the different committees are rotated amongst the sub regions at each Conference of the Parties.
Bruce Jefferies - Terrestrial Ecosystems Management Officer at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme commented that it was satisfying to hear comments such as this.
“It demonstrates that the investments made in SPREP facilitated Conference of the Party preparatory meetings are helping to build the capacity of Pacific Island staff.”
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Eco-robots in Korea
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| Eco-robot Dr Boomerang to recycle empgy cans and PET bottles |
Bright and bold, these eco-robots are a common sight at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification with several of them on display for which Pacific island delegates have been interested in.
Also known as automated recycling equipment, there are different types of eco-robot types that dispose of bottles, cans, plastics, films, glass bottles and cell phones. They automatically control the process of handling valuable recyclables including sorting, compressing, separating, storing and recovery. The eco-robot also comes with an eject door for unidentified objects and can compress up to 30 pieces per minute.
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| Delegates from Vanuatu and Samoa trying the Eco-robot |
They were developed by a company from Korea called Eco-save that was formed in 2007 and develops and manufactures environment-friendly recycling automated equipment.
In order to use the Eco-robot you must be a member for which you are provided with a membership card. You insert your card before inserting your recyclables into the eco-robot, from there your recyclables will be processed and the weight of your carbon dioxide emission will be shown to you and the points you receive for recycling will be added on to your membership card.
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| Eco-robot will calculate your emissions |
You can use the points on your card at supermarkets for discounts as well as purchases.
There are 60 eco-robot units in 30 stores nation-wide in Korea that are all linked together through an internet web base that is connected to a central operating system. When problems occur with the eco-robot troubleshooting and repairs are done through the remote system.
To find out more about the Eco-robot please visitwww.eco-save.co.kr
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| Slot to insert bottles and cans in Eco-robot |
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Insert your membership card |
Pacific Emerging Environmental Leaders’ symposium starts in Apia, Samoa
Reposted 17 October 2011, Apia Samoa - The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is hosting its first symposium for young professionals who are emerging as environmental leaders in the Pacific islands.
The Symposium, being held in Apia, Samoa from 16-20 October, was officially opened this morning by SPREP Director-General, David Sheppard.
Twenty young Pacific Islanders, hailing from a diverse range of professions, are participating in the Symposium, which will set the stage for the Pacific Emerging Environment Leaders’ (PEEL) Initiative, a longer-term programme aimed at supporting action by young professionals for environmental management and leadership.
Mr Sheppard congratulated participants on their selection and highlighted the value of young minds in developing innovative solutions to today’s problems. He made reference to the Pacific’s “youth bulge” and noted that in the region, the age group of 15-29 years accounts for a third of the working age population.
“You are arguably the most important sector of the populations, particularly as you move into leadership positions in our Pacific countries over the next few years,” he said.
“You are the ones who will be influencing and setting policy which will determine how well our environment is managed in the future.”
The Director-General referred to pressing issues in the Pacific region, which included biodiverisity, waste management and climate change as an environmental issues cutting across all sectors. He observed the range of different work sectors from which participants hailed and stressed that this bode well for addressing environment in a multi-sectoral manner.
The 20 participants to the week-long Symposium were selected from over 100 applications received from across the Pacific islands region. Seema Deo, SPREP’s Education and Communications Adviser, and organiser of the initiative, explained that participants were selected on the basis of drive, commitment, ability to nurture the growth of others and on their written vision statements.
“All applicants were of an exceptionally high calibre, which made the selection process a challenge for the four-person panel,” she said. “We are however, confident that we have a dynamic, self-motivated group, capable of thinking beyond barriers and who can contribute to good decision-making that integrates environmental thinking in the development framework.”
“We also hope to be in a position to engage those who missed out on this Symposium through an electronic forum and, potentially, through face-to-face interactions as the PEEL gains momentum.”
The Symposium participants have a wide range of interests, including energy, health, marine conservation and agriculture and come from media, government, civil society and the private sector. They will spend the week developing leadership skills, identifying clear pathways for action and developing a framework for a capacity building programme for young professionals in the region.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Samoa and Palau: Sustainable land management
20 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Samoa and Palau are two of the 48 countries worldwide that are part of the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project which aims to bring about effective land management in Least Developed Countries and Small Islands Developing States.
Funded by the Global Environment Facility and coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), this project has also helped these party countries implement the UN Convention to Combat Desertification through building local capacity.
According to a UNDP presentation, the project allows for approximately USD 500,000.00 per country to help bring about sustainable land management practices, and will come to an end next year in the Pacific region.
For the island nation of Palau, their project is focused on effective land use planning. This involves taking into consideration the various social, economic and environmental factors that may contribute to land degradation when planning to use land for a range of purposes; it also involves linking comprehensive planning with best management practices.
Funded by the Global Environment Facility and coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), this project has also helped these party countries implement the UN Convention to Combat Desertification through building local capacity.
According to a UNDP presentation, the project allows for approximately USD 500,000.00 per country to help bring about sustainable land management practices, and will come to an end next year in the Pacific region.
For the island nation of Palau, their project is focused on effective land use planning. This involves taking into consideration the various social, economic and environmental factors that may contribute to land degradation when planning to use land for a range of purposes; it also involves linking comprehensive planning with best management practices.
“This project has emphasised the value of land use planning and establishing more efficiency along institutional lines; SLM for Palau has not been focused on farming techniques, but rather more on how to facilitate stronger coordination among agencies involved in land management,” said Madelsar Ngraingas the SLM Project Coordinator through the Office of the PALARIS under the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Industries and Commerce.
“I think the project has been successful particularly with coordinating agency activities and building strong partnerships and collaborative efforts, particularly in terms of land use planning and other related activities outlined in the project.”
The Palau SLM project has three key areas which include; compilation of best management practices; development of a national land use policy that contains a financial strategy to sustain institutional operations and; supporting the mobilization of resources to help states develop master plans that ensure comprehensive planning and sustainable development.
Palau plans to complete their national activities for this project in December of this year with a project final evaluation to take place sometime early next year.
In Samoa the National Action Programme for sustainable land management was developed in 2006 outlines how the island nation is implementing the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The Sustainable Land Management Project is one of the activities under the national action programme.
“It is through this project that we have been able to attract significant attention to the threat of land degradation upon the survival of land based natural resources upon which sustainable livelihoods depend,” said Fa’ainoino Laulala, the Principal Land Policy and Development Officer of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Samoa.
A successful land degradation project in Samoa was that which restored 10 acres of largely degraded land that was an old government quarry site. As part of the National Action Programme the site is now restored through the rehabilitation efforts to revive the health and integrity of terrestrial ecosystems of the site, it is now a national park reserved mainly for recreational purposes.
“Apart from the SLM project which we hope to successfully complete by December, the Vaitele Rehabilitation project through funding from a UNCCD – Venezuela grant, is one of our success stories. Our main challenge now is to ensure we are able to sustain the ability to address desertification, land degradation and drought. The 5th round of funding from the Global Environment Facility may have potential for us to address this challenge”
While at the UNCCD COP 10, Samoa has been in discussions with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), UNDP and the Global Mechanism about a project to help strengthen sustainable financing activities in Samoa.
The 14 Pacific island countries that are a party to this project are: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Pacific shares land managment experiences
20 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Pacific experiences and lessons from a global project on Sustainable Land Management were shared with a wide group of participants at a side event at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
In all there are 46 least developed countries and small island developing states have participated in this project which aims bring about effective land management through building capacity and mainstreaming.
The “Sustainable Land management: Impacts and Lessons from a Programmatic Approach to Building Capacities for Sustainable Land Management in Least Developed Countries – Small Islands Developing States” event was held at the Rio Ecosystem Pavilion.
Land degradation is widely recognized as a fundamental ecological problem that affects the economic and social wellbeing of people at national and local levels and undermines the functions and services of ecosystems at a global level. Least developed countries and Small Island Developing (SID) states are particularly vulnerable.
Lessons were shared from the Africa, Asia, Caribbean and Pacific regions and these highlighted experiences in developing national and local human capacity to address Sustainable Land Management issues at a national level.
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| L - R William Ganileo Vanuatu, Annie Mauga Samoa |
Achievements made in the region under this project include; seawalls to control coastal erosion; studies to minimise slopes erosion; coastal planting; nurseries to rehabilitate degraded areas; resource and training centres; skills transfer in nursery establishment, and grafting; agro-forestry; on-site demonstration training; and awareness at local, community and national levels.
The Pacific also experienced a number of challenges during the implementation of the project. These ranged from the acceptance of new hybrids versus local root crops, policy changes so as to address desertification, land degradation and drought as well as the introduction of new practices, to name only a few.
“One of the challenges we faced in the Pacific was changing the traditional systems of agriculture for communities and promoting new ways which will prevent degradation,” said Annie Mauga, the assistant coordinator of the Samoa Sustainable Land Management Project.
“Land ownership where the majority of Pacific land is traditionally owned can become a big challenge for us in the region,” added William Ganileo, the Sustainable Land Management Coordinator of Vanuatu.
Bruce Jefferies, SPREP Terrestrial Ecosystems Management Officer, who attended the presentations, commented after the side event that both staff members had made particularly useful contributions as they had focused their presentation material on “real world” examples.
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“During international forums, such as the UNCCD COP10, presentations tended to dwell on theoretical ideas and concepts, it was important to share experiences from people that were actually working at an operational level.”
“This was an excellent side event! We’d like to hear more planning experiences from actions that people are doing on the ground and what are the strategies to expand and consolidate those successes and lessons learnt,” said Tepa Suaesi, SPREP’s Environmental Planning Officer.
“It would be really interesting to know more about the numbers of people involved with these worldwide projects, how many are facilitating SLM initiatives and the level of participation."
To access the pdf versions of the Pacific power point presented please click here.
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