UNESCO has a chance to protect Sundarbans. Will it?

This satellite image shows the Bay of Bengal where the rivers Ganges, Brahmapoutre and Meghna meet the sea, otherwise known as the Sundarbans. Source: NASA

 

Have you heard of the Sundarbans? On the southern coast of Bangladesh, this precious forested area is home to 4.5 million people and the royal Bengal tiger. It’s a place of immense cultural heritage, sustaining local fisher communities and livelihoods.

But something is wrong. Industrial development – coal in particular – is threatening the air, water, and climate for the people of the Sundarbans.  Locals in the area, supported by the global Bangladeshi diaspora, have known about this and campaigned for protection for years. But new aerial footage showing the extent of the damage makes it undeniable – action is needed right now to protect the Sundarbans for good. Click this video to watch:

In June, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the official advisor on natural World Heritage recommended that UNESCO should list Sundarbans as a World Heritage Site in Danger. IUCN recommended placing the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest on the endangered list due to numerous threats from coal plants and increased industrial activist in the region. 

These recommendations came as the construction of the Rampal coal plant continued despite the World Heritage Committee in 2016 asking the Bangladesh government to cancel the Rampal coal plant. Additionally, two more coal plants are currently being developed on the Payra river, which flows on the same bay as the Sundarbans. Over 150 industrial projects are being developed upstream. 

The recommendations of IUCN are being fiercely opposed by the Bangladeshi government– despite our current climate crisis and record heatwaves in the region last month.

UNESCO delegates are currently meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan - and they’re due for a decision on whether to add the Sundarbans to the list of Endangered Sites.

Now is our time to pile on the pressure. Bangladeshi activist Tonny Nowshin and Kenyan organiser Rukiyah are Baku right now to make sure UNESCO hears our message. You can follow them on Twitter and stay updated on the day’s happening at the UNESCO meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Show your support for the people of Bangladesh, Kenya and communities around the world facing down new coal developments!  To tell UNESCO: Stop the coal plant, save the Sundarbans

Sign the petition to Save the Sundarbans

 

by Chris

The Lamu Coal Plant project in Kenya has been stopped by a court decision

Our friends and allies in Kenya just won a tremendous victory  -- the National Environment Tribunal (NET) of Kenya has cancelled the licence previously granted to Amu Power, the developer of the controversial Lamu Coal Plant. 

After years of inspiring and creative campaigning from the climate movement, the Kenyan National Environment Tribunal (NET) has just cancelled that license, citing the lack of effective public participation and social and environmental risks among other reasons.

This is a huge victory for the climate movement, environmental rights, for the Lamu community and for our planet. Join us in the celebration: watch and share this 1-min video on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and help the news spread far and wide!

This outcome proves once again that people power is unstoppable -- and that when we mobilise and fight, we win. From emails, social media shares to the creative protests and letter-writing campaigns we helped organize, from small and localised meetings to huge rallies, we pushed and pushed and didn’t give up, even in the face of intractable targets.

This momentous ruling is a major step toward a fossil free Kenya. 

What the deCOALonize movement accomplished in Kenya is the kind of bold and visionary action that puts us on the offensive against the fossil fuel industry. We need more of this kind of action in Kenya and around the continent.  .

Today, we take a moment to celebrate. And tomorrow, we get back to work. We’ll keep the pressure on our elected officials at all levels, and fight for our climate and safety of our communities. City by city, province by province, country by country we won’t stop working to build people power for bold action that matches the scale needed to avoid catastrophic climate impacts.  Share the video on your social media to help spread the word about this milestone!

This unprecedented victory is proof that by collectively fighting for a more just and sustainable world, we’re able to defeat the devastating fossil fuel industry — and widen the horizon of the future we can create.

This victory is also a signal to every other governments, countries and multinational: Africa is not for sale. Together, we can start building a Fossil Free Africa.

Sign up to find out more about what’s happening across the continent and how you can take local action.

by Chris

Kenya doesn't need coal, Report reaffirms

A new report on the proposed Lamu coal plant in Kenya reveals that the project is a huge mistake in terms of investments,  excessive power generation and electricity costs for consumers.

The report entitled The Proposed Lamu Coal Plant: The Wrong Choice for Kenya presented on the10th of June in Nairobi cautioned that the project would be ‘locking the country into a 25-year deal at a cost to consumers of more than US$9 billion, even if the plant never generates any power”.

Some of the highlights of the report which was compiled by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) include:

  • Amu Power’s claims for the cost of Lamu-generated electricity are unrealistically low, based on outdated costs for the imported coal that will be burned and on overly optimistic assumptions about how much electricity the plant will generate.
  • Using more realistic assumptions about future Lamu generation and coal costs, electricity from the plant could cost as much as 75 cents per kilowatt-hour (KWh), on average, during the years 2024 to 2037—more than 10 times what the plant’s proponents have claimed.
  • This estimate does not include costs for port upgrades that would be required to bring coal to the plant, nor construction of the transmission infrastructure needed to distribute the power; the costs of these projects would add significantly to Lamu’s overall impact on electricity consumers and taxpayers.

The report also reaffirmed that the country doesn’t need any coal generation project, but should rather actively explore its abundant renewable resources to satisfy the likely growth scenarios.

Reacting to that release, the Kenyan government said it intends “to delay the Lamu coal-fired power plant to avoid a situation where Kenyans will end up paying for unused power if demand fails to keep up with the project’s output”.

“The coal plant will be built in the next four to five years as part of the Government strategy to delay new power over cost concerns’ said the Energy Principal Secretary Joseph Njoroge

This is a great move in this campaign which has been going on for over five years. Lamu residents, activists, scientists and other social justice groups had fiercely challenged the project, pointing out its numerous dangerous impacts in terms of people’s health, livelihoods and ecosystems.

Author: Rukiya Khamis.

by Chris

Youths in Nairobi oppose the proposed coal plant project in Lamu: Advocates for green energy

On 14th of March 2019, youths in Nairobi took a dire initiative to oppose the 1,050 megawatts coal plant project. A project under Amu Power Company (a special purpose joint venture of Gulf Energy and Centum Investment) is to be established at Kwasasi Village in Hindi Division, Lamu west.

With their placards raised high, the youths walked through the University of Nairobi from end to end hiking the awareness of the harmful flip of the project. They talked one on one with students as they gave out the factsheets that had well-defined details of the intended project. The project is prospected to beget harmful health and environmental effects, livelihood effects on communities, unprofitable and unsound economics and violation in licenses.

Additionally, the youths had alternative solutions on their placards that could be put in place instead of the detrimental project. They vehemently advocated for green energy as they passed the same knowledge to fellow youths.

The youths roundly tweeted their dissents using the hashtag #deCOALonize and #OnePlanetSummit. They directed their messages and awareness to The Kenya Government and French Government following the 3rd global One Planet Summit that was taking place in Nairobi Kenya at the United Nations.

The Summit was geared to focus on ways to accelerate and step-up climate action in Africa and specifically on expanding renewable energy, protecting biodiversity, and boosting adaptation and resilience.

Activist groups such as Save Lamu, Lamu Youth Alliance, deCOALonize Coalition, NGOs etc. have been campaigning tirelessly to stop the building of the proposed coal plant in Lamu, Kwa Sasi region. This was an effort under 350 in support of the deCOALonize campaign and is one of many to come strategic actions, to #deCOALonize Kenya.

 

- Ian Elroy Ogonji, 350Kenya Volunteer.

by Chris

AMOS WEMANYA: Coal-fired power a needless burden

Kenya’s energy sector has made promising developments. This year is set to be an exciting one for electricity consumers. There has been a notable shift in the direction the government wants to take for investments in the country's energy future. This move is contrary to the initial plans to invest in the dirty coal power plant in Lamu and mining in Kitui. President Uhuru Kenyatta has promised to lead Kenya to 100 per cent clean energy by 2020.

by Chris