Nairobi, 13 August 2010
- They've clocked up 5,000 kilometres on
the road, passed mountains, rivers, deserts
and forests and also repaired
their fair share of flat tyres.
And today, the Greek
conservation group, Green Project, made
a pit-stop at the headquarters of the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in
Nairobi during an environmental road-trip
that will cover the length of Africa.
The team of nine scientists
and artists from the Green Project organisation
is travelling in a three-vehicle convoy
across the continent, visiting biodiversity
and renewable energy projects from Alexandria
to the Zambezi river.
The theme of the journey
is 'from waterways to energy routes' and
the team members will travel alongside the
Nile and Okavango rivers, as well as Africa's
major lakes, including Victoria, Malawi
and Tanganyika.
The purpose of the 47-day
trip is to record traditional and modern
applications of renewable energy resources
across the continent.
"The aim is to
be a bridge of communication between Africa
and Europe", said project leader Dr.
Ioannis Tzortzis during the reception in
UNEP headquarters. "We want to show
the benefits of solar energy, wind energy
and geothermal energy to the communities
we meet and demonstrate how these can provide
a solution to poverty. But we also want
to highlight success stories here in Africa
and promote the sustainable use of Africa's
resources."
Biodiversity is another
key theme of Green Project's trip and the
itinerary includes visits to rich wildlife
habitats such as Kenya's Mau Forest and
the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The links
between biodiversity and renewable energy
is an important theme of the United Nations
International Year of Biodiversity.
"We believe that
the solution to biodiversity problems can
come from renewable energy," said Dr.
Tzortzis. "On this trip we have seen
a lot of natural habitat that has been degraded
for use in fuels. But we have also heard
about animals returning to areas that have
adopted renewable resources and reduced
damage to their environment."
The group will spend
a total of five days in Kenya. After leaving
Nairobi, the team will visit several geothermal
and hydroelectric stations, a dam project
in the country's Eastern Province and a
micro-hydro energy programme near Mount
Kenya.
In order to offset their
emissions, Green Project will invest in
clean development projects in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
The visit to the UN
complex was organised by Green Project and
UNEP's Climate Neutral Network (CN Net).
Established in 2008, CN Net aims to facilitate
information exchange on achieving a transition
to a low-emissions and, eventually, climate
neutral society.
The network is forming
partnerships with governments, businesses
and voluntary organisations and many CN
Net members are already reducing their carbon
emissions through renewable energy technologies
and applications.
"UNEP's Climate
Neutral Network tries to showcase global
best examples of greenhouse gas reduction
and Green Project is also trying to do similar
work," said Satinder Bindra, Director
of UNEP's Division of Communications and
Public Information. "They are mapping
out places across Africa that demonstrate
the best use of renewable energy so that
others can learn from such positive examples
and also scale up their own individual efforts
to build a greener and more sustainable
planet," he added.
Using their in-house
team of artists and filmmakers, Green Project
are making a documentary on their trip and
putting together a collection of photographs
that will be eventually be exhibited in
Europe.
In the meantime, the
group has 6,000 kilometres of open road
before their final destination in Cape Town,
South Africa, and thousands of hectares
of diverse terrain that contain many inspiring
ways of using renewable energy.
UN chief urges rapid aid for flood-stricken
communities in Pakistan
Islamabad (Pakistan),
15 August 2010 - United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon has called for the rapid delivery
of assistance for millions of people in
flood-stricken Pakistan, as he saw for himself
the devastation wrought by the recent disaster.
Mr. Ban arrived in the
South Asian nation to demonstrate the support
of the United Nations and the international
community in the wake of what has been called
the country's worst disaster in living memory,
having claimed more than 1,200 lives and
leaving at least 2 million homeless.
"I'm here to see
what is going on. I'm here also to urge
the world community to speed up their assistance
to the Pakistani people," the Secretary-General
told reporters on arrival.
An estimated 14 million
people have been affected by the floods,
which began late last month in the wake
of particularly heavy monsoon rains and
which have destroyed homes, farmland and
major infrastructure in large parts of the
country, most notably the north-west province
of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).
Speaking at a news conference
after touring the affected areas, Mr. Ban
described what he witnessed as "heart
wrenching," recalling scenes of washed-out
roads, bridges and even whole villages,
as well as people marooned on tiny islands
with flood waters all around them.
"I will never forget
the destruction and suffering I have witnessed
today. In the past I have visited the scenes
of many natural disasters around the world,
but nothing like this," he stated.
"The scale of this disaster is so large
so many people, in so many places, in so
much need."
Last week the UN and
its partners announced they are seeking
almost US$460 million to help Pakistan tackle
the needs of flood-affected families, including
food, clean drinking water, tents and other
shelter and non-food items, as well as medical
supplies.
The UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
reported yesterday that although the scale
of the disaster continues to expand, just
20 per cent - some $93 million - of the
funding requirements set out in the Pakistan
Initial Floods Response Emergency Plan have
so far been covered.
"These unprecedented
floods demand unprecedented assistance,"
stated the Secretary-General. "The
flood waves must be matched with waves of
global support."
He also announced that
he will allocate a further $10 million from
the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund
(CERF) for the relief effort, bringing the
total disbursement since the beginning of
the crisis to US$27 million.
According to OCHA, ensuring
access to clean water remains a top priority
as rates of diarrhoeal disease continue
to increase in affected areas.
The Secretary-General
noted that UN agencies and their partners
are aiming to provide at least six million
people with safe drinking water and food
as soon as possible.
Before travelling to
the flood-affected areas, Mr. Ban met separately
with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime
Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, and expressed
the solidarity of the UN with the Government
and people of Pakistan.
He said he hoped his
visit will help accelerate the rate of generous
support from the international community,
and noted that the immediate relief efforts
would need to be complemented by longer-term
reconstruction, with help from the UN and
global partners.
"As the waters
recede, we must move quickly to help people
build back their country and pick up the
pieces of their lives. Farmers will need
seeds, fertilizers and tools to replant.
Education, health and nutrition need to
be restored quickly.
"In the longer
term, the huge damage to infrastructure
must be repaired. The UN will be part of
all this too," said Mr. Ban, who added
that he will report to the General Assembly
on his visit later this week.
