Nairobi,
18 July 2011 - In response to reports mainly
in the Dutch media over the past 48 hours,
the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) wishes to clarify several points.
•The forthcoming launch
of its independent Environmental Assessment
of Ogoniland report is on track and its
release has not been delayed as a result
of security concerns.
•UNEP's report contains
the findings and recommendations from its
two-year assessment of the environmental
and public health impacts of oil contamination
in Ogoniland, Nigeria, conducted at the
request of the Government of Nigeria.
•An extensive peer review
of the findings has been carried out by
external scientists. The study represents
an unprecedented effort to examine the location,
nature, extent and implications of oil contamination
in Ogoniland.
•In early July 2011,
UNEP informed the relevant authorities in
Nigeria that the report will be ready for
publication as of the last week of July,
and proposed that the launch takes place
in the capital Abuja.
•Once the report has
been released, it will be made available
to the public and the national and international
media via the UNEP website.
•Claims that the independent
report either exonerates some stakeholders
or blames others for the oil spills are
wrong - as has been previously publicly
stated.
•UNEP hopes the report
and its findings will catalyze cooperation
and a response to decades of oil-related
environmental challenges and provide for
the people of Ogoniland the opportunity
for a sustainable future.
•During 14 months of
fieldwork in Ogoniland and its surrounding
creeks, UNEP teams collected samples of
soil, water, sediment, air and plant and
fish tissue for analysis. The samples have
been tested for more than 400 substances,
or analytes, such as petroleum hydrocarbons
and heavy metals.
•Community input and
assistance was a key element of the project
and UNEP deeply appreciates the community
support, particularly the widespread contribution
of local knowledge of oil contamination
stretching back over several decades.
•UNEP had Community
Liaison Assistants liaising closely with
local communities in Ogoniland, and as part
of the project, extensive consultations
and discussion groups have been organized
by UNEP. The main local academic partner
was the Rivers State University of Science
and Technology.
•At the project's peak,
some 30 local staff were employed with UNEP's
project team based in Port Harcourt, who
worked alongside international experts.
The UNEP project team was supported in the
field by voluntary community representatives.
+ More
Scientists Discuss Trade
in Marine Species and Reptiles used in Luxury
Products
international organization
aimed at regulating trade in endangered
species.
The 25th meeting of
the Animals Committee of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will focus
on fish and reptile leathers, which are
often used in luxury goods.
Around 200 scientists,
as well as intergovernmental bodies and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), will
discuss reports on topics such as the trade
in sharks and the implementation of shark
protection programmes, the efforts to control
sturgeon stocks in Caspian range States
and the use of reptile skins for fine leather
products.
At last year's meeting,
four proposals to include sharks in CITES
Appendix II were rejected. Appendix II lists
species that are not currently threatened
with extinction, but that may become so
unless trade is closely controlled. This
decision enabled four fish species of great
commercial value - the scalloped hammerhead,
Oceanic whitetip, porbeagle and spiny dogfish
- to continue to be traded without CITES
permits. However, CITES parties remain concerned
about the status of sharks.
CITES is an international
agreement between governments. Its aim is
to ensure that international trade in specimens
of wild animals and plants does not threaten
their survival. It is administered by the
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Geneva.
+ More
Amina Mohamed Takes
Up Post as Deputy Executive Director of
UNEP
Nairobi, 25 July 2011-Amina
Mohamed of Kenya today formally took up
office as Deputy Executive Director (DED)
of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP).
Ms. Mohamed, who is
also an Assistant-Secretary General of the
UN, met with her new staff and colleagues
and said she was looking forward to the
challenge of UNEP's evolving reform agenda
and work programme.
She will also, among
her many roles, be providing political and
substantive input to Rio+20-the UN Conference
on Sustainable Development 2012 scheduled
in Brazil next June- and beyond.
Ms. Mohamed, who since
2008 was the Permanent Secretary and Chief
Executive Officer of the Ministry of Justice,
National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs
of the Republic of Kenya, said: "The
challenges but also the opportunities of
sustainable development in the 21st century
will in many ways define how nations cooperate
and countries thrive over the coming decades."
"UNEP's unique
role in analyzing, catalyzing and implementing
forward-looking transitions such as the
Green Economy will be central to that success.
I am delighted to be re-engaging on international
issues and joining UNEP at what promises
to be an exciting and defining moment in
the organization's 39 year history,"
she added.
Ms. Mohamed concluded:
"I also look forward to working with
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and
bringing the perspective of an international
diplomat and lawyer from a developing country
to his and the organization's work. Kenya
is proud to host UNEP and I hope to also
bring a greater understanding of UNEP's
special role in the lives of the people
of Kenya, East Africa and indeed across
the globe."
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary
General and UNEP Executive Director, said:
"We are very pleased to welcome Amina
Mohamed on her first day in office. She
was the outstanding candidate for the post
and a worthy successor to Ms. Angela Cropper
of Trinidad and Tobago whose remarkable
service and contribution as UNEP's Deputy
Executive Director we also recognize today".
"Ms. Mohamed brings
a wealth of experience to this position
at the national and international level
as a distinguished diplomat, lawyer, manager
and policymaker working across the sustainable
development and environment policy agendas.
I look forward to working closely with her
in leading UNEP over the coming years,"
he added.
Ms. Mohamed, whose appointment
was announced in May by United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon, was from 2000 to 2006 the Ambassador
and Permanent Representative of Kenya to
the UN in Geneva.
Her many achievements
included being the first woman to chair
the General Council of the World Trade Organization,
and the first African and first woman to
be elected Chair of the Council for the
International Organization for Migration.
Since 2008 and as Permanent
Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of
the Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion
and Constitutional Affairs of the Republic
of Kenya, she has played a key leadership
role in the political, legal and constitutional
reform process.
Born on 5 October 1961,
Ms. Mohamed graduated with a LLM in International
Law from Kiev State University, and has
also undertaken post graduate studies at
University of Oxford and the Kenya School
of Law.
